Listen to this articleA California-based firm specializing in affordable housing is planning a $64.34 million renovation of the Orchard Place multifamily community in Greece.
Lincoln Avenue Communities (LAC) intends to make interior and exterior upgrades, the first Low Income Housing Tax Credits-backed rehabilitation of the property since 2007.
LAC has told the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) that $4.542 million in tax incentives are required in order for the project to be feasible and to ensure Orchard Place remains affordable to residents earning up to 60 percent of the Median Area Income.
Located off English Road at 1 Affinity Lane, the 47.63-acre property is home to 550 units across 43 two- and three-story buildings. There are approximately 1,620 residents.
Interior upgrades will include new appliances, vinyl plank flooring, plumbing fixtures and kitchen cabinets and counters, as well as ADA accessibility improvements.
Exterior work will include renovated buildings facades, security cameras and a gated entry system.
The project will be backed 4 percent LIHTC and Section 8 project-based voucher assistance.
Orchard Place, once known as English Village, is part of New York Homes and Community Renewal’s Mitchell-Lama program. The property will statutorily sunset from the Mitchell-Lama program in 2038, but LAC says the requested tax incentives from COMIDA will ensure the apartments remain affordable “well beyond.”
The developer is asking for a PILOT agreement worth $1,889,191, a sales tax exemption of $2,337,306 and a mortgage recording tax exemption of $315,562. A public hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on April 15 at Greece Town Hall, with the COMIDA board expected to vote on the application at the April 21 board meeting.
The LAC application says that “because rents will remain restricted, project net operating income is insufficient to support the permanent debt required to fund the rehabilitation. A long-term PILOT is therefore a critical and commonly used component of the financial structures of affordable housing preservation transactions and is required by the project’s equity investor and lenders.”
Of the 550 units, 192 are one-bedroom, 219 two-bedroom, 111 three-bedroom, 21 four-bedroom and seven five-bedroom.
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