Who knew back in 2007, when developer Lou Larizza submitted a proposal to the City of Rye to develop 22 units of affordable housing on Cottage Street, that it would take five years before the project would be completed?
By Bill Lawyer
Who knew back in 2007, when developer Lou Larizza submitted a proposal to the City of Rye to develop 22 units of affordable housing on Cottage Street, that it would take five years before the project would be completed?
As with most things, there’s good news and bad.
The bad news is that even though this was a project completely supported on the local, county, state and federal levels, it has still taken such a long time. And, it’s still not totally finished.
And, in the end there was only enough funding to make 18 of the 22 units affordable – i.e. for sale at below-market price for qualified buyers (these units are condominiums, not rental).
The good news is the units are nearly finished and will, by all accounts, be totally occupied by very grateful, income-qualified owners “by the end of the year.” And, developer Larizza has turned most of his attention to other affordable project housing around Westchester County.
All this while the County Executive Rob Astorino fights with the federal government over how much pressure should and could be applied to other municipalities that are being required by HUD to construct a total of 750 units.
The Cottage Street condo units are considered “affordable” because County funds were used to purchase the .9-acre land on which they are located. And, County funds have covered all the costs of installing the infrastructure – utility line, connections, and driveway/parking areas. These account for 24 percent of the total project cost.
By removing these costs, the selling price per unit drops from about $262,000 to about $160,000.
The federal government sets income limits, based on a size of a household, to qualify for housing programs. The income limits are also used in calculating affordable rents and sales prices of affordable housing. The income limits are expressed as a percentage of Area Median Income (AMI). Because Westchester is a “High Cost” area, HUD has given the county permission to use its calculation of 80 percent AMI, rather than HUD’s own calculation which includes averaging this Income Limit on a national basis.
In 2012 these limits range from $60,450 for a one-person household to $86,800 for 4 persons, to $100,150 for 6 persons. The federal government also sets minimal limits on income – to be sure that prospective owners will be able to make mortgage payments.
After much publicity and public information meetings (including one at the Rye Free Reading Room), a lottery and selection process was carried out by the Elmsford-based Housing Action Council (HAC).
Sixty-four applicants were selected in the first lottery, but after going through the applicants another selection of 20 was needed in order to get the final 18 chosen and approved. Grace Noonan of HAC said they are still accepting applications, in case one or more applicants decides to drop out.
Because the housing units are in the form of a condominium, the New York State Attorney General’s office had to sign off on all the terms of the property ownership. They required extensive paperwork from the contractor and architect to determine which part of the site is jointly owned and which part is shared ownership. The sign-off occurred in late September.
Noonan noted that all 18 of the successful applicants are guaranteed to get a mortgage, as several banks, including CMS Bank and Capital One, are working with the County and HAC. Noonan is confident the final hurdles will be overcome within the next month.
