The Community Preservation Corp. celebrates completion of renovation of Van Rensselaer Village Apartments

The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) recently joined with local and state officials in celebrating the completion of the renovation of Van Rensselaer Village Apartments. CPC will be providing a $2.705 million SONYMA-insured permanent loan to the $18 million cost of overhauling the apartment complex comprising 81 units for low to moderate income families. The apartments are affordable for families with incomes at or below 60% of area median income. Built in the early 1970s, the Van Rensselaer Village Apartments is an Urban Development Corporation sponsored Mitchell-Lama/HUD 236 project that had been distressed for a number of years. The complex is managed by the Watervliet Housing Authority. The extensive renovations included reconfiguring the original 12 wood-framed garden apartment buildings to 17 buildings and converting 100 garden apartments to 81 apartments consisting of one to four-bedroom units and one unit for the superintendent. Additional upgrades included window replacement, improved insulation, replacement of flat roofs with pitched roofs, installation of high-efficiency gas boilers and on-demand hot water heaters in each unit as well as energy-efficient appliances in the kitchens and bathrooms. In addition to the CPC loan, funding included low-income housing tax credits administered by the New York State Homes and Community Renewal, a construction loan from M&T Bank and a NYSERDA Energy Smart Loan. The borrower is Van Rensselaer Associates, LP. The developer is Omni Housing Development of Albany. The Watervliet Housing Authority will continue to manage the project. Christopher Betts, senior vice president and director of CPC's Eastern Regional Office in Albany which handled the loan, said, "CPC is pleased to have played a key role in bringing new life to this very important affordable housing resource for Watervliet families."