After two years of construction and renovation, an affordable housing complex in North Hempstead has been turned into a homey place for its residents.
Town officials involved with the Pond View Homes renovation grabbed the big scissors for a ribbon cutting Monday afternoon, opening the 52-unit affordable housing complex on High Street after a massive renovation of the buildings and grounds to address infrastructure problems and modernize the units since their original construction in 1999.
The expansive renovation was funded in full by New York state tax credits, primarily provided by New York State Homes & Community Renewal and the New York State Housing Finance Agency. Financing was also provided by Flushing Bank, Citi Community Capital and Boston Financial Investment Management. The Hagedorn Foundation, a Roslyn non-profit, donated $20,000 towards building the playground, and Nassau County provided a $600,000 Home Grant.
Rev. Edward Corley opened the ceremony with a prayer preceded by a statement of gratitude for bringing the complex back to life.
“The Corley family was the first family that moved in the Pine Hill development over 70-some-odd years ago, and we’ve come full circle. To be able to be standing here, this is a marvelous celebration,” Corley said.
North Hempstead Housing Authority chairman Matthew Cuomo thanked a laundry list of people involved with the renovations, including Flushing Bank president John Buran, Georgia Green Ventures president David Gallo, Citi Community Capital director William Yates and Boston Financial Investment Management senior vice president Robert Charest.
“If you looked at this place a year and a half ago, it was functioning, it was here and it was housing,” Cuomo said. “It wasn’t very nice, very homey, it wasn’t a place you say ‘I want to be.'”
(Photo by Amelia Camurati)
Among the 52 units are seven prepared for residents with mobility impairment and three for those with hearing or vision impairment. The number of bedrooms per unit range from studio apartments to four bedroom options.
“I remember being here last year during the renovation, so I’ve seen the before and now we’re seeing the after. What a transformation,” North Hempstead supervisor Judi Bosworth said. “It was all done in a smart way, by incorporating environmentally friendly changes into the construction, lowering the energy costs, making all the appliances and heating more efficient.”
