Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Habitat for Humanity’s multi-unit apartment project on Lawrence Street in Glens Falls — a collaboration with WAIT House — is not an approved use of the $200,000 that the City provided from its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Ward 3 Common Councilwoman Diana Palmer, who chairs the Building and Codes Committee, pointed out the flaw.
“In 2021, with our vacant property law, and receiving ARPA funds, we saw an opportunity to support a path to ownership, to find properties not in good shape, fix them up, put a family in, and put a property back on the tax rolls.”
But the project is not paying taxes.
A March 30 story in The Chronicle said, “The City of Glens Falls kick-started the $1.1 million project with a $200,000 grant through its $12.4 million ARPA grant from the federal American Rescue Plan Act” and quoted local Habitat for Humanity director Adam Feldman as saying. “That opened the door for us to borrow about $800,000 for the project.”
Mr. Feldman said this week, “I misspoke.” He said, “The ARPA funding from the City freed up capital to allow us to allocate funding for this project” on Lawrence Street.
He told The Chronicle that using ARPA funds to underwrite costs associated with renovating and selling a house on Orville Street to an individual family, on the traditional Habitat model, freed other funds for the Lawrence Street project.
The March 30 Chronicle article also said the project would “provide 10 affordable rental units catering in part to the youths that are WAIT House’s mission.”
But Councilwoman Palmer says even though it is run by two non-profit entities, it is not affordable housing.
Rents range from $900-$1,100, based on “fair market value as determined by HUD,” Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Feldman said previously.
Ms. Palmer says it raises a question of the overall vetting process regarding tax exemptions, which she said she had urged the City to address through a task force or committee.
Mr. Feldman says, “The City asked Habitat to be partners as they analyze the overall tax abatements of projects in the City. We are willing to do what’s appropriate to pay taxes on the property,” like a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT).
Mr. Feldman noted six of the 10 apartments are occupied, “with two more moving in this month,” and rehab proceeding on the final two apartments, “with the goal of having tenants in place August 1.”
He said the Orville Street project is complete, with the new family purchasing the house from Habitat and taking ownership as of last week.
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