Construction costs for the Woodstock Commons affordable housing development have been fully funded following the receipt of state grants totaling $2.4 million, the project’s developer, the Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO), announced recently.

The grants, coupled with federal and state annual low-income housing credits and other funding sources, clear the financial way for groundbreaking on the $14.7 million project to occur next spring. In an August 31 interview, RUPCO’s executive director, Kevin O’Connor, estimated that construction would take 15 months to complete, yielding a completion date in the summer of 2012.

Barring unforeseen developments, the project faces only two remaining hurdles. One is a citizen’s lawsuit challenging the Woodstock Planning Board’s July 1 approval of the 53-unit complex on environmental grounds. (The planning agency subsequently endorsed the project’s site plan on August 5.) The other is a determination by the Town Board of the project’s eligibility for municipal water and sewer service. A state Supreme Court judge is expected to initiate proceedings in the lawsuit later this month. No date has been set for action by the Town Board.

Meanwhile, RUPCO welcomed the August 26 announcement of the state grants in a news release. The funds include two grants from the Housing Trust Fund, which together amount to $2,135,000, and a $265,000 award from the Infrastructure Development Demonstration Program, for a total of $2.4 million.

Additional funding for Woodstock Commons will derive from annual allocations of $1,090,286 in federal low-income housing credits and $500,000 in state low-income housing credits. RUPCO plans to sell the credits through a syndication firm. The transactions are expected to yield approximately $8.4 million in equity based on a return of 77 cents on the dollar for the federal credits and an additional $2.4 million based on a return of 48 cents per dollar for the state credits, for a total equity contribution of about $10.8 million. Other grants and fees will fund the remainder of the project’s total cost of $14,745,200.

Green initiative

The project’s site is a vacant, 27.6-acre parcel behind the Bradley Meadows shopping plaza north of Route 212 in the hamlet of Woodstock. The development’s 53 rental units include 24 one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom, and 12 three-bedroom residences, with an additional unit reserved for the superintendent. The units will be contained in one two-story elevator building, eight two-story buildings without elevators, three single-story buildings, and a community building.

A RUPCO information sheet further describes the project as follows. “The project buildings will comply with the Green Building Initiative and the Energy Efficiency Initiative. The project will provide 24 accessible, move-in-ready units for persons with a mobility impairment and four accessible, move-in-ready units for persons with a hearing or vision impairment. The project will include Energy Star or equivalent appliances and central air conditioning, a computer lab with discounted broadband Internet service, and an outdoor recreation area.”

The project’s targeted population includes low and very low income families, the elderly, and artists. The units are described as affordable for households with an income at or below 60 percent of the area median income. Eight units will be set aside for residents who are designated “frail elderly” or are mentally retarded or developmentally disabled. Gross rents, which include utilities, will range from $385 to $938 a month. Eight units will receive rental assistance through a state voucher program.

Ashokan Architecture & Planning, a Kingston firm, is the project’s architect. Libolt & Sons, based in Gardiner, is the general contractor.++