$32 million transaction with the Albany Housing Authority will facilitate creation and preservation of 88 affordable rental homes in Steamboat Square Community.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – RealEstateRama – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Multifamily Housing is announcing today that it recently closed a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) transaction with the Albany Housing Authority (AHA) in Albany, NY. This transaction facilitates the long-term affordability of 88 rental homes, including the preservation of 51 existing affordable rental homes, the creation of 23 new affordable rental homes through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and the addition of 14 locally funded affordable homes in Albany’s Steamboat Square community, a site which has historically been workforce housing for Albany residents.
The Steamboat Square community is a 382-home affordable housing property located in Albany’s South End/Steamboat Square neighborhood. This transaction is the first phase of a planned four-phase process to convert through RAD 382 homes in four buildings to Section 8 project-based vouchers. Through the conversion, affordable rental homes in Steamboat Square’s 12-story building, known as Steamboat 20, will be preserved as long-term affordable housing and rehabilitated to allow for new occupants. Currently, the building is only partially occupied due to repairs needed because of the age of the property. With new financing sources acquired as part of the RAD transaction, AHA will be able to bring 37 units back into the community as deeded affordable housing.
The rehabilitation will be in accordance with New York State Energy Research & Development Multifamily Performance Program Comprehensive Option, which is focused on reducing energy consumption by 20% overall in existing multifamily structures. Energy efficient windows, new geothermal heating and cooling systems, new energy star appliances, new fans, and new bathroom fixtures will be installed on-site. Additionally, nine units will be designed to be fully accessible for the physically impaired and four units will be adapted for those with visual or hearing impairments.
Through RAD, AHA is addressing the immediate and future affordable housing needs of the community through these investments, which will reinforce the property’s ability to serve as affordable housing for the long-term. The transaction includes a $32 million construction budget ($364,000 per home) fully financed through:
- Commercial First Mortgage
- Public Housing Authority non-federal funds
- City of Albany HOME funds
- 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
- New York State Office of Homes and Community Renewal funds
- Empire State Development Corporation funds
- Clean Heat Incentive funds
About RAD
RAD was designed to help address the multi-billion-dollar nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance in the public housing portfolio and to stem the loss of affordable housing that could no longer be kept to decent standards. From the program’s inception through November 1, 2022, the Rental Assistance Demonstration has facilitated more than $15 billion in capital investment to improve or replace nearly 185,000 deeply rent-assisted homes, most of which house extremely low-income families, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
Under RAD, projects funded under the public housing program convert their public housing assistance to project-based Section 8 rental assistance. Under Section 8, residents continue to pay 30% of their income towards rent and the housing must continue to serve those with very low and extremely low incomes, as was the case when the property was assisted through the public housing program. Residents must be notified and consulted prior to conversion, are given a right to return to assisted housing post-construction so that the same tenants can enjoy these newly preserved and improved apartments and maintain the same fundamental rights they had as public housing residents.
RAD Resources
More programmatic information is available at the RAD website. Data on RAD is available at the RAD Resource Desk.
View photo essays and read case studies where RAD is working to successfully preserve and improve public housing for low-income families.
Watch an educational video for public housing residents or those new to the RAD program.
