Housing Finance Authority grants $66M to housing complex in Santurce
The Housing Finance Authority granted $66 million in financing for the development of the Mirador Las Casas Apartments project, under the CDBG-DR Gap Program for Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), agency Executive Director Blanca Fernández-González announced.
This project developed by Interlink Construction, is located at the end of Eduardo Conde Avenue in Santurce. It is aimed at low- and moderate-income families.
“Following the governor’s public policy, we remain focused on contributing to the development of affordable housing in Puerto Rico,” she said. “For this reason, it fills us with satisfaction to grant the necessary financing to make this project viable in the metropolitan area and that more Puerto Ricans can have a dignified and safe home,” said Fernández-González.
The financing will enable the rehabilitation of 294 multi-family units distributed in 21 3-story buildings. In addition, it contemplates the construction of a building for administrative offices. Mirador Las Casas has 96 2-bedroom units, 144 3-bedroom units, and 54 4-bedroom units with living areas between 787 and 1,168 square feet.
Of the total number of units, 16 will be for people with functional diversity and three of them “sensory accessible” for citizens with hearing impairments.
The construction/rehabilitation works will include, among others, the remodeling of existing structures/facilities: activity center, computer center, maintenance building, indoor basketball court, as well as the construction of a new gymnasium, recreation areas (including green areas and a recreational area for children), sidewalks, and the resurfacing of 300 parking spaces.
Each housing unit will have infrastructure for broadband internet connection, electrical appliances with the “Energy Star” classification, smoke detectors, ceiling fans, “inline” type water heaters, plumbing and bathroom accessories designed to yield greater efficiency in the use of water, agency officials said.
The project will also have a photovoltaic system to provide lighting to common areas and a 15,000-gallon drinking water tank.
The design of Mirador de Las Casas Apartments, prepared by firm CP Ingenieros, complies with US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Planning and Development Green Building Retrofit Check List standards, as well as accessibility requirements under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).
