CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES, COUNTIES, HOUSING AUTHORITIES, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND COMPANIES, NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS OR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH HAVE AS ONE OF THEIR PRIMARY PURPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF HOUSING

The New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) announces the availability of $26,000,000 for its Affordable Home Ownership Development Program (AHODP) pursuant to the State budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Affordable Home Ownership Development Program (AHODP) is a State funded program administered by the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation's (AHC's) Office of Community Renewal (OCR). AHC's mission is to promote Home Ownership by persons of low- and moderate- income, which, in turn, fosters the development, stabilization and preservation of neighborhoods and communities throughout New York State.

AHC AHODP ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Eligible applicants include cities, towns, villages, and counties throughout New York State, housing authorities, housing development fund companies, and not-for-profit corporations or charitable organizations which have as one of their primary purposes the development and improvement of housing.

AHC AHODP ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

The AHODP provides funds for three project types:

• New construction of owner-occupied homes for sale, including one-to-four family homes, condominiums, cooperatives and the replacement of dilapidated mobile and manufactured homes with new Energy-Star manufactured homes or stick-built homes on homeowner-owned land.

• Acquisition/rehabilitation of owner-occupied homes for sale, including one-to-four family homes, condominiums and cooperatives.

• Home improvements to existing, owner-occupied one-to-four family homes, condominiums or cooperatives.

In the event the homes are to be located in a mixed-use structure, then any costs associated with the nonresidential uses are ineligible costs.

Proposals may not include more than one type of project. Individual proposals must be submitted for each project type. Eligible activities and owner-occupancy requirements are pursuant to the Program Regulations of the AHODP (please see the AHC Request for Proposals for details).

MAXIMUM FUNDING LIMITS

The maximum AHODP award is $35,000 per unit except for high cost areas where the maximum award is $40,000 per unit. Additional information regarding high cost areas can be found at: https://hcr.ny.gov/ahc-high-cost-area-table

Due to limited funds, AHC may ask that projects requesting more than $1,000,000 in grant funds be developed in phases. In addition, Acquisition/Rehabilitation applications that show maximum leveraging funds per unit, utilizing AHC funds solely as gap funding, with annual housing carrying costs between 25% and 33% will receive priority.

AHC reserves the right to reject all proposals, to negotiate with applicants, recommend funding in an amount less than requested, conduct site visits, interview the applicant and development team, extend the submission deadline, and request additional information. AHC reserves the right to waive or modify any requirement contained in the Request for Proposals, subject to the applicable statutes and the Program Regulations.

APPLICATION FOR FUNDING

The AHODP Application will be available on June 14, 2021 on the NYS Homes and Community Renewal website: https://hcr.ny.gov/search/funding-opportunities

During this funding round, AHC will be accepting applications immediately after this NOFA is released until such time that all the AHC funds have been fully appropriated. Please make sure that when your application is submitted, it is complete, and the project will be ready to proceed immediately upon funding.

Applications are to be submitted as a pdf and sent to the following email address: [email protected]

The subject line should be: Grantee/Applicant Name – Project Name

Ex: “The Affordable Housing Corporation – 2021 Home Improvement Program”

Applications not submitted via email will be sent back to the Applicant.

Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB) COMPLIANCE

In accordance with Section 312 of Article 15-A and Article 17-B of the Executive Law, NYS Homes and Community Renewal requires contractors and awardees to make affirmative efforts to ensure that New York State certified Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB) have opportunities for meaningful participation on projects awarded funding by the Housing Trust Fund Corporation and the Affordable Housing Corporation.

On October 1, 2014 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that his Administration is increasing its goal for MWBE state contracting utilization to 30 percent, the highest such target for any state in the nation. You can read more about the Governor’s announcement at http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/10114-mwbe-contracting.

The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act, signed into law by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on May 12, 2014, allows eligible Veteran business owners to get certified as a New York State Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB). To ensure continued progress toward the statewide SDVOB utilization, a goal of 6% has been established by New York State Executive Law Article 17-B. For an overview, please visit https://ogs.ny.gov/veterans.

Applicants must submit a preliminary Utilization Plan with their application, identifying a list of prospective MWBEs and SDVOBs for their project. The Utilization Plan can be found at: https://hcr.ny.gov/diversity-and-inclusion-economic-opportunity-and-partnership-development-forms

Additional information regarding MWBE/SDVOB compliance for the Programs included in this NOFA can be found at: https://hcr.ny.gov/diversity-inclusion-corner-mwbe-and-sdvob-information

NEW YORK STATE GRANTS GATEWAY PREQUALIFICATION

The New York State Grants Gateway is a statewide effort that will improve the way the State administers grants by simplifying and streamlining the grants management process.

Effective August 1, 2014, not-for-profit organizations must be prequalified to do business with New York State. To prequalify, not-for-profit organizations must submit an online Prequalification Application through the Grants Gateway. The Prequalification Application is comprised of five components to gauge your organizational structure and the types of services you provide. The required forms and document uploads are all part of the Grants Gateway Document Vault. Resources to complete the application and associated document vault can be found in the Quick Links Section of the Grants Gateway page at http://grantsreform.ny.gov/.

Prequalification is designed as a way for not-for-profits to interact more directly with State agencies before they compete for State contracts, enabling them to make adjustments and answer concerns prior to entering a competitive bid process. Once they have been prequalified, multiple State agencies will have ready access to the prequalification materials, eliminating redundant submissions of such information by the vendor. Not-for-profits will only have to formally prequalify every 3 years, with the responsibility to keep their information current throughout the 3-year period.

PLEASE NOTE: Not-for-Profit applicants that are not prequalified through the New York State Grants Gateway will not be eligible to apply for and receive AHC funds, and any applications submitted to OCR will be deemed ineligible for review and consideration.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For inquiries and technical assistance regarding AHC’s AHODP, please contact: New York State Homes and Community Renewal, Affordable Housing Corporation, 641 Lexington Ave., 4th Fl., New York, NY 10022, e-mail: [email protected]