Dutchess County Housing Trust Fund

The awards announced in March 2023, for the first funding round of the HTF's Housing Creation and Preservation program, totaled $8,996,134 as follows:

•    30-32 Smith Street.  New construction, three-family in the City of Poughkeepsie.  Three HCP units, three total units.  Funding award - $346,134.
•    9-13 Noxon Street.  Rehabilitation, 16 single-room-occupancy units in the City of Poughkeepsie.  16 HCP units, 16 total units.  Funding award - $1,910,000.
•    Two Cross Street.  New construction and rehab, 18 total units in the City of Beacon.  Nine HCP unit, 18 total units.  Funding award - $1,575,000.
•    Wallace Campus.  New construction and rehab, 187 total units in the City of Poughkeepsie.  29 HCP units, 187 total units.  Funding award - $2,200,000.
•    Alpine Commons.  New construction, 144 total units in the Town of Wappinger.  132 HCP units, 144 total units.  Funding award - $1,500,000.
•    Schatz Redevelopment.  New construction, 250 units in the Town of Poughkeepsie.  225 HCP units, 250 total units.  Funding award - $1,465,000.
 

Goals of the Dutchess County Housing Trust Fund include:

• Provide financial support for the creation of affordable housing distributed throughout Dutchess County.
• Make affordable housing activities throughout the county more competitive for securing other funding sources.
• Support housing which is a priority for the county but for which other funding is unavailable or very limited.
• Prioritize projects that result in the creation of housing at higher levels of affordability.

The Housing Trust Fund's framework includes three overarching programs, each with a variety of potential eligible activities. For each funding round, the County will indicate which programs and activities are eligible for funding at that time. 

Housing Creation and Preservation (HCP) Program:

• New affordable rental housing via new construction, rehabilitation of existing housing stock, and adaptive reuse of non-residential structures. Funded projects may be fully affordable or mixed-income. Single-room occupancy (SRO) rental housing is eligible under this category.
• Acquisition-only for the creation of affordable rental housing (limited to projects by non-profit development entities).
• Acquisition and/or rehabilitation of occupied, naturally-occurring affordable rental housing with income-eligible tenants to secure long-term affordability with applicable compliance periods.
• Preservation/rehabilitation of existing affordable rental housing with expiring compliance periods.

Infrastructure and Pre-Development Support (IPDS) Program:

• Expand/extend water and/or sewer infrastructure for affordable and mixed-income housing developments.
• Development of generic environmental impact statements (GEIS) to streamline the development of affordable/mixed-income housing supported by the local municipality. GEIS must be supported by zoning to permit and streamline the creation of affordable housing via inclusionary zoning, density bonuses, or other strategies.
• Zoning revisions to permit and streamline the creation of affordable housing via inclusionary zoning policies, density bonuses, or other strategies. A municipal match will be required.
• Oversee administration of affordable units created via municipal inclusionary policies, density bonuses, or other strategies.

First-Time Homeownership (FTH) Program:

• Support a locally-sourced program for subordinate or “soft second” mortgages to provide down payment and closing cost assistance for low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers who can afford a mortgage but lack savings to cover the down payment and/or closing costs.
• Support construction or rehabilitation to create affordable homeownership opportunities for first-time homebuyers undertaken by non-profit entities.

General Reference Materials:

• Dutchess County Housing Trust Fund Framework (.pdf)
• HCP Policies and Procedures (.pdf) 
• Background Information on HCP Policies and Procedures (.pdf)
• Instructions for HCP Underwriting Template Exhibits (.xlsx)