Birchez Associates LLC

ULSTER PARK — State and federal officials will be on hand Tuesday at the Birches at Esopus, a senior housing development, for a conference on financing affordable housing projects.
Deborah VanAmerongen, commissioner of the state Division of Housing & Community Renewal; U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D- Hurley; James L. Logue III, chief operating officer of the Great Lakes Capital Fund, and developer Steve Aaron, founder and managing partner of Birchez Associates, will speak at the 11 a.m. session, which is geared toward attracting developers to produce quality affordable housing in New York state.
A tour of Birches at Esopus, 15 Dick Williams Lane, will follow the presentation.
For decades, according to organizers, federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits have been the most effective and reliable source of equity for the development of affordable housing. In New York, the credits have been responsible for the construction or rehabilitation of nearly 50,000 affordable rental units for low- and moderate-income families and seniors.
The recent collapse of the credit and mortgage markets has caused the devaluation of the tax credits and jeopardized the ability of affordable housing developers to secure financing.
Tuesday’s presentation, organizers said, will focus on efforts to develop an Upstate Equity Fund to secure financing for affordable housing. Modeled after larger national equity funds, an Upstate Equity Fund would help investors who prefer to see their investment stay “local” and add to the vibrancy and economic stability of their own communities, organizers said.
For more information, contact Steve Aaron at (845) 901-1298, or e-
mailsaaron@birchez.com; or Nancy Peters at the state Division of Housing & Community Renewal, at (518) 473-2526, or, via e-mail,
atnpeters@nysdhcr.gov.