The Community Preservation Corporation awards $177,505 in grant funding

Manhattan, NY The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a non-profit multifamily finance company, awarded $177,505 in grant funding to electrify 51 East 7^th St., a six-unit apartment building in the East Village. The property is owned and operated by Georgie Duncan Realty. CPC is administering the award through New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s (HCR) Climate Friendly Homes Fund (CFHF), a program that provides grant funding to finance the electrification of existing multifamily properties. 

The funding will help cover the cost of a full electrification retrofit. The project will convert the building’s existing oil heaters and hot water heaters to mini-split heat pumps and heat pump hot water heaters with storage tanks. The building will also undergo air sealing and envelope upgrades.

“The electrification of 51 East 7th St. is a powerful example of how the Climate Friendly Homes Fund helps small building owners make meaningful upgrades that reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, and enhance quality of life for residents,” Atalia Howe, SVP, head of sustainability and market building, CPC, said. “We’re proud to partner with HCR and Georgie Duncan Realty to bring this project to life, and grateful to all our collaborators who are helping us build a more sustainable and equitable future for New York’s communities.”

“New York is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of our housing stock, especially as buildings account for the largest source of emissions statewide,” RuthAnne Visnauskas, HCR commissioner, said. “This $177,505 Climate Friendly Homes Fund investment will help allow 51 East 7^th St. to modernize its heating and cooling systems to provide better quality housing and reduce energy costs for the building and for tenants. We thank CPC for partnering with us to deliver on Governor Hochul’s commitment to building sustainable and affordable homes.”

“I’m so grateful to CPC for the chance to replace a 75-year-old oil heating system with a modern and more environmentally friendly system,” Donna Binder, owner of Georgie Duncan Realty, said. “Honestly, I could never have afforded to make this kind of positive change on my own, and it means so much to know that we can make this switch to a system that is better for the environment.”

CFHF grant funds will help cover the cost of insulating and air sealing the property, ensuring optimal performance of the equipment installed to complete a full electrification of space-heating and hot water production for tenants and significant greenhouse gas reduction at this site.

As part of New York State’s strategy to curb building emissions and establish two million climate-friendly, electrified or electrification-ready homes by 2030, CFHF is providing financial assistance to building owners to offset the costs of an energy audit and property assessments to identify opportunities for reducing energy and carbon emissions. It then funds improvements which can include electrifying the building’s heating, cooling, and domestic hot water systems, as well as basic upgrades to improve the efficiency of the building envelope and ventilation systems.

The fund is administered by CPC and makes awards to owners of multifamily rental properties to increase energy efficiency and decrease a building’s greenhouse gas emissions. The CFHF program has delivered $19.41 million to fund 754 units of housing, continuing to close projects in its active pipeline.