A new state housing program could help Warren County remedy the deficit in available, affordable long-term rentals in the so-called up-county towns north of Queensbury, Warren County Planner Ethan Gaddy told a committee of Supervisors on August 21.
The New York State Vacant Rental Improvement Program (V- RIP) “targets buildings with one to five vacant units,” said Gaddy.
“These are the fairly small buildings that are typically found in the hamlets of Pottersville, Chestertown, Johnsburg and Warrensburg, which may be multiunit residential buildings or commercial buildings occupied by a business on the ground floor with a second floor where the space is vacant,” Gaddy said.
According to Gaddy, the program awards rehabilitation grants of $50,000 or $75,000 per unit to owners of buildings with undeveloped potential for long-term rentals.
The state requires that all grants be administered by a non-profit organization, and for Warren County, that non-profit will be the Ticonderoga-based North Country Rural Development Council.
According to Nicole Justice Green, the executive director of the North Country Rural Development Council, building owners may apply for a rehabilitation grant of $50,000 per unit, to be rented to a tenant commanding 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), or a $75,000 grant to rehabilitate a unit that would be rented to a tenant with an income of 60% of the AMI.
(The AMI for a Warren County family of four is $92,000 per year, according to information supplied by Ethan Gaddy.)
According to Green, only work on vacant spaces will be funded. Apartments that are occupied currently, but which may be in need of remodeling, are not eligible for the V-RIP grants.
Upgrades that may be funded by the grants include: bringing a unit up to building codes; environmental remediation; and increasing accessibility through construction that will bring a unit into compliance with regulations promulgated by the Americans with Disability Act.
A unit rehabilitated with a V-RIP grant may be rented after ten years in the state program at the market rate, which is currently upwards of $2,000 per month.
“These programs will be a cornerstone in our strategy to drive economic development and support our local workforce by transforming vacant sites into vibrant spaces. By addressing blight and repurposing underutilized properties, we’re not just enhancing our neighborhoods, we’re laying down the foundations for a more robust and resilient community,” Nicole Justice Green stated.
Although a state-wide program, V-RIP is especially well suited to the Adirondacks, said Green.
“We have experienced years of economic downturn and disinvestment within our hamlets, and as a consequence, we see blight and vacancies,” said Green. “So a program that incentivizes the rehabilitation of these vacant rental units and gets them back online is welcome.”
At the August 21 meeting of the Economic Development and Growth Committee, Ethan Gaddy urged the Supervisors to contact “landlords or property owners who have existing structures that have the potential for infill development and ask them to go online to the website of the North Country
(essexcountylandbank.org.) and complete a pre-application or statement of interest.”
According to a statement from North Country Development Council, “These pre-applications are profoundly important and are necessary to determine demand in order to secure funding.”
Furthermore, said Nicole Justice Green, evidence of a demand for funding to rehabilitate vacant apartments will also reveal a need for this type of housing and perhaps encourage private developers to enter the market.
The North Country Rural Development Council will administer grants for Washington County building owners, as well as owners with buildings in Essex and Warren Counties, Green said.
According to Gaddy, the “Housing Needs Study and Market Demand Analysis of Warren County,” which was released last fall, indicated that affordable, long-term rental units in the up-county towns were scarce, depressing employment and school enrollments.
“There is a lack of rental units in general (in the up-county towns) inside the Blue Line and many employees in these smaller communities (must) commute into them (because of the lack of local housing),” the report stated, adding, “Overall, the vacancy rate for affordable housing units in the market is very low.”
Among that study’s recommendations: “leverage partnerships that will increase local capacity,” said Gaddy, noting that the Planning Department’s work with the North Country Rural Development Council is an example of that type of partnership.
