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Bloomberg: VOA-GNY’s Housing Innovation Fund Offers a Sustainable Solution to Developing Affordable Housing

The Housing Innovation Fund allows VOA-GNY to overcome barriers and compete with larger, for-profit developers, Bloomberg reports.

Rendering of VOA-GNY's Andrews Ave Senior Residence.

The goal is to create 2,000 affordable units for low-income and formerly homeless individuals and families over the next five years.

Bloomberg’s CityLab covered a historic $20 million commitment from an anonymous private donor to help VOA-GNY develop affordable housing in the Greater New York area. The gift marks the launch of VOA-GNY’s new Housing Innovation Fund (HIF), which will help to double the number of units built for low-income and formerly homeless individuals and families from 1,000 to 2,000 over the next five years.  

We’ve got to be able to move quickly and build.

Jeffrey Ginsburg, VOA-GNY president and CEO

Predevelopment expenses are typically funded by the developer and can sometimes be harder to secure financing to cover them, journalist Sarah Holder explains.  

For a nonprofit looking to move on new affordable projects, this risk makes it harder to compete with larger, for-profit developers whose resources allow them to act more decisively. Ginsburg said.

Read the full article at Bloomberg’s CityLab.