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WestHab Plan To Build 81 Affordable Units Progresses Despite Opposition From Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips
By Tina Traster
What seemed like a stalled affordable and sustainable housing project in the Village of Haverstraw has been given a new lease on life.
New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) has issued $12.1 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to Real Estate Westhab Inc. in the Village of Haverstraw for the construction of an 81-unit affordable and supportive housing development on a Village-owned municipal parking lot
Westhab plans to build a 100 percent affordable rental project for qualified low-income renters at 60 percent AMI (area median income) or below. The development includes 20 units with supportive services for homeless households.
The 79,000 square-foot Westhab project at 63 Maple Avenue will be a mix of studios, one, two- and three-bedroom units with 143 parking space for residents and approximately 82 additional parking spaces for community use. The all-electric project will meet Passive House Standards for Sustainability.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is a federal program that incentivizes developers to create affordable housing by offering tax credits to investors who finance these projects. The tax credits help offset the costs of developing affordable housing, making it more financially viable for developers to create these units.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, through the State Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction in state taxes to investors in qualified low-income housing and is modeled after the federal LIHTC program.
This award is part of the state’s recent $270 million in incentives aimed at building and preserving 1,800 affordable homes in New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul has made a $25 billion commitment to increase the housing supply over the next five years by building or preserving 100,000 affordable units statewide.
“Solving New York’s housing crisis comes down to one simple strategy: building more housing,” Hochul said.
The awarded projects will expand or preserve the housing supply in every region, upgrade and modernize public housing, further local economic development initiatives, and include energy efficient features that advance the state’s climate goals.
Rockland County is in dire need of affordable housing. There is a deficit of 4,230 affordable units for those making under $60,000 annually, according to the Rockland County Housing Needs Assessment, prepared by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress. The report says 57 percent of Rockland homes are single-family detached homes – unaffordable to the average resident. The single-family average sales price is $683,000. A median household income of nearly $100,000 can qualify for a $260,000 mortgage. And fewer than 2 percent of single-family homes sold are less than $300,000 according to the 2022 Multiple Listings Service.
Last month, the County awarded $13.5 million in revolving HALO (Housing Actions Loan Opportunity) loans to four developers, three of which are in the Village of Haverstraw. Westhab was awarded a $3 million HALO loan.
The HALO fund provides direct loans to borrowers in support of the creation or preservation of housing that is attainable to the average Rockland resident, with proceeds from loan repayments flowing back into the fund for future housing opportunities. All projects will be consistent with the character of existing neighborhoods, according to the County.
“In the midst of a regional housing crisis, Rockland County is showing leadership by making the HALO funds available to developers to build housing that is affordable to the community,” said Andrew Germansky, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Westhab, Inc, during the presentation of the awards last month. “Our development is a testament to the value and impact of true public/private partnerships.”
Penrose NY LLC, which is redeveloping the former Haverstraw Chair Factory on a nine-acre parcel on the Hudson River, also received a $3 million loan. A $2.5 million HALO loan was awarded to Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation to acquire and preserve an existing a 90-unit affordable rental development at 140 Route 9W for qualified low-income senior renters. Regan Development Company, a large regional affordable housing builder, received a $5 million loan via Nannawit Commons LLC for a Chase bank site it plans to acquire at 250 South Middletown Road in Nanuet, south of the Main Street shopping corridor. The project calls for developing a 52-unit, 100 percent affordable, senior, rental project for qualified low-income renters.
Westhab’s $12.1 million award breathes optimism into a vision shard by Village officials to create a concentration of affordable units. Over the past several years, Mayor Michael Kohut and the Village board worked to attract affordable housing development. Three projects have been slated to build nearly 500 affordable units.
“It’s the funding they’ve been waiting for,” said Village of Haverstraw Mayor Michael Kohut. “The Village is very eager to see this project start.”
However, over the past 18 months, one project was scuttled and the other two, including Westhab, had been stalled. At the center of the opposition is Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips, who has been actively vocal about opposing affordable housing in the village by threatening to withhold PILOTs (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) to Westhab and Pennrose.
WestHab’s PILOT “is still something that needs to be resolved,” said Kohut.
By all accounts, there is widespread support for Pennrose’s $340 million, 450-unit housing project on the former Chair Factory site (70 percent of units will be affordable including set asides for veterans, seniors and those below income thresholds).
The affordable housing projects are supported by the County, school district and Rockland County’s Industrial Development Agency. (IDA)
PILOT agreements are necessary to make a project financially feasible for project lenders. They also provide certainty of revenue for the county, town, village, and school district, though the amounts are typically lower than assessments based on fair market value. In exchange, they provide the developer with a certain amount of predictability, which is an incentive to build in a municipality.
While the Westhab and Pennrose continue to progress, a third affordable housing project has been scuttled. In 2024, Phillips orchestrated the donation of the Knights of Columbus building at 56 West Broad, rather than see through a sale to an affordable housing developer, St. Katherine Group of Port Chester, for $2.4 million. The developer had promised more than 100 affordable units.
