FUNDING Leading Affordable Housing Provider Acquires Funding to Construct Affordable Rental Units in New Haven, CT Financing from the State of Connecticut will Provide 56 Units
June 11, 2021, New York, NY —The NHP Foundation (NHPF), in collaboration with the City of New Haven and WRSHIP, announces the acquisition of funding to create a townhome development containing 56 rental apartments along with a clubhouse community center, coffee shop/bakery, interior parking, playground, and a community gazebo in a neighborhood with nearby public transportation, grocery and other retail, schools, recreational areas and daycare. The New Haven United Nations International Peace Garden (created in 2011), is adjacent to the new housing and shall remain onsite. The MLK Boulevard/Tyler Street development located in the West River neighborhood and consisting of rental townhomes, is designed to serve households earning 30% AMI, 50% AMI, 60% AMI and also contains market rate rental units to create a mixed- income community. The project has been awarded both 9% tax credits by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and additional funding from the Connecticut Department of Housing. And through partnership with the Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH), a portion of the project’s rental townhomes will receive rental subsidies to support formerly homeless families and individuals earning below 30% AMI. WRSHIP, incorporated in 2001, is the New Haven “SHIP” of a national movement of self-help investment plans (SHIPs) active since the 1960s and organized by African-Americans, who pooled resources to undertake development in their communities, not having been able to gain access to capital through traditional banks and financiers. “The project represents the first new housing to be constructed on a vast stretch of land in New Haven that has been vacant for over four decades,” according to Anthony Dawson, president of WRSHIP, and a native of New Haven, “It is also a major step for the inclusion of New Haven’s African American community in major economic endeavors.” The project was made possible via NHPF’s innovative Affiliate Program which provides expertise to mission aligned affordable housing developers/owners, municipal and community organizations in need of resources to renovate existing assets or to develop new properties. “Bringing much needed affordable housing to New Haven in partnership with WRSHIP, a community and faith-based organization advancing the participation of African-Americans in Connecticut development projects, embodies everything the NHPF Affiliate
Program stands for,” said Jamie A. Smarr, NHPF Senior Vice President, Affiliate Program. “The City has focused tremendous energy into reconnecting its downtown with surrounding neighborhoods, said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, “Revitalizing the Hill and West River neighborhoods as a mixed-use district combining new homes with retail and entertainment venues, walkable streets, and public spaces, this new development complements the work already being completed. I couldn’t be more excited about what this means for our city.” NHPF’s Resident Services subsidiary, Operation Pathways, will be staffed within the Community Center/Club House. Operation Pathways focuses on youth development, financial self-sufficiency, education and health and wellness. Smarr added, “The on-site Operation Pathways Resident Services Coordinator will work to link all households with the appropriate services already available within the greater New Haven community, in addition to Operation Pathways-led programs offered out of the on-site community center.” The proposed development has been designed to achieve certification with Passive House Design standards for energy efficiency and conservation of resources. It also includes, to the maximum extent possible, solar energy installations for additional energy efficiency. NHPF has developed 13 affordable housing communities via the Affiliate Program, with the New Haven development becoming its first in Connecticut.
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