Don’t neglect the power of preservation in addressing New York’s affordable housing crisis

Earlier this summer, Beacon Communities joined state and local officials to kick off critical work at three Ulster County affordable housing properties that will improve residents’ quality of life, ensuring they can age in place with dignity and contribute to the community for years to come.

The $43 million renovation project at Birches at Saugerties, Birchwood Village and Chambers Senior Housing — all of which largely serve seniors on fixed incomes — will upgrade a total of 212 affordable units. Highlights include a wide range of repairs, additions, and modernizations — both interior and exterior.

Preservation projects like this one are perhaps not as high profile as new development, but they are just as important — in some ways, even more so — when it comes to addressing New York's affordable housing crisis. Given a mounting backlog of deferred maintenance, expiring affordability requirements and functional obsolescence, the need to bring innovative investment solutions to our existing housing stock is becoming more urgent every day.

Housing costs continue to climb in Ulster County as wages lag behind, according to a recent study from the Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, which notes that the rising cost of rent has far outpaced gains in hourly wages in the nine-county region over the past six years.

Affordable housing is defined as a home where the household pays no more than 30% of their annual income on rent. However, the Pattern report shows that on average, a Hudson Valley renter would have to work more than one job and as much as three times longer than a standard 40-hour workweek just to afford a one-or-two-bedroom apartment.

In Ulster County specifically, an individual would need to work about 70 hours a week, every week to be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment. Without intervention, this disparity will only continue to grow, not only putting vulnerable individuals at risk of homelessness, but exacerbating the region’s existing labor shortage and undercutting its economic viability.

Solving the affordable housing crisis requires changing our approach to development and preservation — not only with policy changes that encourage new development, but through smart, targeted investment that recognizes the need to stretch our limited resources to benefit the broadest possible number of individuals.

Preservation of the 60 units at Birches at Saugerties, 80 units at Birchwood Village and 72 units at Chambers Senior Housing is being made possible by a unique financing structure that involves both public and private resources. In addition, New York State Homes and Community Renewal allocated an 82-unit Section 8 contract to the properties, which reduced rent burden for existing tenants and guaranteed future affordability.

While we are proud to have celebrated this investment, our work is far from over. These kinds of projects can and must be replicated. Our efforts in Ulster County established a blueprint for private and public collaboration through which we can ensure long-term stability for renters and prevent the escalation of the affordable housing crisis — both New York and across the nation.

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By rehabilitating existing affordable housing, we can save money in the long term both by ensuring vulnerable residents stay safely and stably housed and maximizing the availability made possible by new construction. We can build stronger, more resilient communities by upgrading older buildings using more modern, sustainable practices, lowering utility costs and reducing environmental impact.

Beacon Communities looks forward to celebrating the final product at our Ulster County properties, and to working with state and local partners to create and maintain more affordable housing opportunities that allow residents to live where they choose, regardless of their income level.

Dara Kovel is CEO of Beacon Communities, an affordable housing firm which develops, acquires, invests in and manages multi-family housing.

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Don’t neglect the power of preservation in addressing New York’s affordable housing crisis