Long Island gets money for affordable housing

The state Housing Finance Agency has approved $21.9 million in financing for a real estate developer to buy Twin Oaks Apartments, a 94-unit building in Hempstead Village and renovate it into affordable housing.

Conifer, a Rochester-based company that also manages properties, also got a $2.5 million loan from the Homes for Working Families program under the state's Housing Trust Fund Corporation. This type of loan carries a 1 percent interest, and apartments renovated with such funding must be rented to families making 60 percent or less of the area median income. The state also gave a $441,000 weatherization grant.

The state's housing finance agencies also granted Hempstead Town $240,000 grant to build six two-story Colonial-style homes and Riverhead Town $200,000 to upgrade 26 single-family homes.

“The financings and awards we have approved will create new affordable housing from Niagara Falls to Long Island, encourage new business opportunities, protect homeowners from foreclosure and help create much-needed jobs,” said Brian E. Lawlor, commissioner of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which oversees the state’s financing agencies.

The Long Island funding was announced as part of $263 million in loans and grants approved statewide. 

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