Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities, expressed the archdiocese’s commitment to providing affordable housing at a press conference updating the progress of Second Farms, a 319-unit, low- and moderate-income building in the West Farms section of the Bronx scheduled to open next year.
The event was held at the Second Farms construction site July 12.
“Second Farms is an important part of our commitment to building affordable housing for New Yorkers,” said Msgr. Sullivan in a statement. “We have over 1,000 new units planned for the next five years and have renovated and preserved another 2,000 units to ensure that New York remains an affordable place for working families and low-income New Yorkers.
“This is our commitment to ensuring a basic human right—a roof over every family’s head.”
In April, an official opening and dedication was held for the 112-unit, 12-story St. Augustine Terrace in the Bronx. At that time, Catholic Homes New York announced the development of 2,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years.
Catholic Homes New York, a division of Catholic Charities that develops affordable housing for families and seniors in the archdiocese, oversees 2,336 affordable-housing units at 15 sites in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Yonkers.
Second Farms is one of the affordable-housing projects being undertaken to help the archdiocese meet its goals. The St. Vincent de Paul Senior Residence, which will have 89 units, is scheduled to open in December in the Bronx. Construction has not started on two other projects—St. Philip Neri in the Bronx and Clinton Broome in Manhattan.
Second Farms is expected to open in September 2020. Financing for the project came from tax-exempt bonds from the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), low-income housing tax credits, a subsidy from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and city capital funding provided by City Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
Salamanca said 60 percent of the building’s units are slated for families earning between 27 and 57 percent of the area’s median income. The remaining units will be for the formerly homeless and families with incomes at 80 percent of the area’s median income.
Salamanca and Diaz joined Msgr. Sullivan at the press conference, as did Louise Carroll, commissioner of HPD; Molly Park, deputy commissioner of development for HPD; and James McSpiritt, CEO of Catholic Homes New York.
“I’m excited to celebrate the progress we have made on delivering 319 units of low-income family housing here at Second Farms,” McSpirit said. “With our partners in government and the private sector, Catholic Homes New York looks forward to producing hundreds of homes for low-income New Yorkers over the next few years.”
Source: cny
