Akiko Matsuda

amatsuda@lohud.com

The prospect of getting an affordable apartment at a newly-built luxury building in Ossining excited Sheila Vereen-Massengale, who had been yearning to find a place to live for her and her teenage daughter.

"They said we would hear from them within two weeks," Vereen-Massenglale said recently, recalling the day in June when she filed her application with IFCA Housing Network, a nonprofit that was in charge of finding qualified residents for the first nine affordable units at the Harbor Square rental apartment complex. "So I was thinking I would get the apartment. It sounded really promising."

But her hope was crushed a week later when she received a rejection letter, indicating that her income didn't meet the minimum requirements, which are set at $50,544 for a two-person household and $61,344 for a four-person household. A single mother like Vereen-Massengale has to have a full-time job that pays nearly $26 an hour to meet the requirement. The rents for affordable units at Harbor Square are $1,404 for one-bedrooms and $1,704 for two-bedrooms.

The dilemma she faced is not limited to one property in Ossining. Across Westchester, developers constructing thousands of new rental units are reaching agreements with municipalities to include some "affordable" units in their complexes. But such units, which come with an income ceiling, also often come with a less-talked about income floor that leaves many working class families out of luck.

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Many of these "affordable" units are meant for households whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of Westchester's area median income. That median income in 2016 was $86,250 for a two-person household and $107,800 for a four-person household.

However, families whose incomes are much less than 80 percent of the area median income — or much less than what amounts to $69,000 in case of two-person household and $86,250 in case of four-person household — are being ruled ineligible for many of recently-created affordable units. That is because the rents exceed 30 percent of their incomes, another affordable housing benchmark.

"They say they have 'affordable units,' but it’s not affordable for most of the people who are struggling in the county," said Julia Solow, Westchester County organizer with Community Voices Heard, a nonprofit that works toward social, economic and racial justice. "Those people who are priced out because of rising rents throughout the region, especially in Rivertowns, they are the working-class people who run our grocery stores, serve our food, drive our taxis, and play essential rolls in the community. Teacher's assistants, firefighters, not to mention seniors and people with disabilities. Where’s the place for them in our community?"

Driven by costs

These "affordable" rentals built by private developers are not public housing. They have to financially make sense for the developers, said Alexander Roberts, executive director of Community Housing Innovations, a nonprofit that advocates low-income and workforce housing.

If developers set the benchmark at 60 percent of the area median income, "the rent alone won't cover the mortgage payment," Roberts said. He said it was a general principle that a developer needs $250,000 in government assistance to create one unit of housing with that level of affordability.

Locally, construction of all-affordable units for families at or below 60 percent of the area median income has generally required major public support. For instance, The Modern, a $31.5 million, 81-unit affordable rental complex in Mount Vernon, has been assisted by a variety of public programs, including $6.9 million in tax-exempt mortgage from the state Homes & Community Renewal and another $4.4 million from the state Office of Mental Health. The building is currently under construction and is slated to open next year.

Karen D'Attore, the executive director of Ossining-based housing advocacy group IFCA, said while Harbor Square and Avalon Ossining — another rental complex that set 17 units aside for families using the 80 percent of area median income benchmark — "do offer some people relief from high housing costs, they are only part of what must be a multifaceted solution that addresses the needs of all residents who work, live and add value to the communities in which we live."

In addition to the monthly rents for affordable units at the Avalon Ossining complex, residents are responsible for the costs of gas, electricity, water/sewer, phone and cable as well as "fees for pets and garage parking," according to the Avalon website. Monthly fees for common area/amenities are $60; trash collections $20; and parking runs from $46 to $184.76.

In Mamaroneck, town officials successfully negotiated with the developer of The Cambium luxury condominium complex to include 10 affordable rental units in the 149-unit building. These rental units are also for families whose income is at or just below 80 percent of the area median income.

"At that time, we thought it would be difficult for people at 60 percent (of area median income) to actually afford that building for what they were describing and what they wanted to have in terms of the cost of the building," said Mamaroneck town Supervisor Nancy Seligson, referring to the building's services and amenities.

Eight units are available under the first phase of The Cambium workforce housing program, and total of 23 people applied, Seligson said. The town's Community Services Development is currently reviewing the applications, she said. The rents for the affordable units range from $1,800 to $2,012, per month, Seligson said.

Some success

Though it's limited, some luxury rental complexes are offering affordable units with a lower income bar.

On the ground of The Lofts on Saw Mill River, a luxury rental complex in Hastings on Hudson, a 12-unit affordable rental building is under construction. Those units would be available for households with income at or below 50 and 60 percent of area median income. The project received $679,780 in financial incentives from the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency for creating 100 construction jobs.

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The Residences at Corporate Park Drive, a 421-unit rental apartment complex set to be built on the Platinum Mile in Harrison, will include 21 affordable units for households with income up to 60 percent of the area median income, or about $52,000 for a couple, and 21 units for households with income up to 80 percent of the area median income, or about $69,000 for a couple.

The lower income affordable units would rent for $1,250 for a one-bedroom apartment, including all utilities. At the higher income affordable level, a one-bedroom would rent for $1,600, including all utilities.

In White Plains, the ongoing 55 Bank Street development is slated to include up to 20 percent, or 112 units, of affordable rentals in the 561-unit complex. The affordable units would be available for families between 60 and 100 percent of median income, with incomes averaging no greater than 80 percent of the median, according to a White Plain's Urban Renewal Agency resolution adopted in August 2014.

The county IDA agreed to $6.51 million in sales and mortgage tax exemptions for the project to create more than 500 jobs.

Housing crisis

Nationwide, rents have risen faster than incomes, making it difficult for renters to find affordable apartments, according to Andrew Woo, director of data science and growth for Apartment List, an online rental apartment listing website. The decade from 2000 to 2010 was the worst for renters as rents increased by 12 percent while median income fell by 7 percent. Things have improved slightly since, but not nearly enough to close the gap, according to Woo, who used Census data for his analysis.

In Westchester, a 2009 fair housing settlement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York requires the county to construct 750 affordable housing units in communities with low percentages of African American and Hispanic households. Of those, 375 units must be rentals, and 20 percent of them must be affordable to families earning 50 percent of the area median income or less. The rest must be affordable to those earning at or below 65 percent of the median.

But the need is far greater than what the settlement requires, according to the Center for Urban Policy Research of Rutgers University, which determined that 10,768 units of affordable housing should be created in Westchester to meet the regional need between 2000 and 2015. The center conducted the "Affordable Housing Need Assessment" for Westchester County.

After months of searching and nearly 20 rejections, Vereen-Massengale recently found an apartment in Ossining, which she can afford thanks to her first Section 8 voucher, also known as a housing choice voucher.

The federal housing assistance program is meant to help very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market.

Vereen-Massengale, who once had a full-time job as a computer technician, now works two part-time jobs, one at a library circulation desk and the other at a local grocery store.

"Having my own place is so special. You can come home when you want to," she said. "I just prayed and God heard my cry. I was blessed with my apartment. I was glad that someone gave me a chance."

Twitter: @LohudAkiko