Albany, NY – Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha and Senator Michelle Hinchey, who represent significant portions of Ulster County and participated in a “Green Social Housing visioning session” with local stakeholders and architects in November of last year, announce $8 million secured through the state budget to fund the state’s first demonstration project for green social housing where rent is capped at 25% of income. The project, conceived in partnership with the County’s planning board and RUPCO, will redevelop a property in Ulster County into a mixed-income residential community designed to deliver long-term, high-quality affordable housing. The redevelopment preserves and adapts the historic building while modernizing it for efficiency, safety, and accessibility.

The funding model for the project will leverage a strong, multi-layered capital stack—including programs such as HCR’s Small Building Participation Loan Program, federal and state historic tax credits, and NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence program. The current total development cost estimate is $16 million, and the $8 million secured from the state will fill the gap to make the project fully funded.

To meet the criteria of Green Social Housing, the project will meet the following requirements:

• Key components:
  • Permanently affordable
    • Rent is set at 25% of the household income upon move-in and is permanently stabilized, ensuring residents can put roots down
  • Built, preserved, and managed using a workforce that is either paid a prevailing wage or subject to a project labor agreement.
  • Democratically-controlled, with an elected Resident Council representing tenants as a whole in key decisions.
  • Land is retained in public ownership with a long-term ground lease to RUPCO to ensure permanent affordability and public oversight
• Income levels are balanced across the portfolio, with higher rent units cross subsidizing lower rent units.
  • This also ensures the development as a whole is truly mixed income.
  • Across the portfolio, at least ¼ of the units must be rented to people making 30% or less of AMI.
  • Approximately ¼ of the units will be for people making 31-50% of AMI
  • Approximately ¼ of the units will be for people making 51-80% of AMI
  • No more than ⅓ of the units across the portfolio may have no income restrictions.
• Supportive Services with voluntary, light-touch tenancy supports for lower-income households (≤40% AMI)
  • Approximately 20% local preference for town residents or a percentage HCR deems appropriate in relation to fair housing law.

“The Hudson Valley is on the frontlines of New York’s housing crisis, and meeting this moment requires building more housing of every kind so that working families, seniors, and young people can afford to stay in the communities they call home. Stable housing is the foundation of stable communities and local economies, and our vision to bring New York’s first-ever Social Housing Pilot Project to Ulster County is a historic step forward in confronting this crisis and leading with the innovation and heart it demands. This project will serve as a replicable statewide model for what is possible when we invest in permanently affordable, green, and community-centered housing designed to support Ulster County residents for generations into the future. I am deeply proud to have secured this new investment with Assembly Member Sarahana Shrestha, and I thank Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger and RUPCO for their leadership and true partnership in making this project a reality in Ulster County.” — Senator Michelle Hinchey

“There’s no public safety without stable housing, and the tax breaks given to for-profit developers have hardly made a dent in addressing the housing crisis. This crisis is severe in the state, and prevalent in the Hudson Valley. Here in Ulster County, between 2019 and 2025, the median sale price for a home went up 81.5%, up from 248,000 to $450,000, making the concept of starter homes effectively unavailable to many young families. On the renter side, things are equally dire. The average hourly wage for renters was $14.57, half of what's needed to rent a 1-bedroom apartment without being rent burdened. The answer is clear: if we want to stabilize our communities and ensure that families can put down roots in places where they live, there must be a public investment in high quality and permanently affordable homes, homes that are desirable, green, modern, and energy efficient, where the residents can participate in decision making. This is the vision laid out by the Green Social Housing state legislation, of which I am the prime co-sponsor. The bill creates a state-owned non-profit developer that is authorized to build new or rebuild existing buildings with the goal of expanding the stock of permanently affordable and high-quality homes across the state. The $8 million secured through the state budget will fund the first pilot project of this kind, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that we have enthusiastic partners like the county and RUPCO to make this a reality, serving as a model for the rest of the state.” — Assembly Member Sarahana Shrestha

“Ulster County is a proud proving ground for innovative solutions to the housing crisis, and we're honored to be home to New York State’s first Social Housing pilot project. In partnership with RUPCO, we are working to show how adaptive reuse and community‑centered planning can create high‑quality housing that serves a mix of incomes reflective of the economic diversity of our community. I want to thank Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha and Senator Michelle Hinchey for championing this initiative in the State Budget, and we are grateful to Governor Hochul and the State Legislature for their support. This pilot offers a practical, forward‑looking model that keeps public investment working for the public good." — Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger

“Our current Housing Crisis requires significant innovation in models and new approaches, particularly for smaller multifamily projects under 30 units. We are grateful for this opportunity to partner with Ulster County, our State Leaders including Assemblymember Shrestha, Senator Hinchey, Governor Hochul, and other stakeholders on a PILOT program designed to achieve great outcomes in critically needed housing.” — Kevin O’Conner, RUPCO Chief Executive Officer

“Ulster County has taken an all-hands-on-deck approach to creating housing opportunities that are affordable for our residents. State funding resources play a critical role in ensuring that these projects can move forward and remain accessible to the people who live and work here. The flexible funding made available to Ulster County in this year’s State budget is a welcome addition that will help turn these housing opportunities into reality.” — Dennis Doyle, Ulster County Planning Director