Albany, N.Y. – September 29, 2026 -- Foss & Company has closed four historic rehabilitation investments in Buffalo, Albany, Fredonia and Kingston, New York, creating or preserving 156 affordable housing units by pairing state and federal Historic Tax Credits with New York State Homes and Community Renewal's (HCR) Small Building Participation Loan Program (PLP).
Four New York buildings convert to 156 affordable units via blended financing
The Eckhardt Building, a 1940s former department store in Buffalo's Broadway-Fillmore Historic District, is now complete with 28 apartments restricted to an average of 65% Area Median Income (AMI) and roughly 22,000 square feet of commercial space leased to a nonprofit child day care provider.
In Albany, the Selfridge & Langford Building, a four-story former furniture showroom near the State Capitol, is being converted into 49 units at up to 80% AMI with approximately 3,900 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
343 Central in Fredonia involves rehabilitation of six existing multifamily properties totaling 40 units — sixteen one-bedroom and twenty-four two-bedroom apartments at up to 80% AMI — with developer Good Carbon adding geothermal systems and efficiency upgrades.
80 Washington Street in Kingston converts the former Home for the Aged of Ulster County into 39 apartments at up to 80% AMI, open to tenants of any age.
PLP financing targets small buildings that larger structures often bypass
HCR administers PLP to provide low-interest financing for rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of existing affordable housing, addressing a financing gap for smaller rehabilitation deals that conventional channels and Historic Tax Credit equity alone cannot bridge.
John Sorel of Foss & Company said PLP is one of the more effective tools New York has for reaching small and mid-sized buildings that larger financing structures tend to pass over, noting the model works in Fredonia as well as it does in Buffalo.