$2.5 Million for Canaan House

Canaan House is a 21 story, 146-unit affordable rental property located at 8 West 118^th Street, NY, NY.  The New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) regulates the operation of the apartment complex.  On August 2, 1994, Canaan Hope Associates, a housing subsidiary of Hope Community, Inc. acquired the property from HCR.  The project is subject to low-income tax credits pursuant to Internal Revenue Code 42 that regulates the use of the project as to occupant eligibility and unit gross rent, among other requirements.  Canaan Hope Associates has a mortgage from the NYS Urban Development Corporation, now known as the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and receives a subsidy under the interest reduction provisions of Section 236 of the National Housing Act.  The Section 236 program is a federally-assisted program designed to provide housing for low- and moderate-income families. 

On July 1, 2010, Hope Community Inc. assumed the property management responsibility from Shinda Management.  Shinda handled the property management tasks between 2005 and June 30, 2010.  Hope and Shinda mutually agreed to work collaboratively during the transition to prevent any interruption of services to the tenants.  It was clear from the files and the meetings Hope held with the leadership of the tenant association at Canaan House that the tenants are concerned about the physical condition of the building and wanted to preserve the affordability of their homes in the future. 

In early August 2010, Hope Community submitted an application to the New York State Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) Tenant Repair and Improvement Loan Program (TRAIL).  The ESDC Trail Program is a new, low-cost loan program designed to provide financial assistance to projects for the purpose of addressing immediate health and safety issues and improving the quality of life for project tenants.  Eligible properties are projects originally financed by the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) that intend to continue to provide affordable housing for the next 15 years or 5 years beyond the maturity date of the UDC first mortgage, whichever is greater.  ESDC will not grant loans in excess of the lesser of $2.5 million or $15, 000 per unit.  Work must be completed within six months of the start of construction.

Hope applied for approximately $2.5 million dollars to:

            1)  Replace the roof

            2)  Replace the windows

            3)  Replace the kitchen cabinets, kitchen floor tiles and install GFI outlets

            4)  Replace the elevator controls

            5)  Install Security Cameras on each floor.

            6)  Mail Box Replacement

The New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) now services the old UDC mortgage.  HCR has been supportive and helpful, working with Hope during the application review process.  Hope has had to modify come of the proposed scope of work to match the program constraints of the TRAIL program.  ESDC has approved the funding and Hope expects to start the work (weather permitting) in the fall, 2011.