The Albany Housing Authority is celebrating the completion of a multimillion dollar renovation.
Albany Housing Authority Executive Director Chiquita D’Arbeau says the "Steamboat 20 at Steamboat Square" project preserved 51 affordable units and created 37 new apartments at 20 Rensselaer Street in the city’s South End. That includes 14 with supportive housing services for individuals who are struggling with homelessness and are in need of assistance.
"This $42 million project features several upgrades to the building's energy efficiency, including new HVAC systems, domestic hot water systems and energy efficient appliances," said D’Arbeau.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan says the city kicked in over a million dollars but it took the efforts of many different agencies and layers of government to get the project finished, including: "..over $700,000 of American Rescue Plan funding because we wanted to focus on creating affordable housing opportunities here, right here in the South End, and we were able to do that. We also, through our Community Development Agency, were able to contribute about $250,000 in HOME funds for this project. And last but not least, we really focused. This is a project that we're so proud of, because it's geothermal, it's sustainable. I was invited to go to Williams College to talk about this project, because this is what we need to be doing more of. Often, when we talk about climate change and we talk about all of the different investments that need to be made, we often forget those who are most vulnerable to the rising costs of energy and to the cost of that transformation and that transition. This is an example of a project that puts those most vulnerable people first," said Sheehan.
RuthAnne Visnauskas is Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
"We are committed to reducing the impact of our buildings in New York state," Visnauskas said. "We are operating under a very aggressive plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the major contributors to that is housing. So we have made efforts to make all of our new construction all electric, to be investing in preserving our existing housing stock and making it all electric, and in this case, making it geothermal, where we are pulling energy from the earth for our heating and cooling. So again, another sort of mission, critical agenda item for us, and also climate justice.”
Congressman Paul Tonko, a Democrat like Sheehan, helped secure funding. The 20th district representative too emphasizes the importance of quality affordable housing in the face of climate change.
“We know that as we celebrate this sunny day out there, there are those in Florida that are bracing for the impacts of Milton on the heels of Helene. We saw the devastation that came with the impact of climate change, we can deny that concept, but I think science tells us better, so we need to rev up. We need to do things like this that will address the carbon footprint, that allows for cleaner air in this neighborhood, but allows for us to meet those robust goals of climate change activity, so that we can be there and be the solution. And then hand to the next generation a better earth,” said Tonko.
The event concluded with a ribbon-cutting and a tour of the new units.
