Affordable Housing in the State of New York

Street of NYC

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash

SP Investment Fund invests in affordable housing apartment communities all over the United States, including communities in the State of New York. Recently, SP Investment Fund performed extensive renovations of two affordable housing communities in New York that serve seniors and disabled persons. 

According to data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 40 percent of people with low incomes in the state of New York spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent. However, some of those people get relief from federal rent subsidies that allow them to afford decent housing. 

Today, more than 1.2 million people in over 580,000 residences in New York State receive federal housing aid. Of that 1.2 million, more than 20 percent are elderly, nearly 25 percent have a disability, and nearly 55 percent live with children. 

In 2018, the federal government allocated more than $6 billion for New York rental support programs. These programs help prevent hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people from becoming homeless in a state where rents have been steadily climbing.

SP Investment Fund Renovation of Two Upstate New York Apartments

SP Investment Fund, based in California, invests in, rehabilitates and preserves affordable housing housing. In December of 2017, an SP Investment Fund affiliate closed the financing for the purchase, renovation and preservation of two affordable housing communities for seniors in Upstate New York. Nixon Peabody LLP served as counsel to SP on the transaction. The total acquisition and development costs of the two transactions combined is in excess of $40,000,000. Among other sources, the financing for the transactions included tax-exempt bond financing through local issuers, four percent low-income housing tax credits, equity from CREA, LLC. The debt financing was facilitated by Hunt Mortgage and provided through Federal Housing Administration loan under the 223(f) loan program. The transaction is enabling approximatley $8,000,000 in renovations to occur that will preserve the property physically for the long term. In connection with the transaction, the affordability covenants have also been extended. The residents will not need to move out of the properties during the renovation process.