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COOPER SQUARE MUTUAL HOUSING ASSOCIATION

The Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association is a not-for-profit affordable housing corporation that manages and develops housing for low and moderate income individuals and families on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The CSMHA currently owns and manages 19 low income buildings with 302 apartments. All of the buildings were formerly city-owned properties, and all are within the Cooper Square Urban Renewal Area. There are 117 studios, 107 1-bedroom units, 67 2-bedroom units and 11 3-bedroom units. The rents for the studios range from $250 - $340 per month; 1 BR units range from $370 - $436 per month; 2 BR units range from $372 - $496 per month; 3 BR units range from $457 - $578 per month.

The CSMHA manages an additional 4 buildings with 79 units, 2 of which are city-owned and in various stages of renovation as of February, 2002. The CSMHA will take title to the buildings once renovation is completed in the next year or two. The CSMHA manages 2 other low-income buildings for 3rd parties through a management agreement.

Rents in all but one of the CSMHA buildings are set at levels affordable to persons earning less than 50% of the median income for the metropolitan area. One building, managed under a unique Low Income Housing Plan, has rents set at 80% of median income for the MSA.

In June of 1996, ownership of eleven of the renovated buildings was transferred by the City to the Cooper Square MHA. Ownership of six more buildings was transferred by the City to the CSMHA in June, 1999. Ownership of 2 more was transferred in June, 2001. It is expected that the ownership of two more buildings will be transferred to the CSMHA within the next two years.

The CSMHA buildings include the following: 9 E. 3rd Street, 13 E. 3rd Street, 23 E. 3rd Street, 25 E. 3rd Street, 27 E. 3rd Street, 89 E. 3rd Street, 56 E. 4th Street, 58 E. 4th Street, 60 E. 4th Street, 57 E. 4th Street, 63 E. 4th Street, 65 E. 4th Street, 67 E. 4th Street, 69 E. 4th Street, 71 E. 4th Street, 73 E. 4th Street, 75 E. 4th Street, 77 E. 4th Street, 13 Stanton Street, 83 2nd Avenue, 346 E. 21 Street.

The CSMHA marketed 36 vacant units in 63, 65 and 73 E. 4th Street in 2001. They received more than 4,000 applications. HPD supervised the lottery, and over 1,500 appilcations were selected and logged in. The MHA is in the process of interviewing applicants for the 36 apartments. The CSMHA will await HPD's instructions regarding marketing renovated apartments at 77 E. 4th St. when they are ready for occupancy, which is projected in May, 2002. If the CSMHA cannot use the 1,500 person waiting list generated from the October, 2001 marketing campaign, they will do a new lottery.

After the CSMHA gains title to the 2 remaining buildings undergoing renovation, it plans to convert the 21 buildings it owns into low-income cooperatives in the next 2-3 years. While all current occupants are eligible to purchase shares in the CSMHA cooperative, future occupants will be subject to income eligibility requirements. Most of the current occupants have very low incomes. In a survey completed in October of 1993, 63% of the CSMHA tenants reported income below 50% of the New York area median income. 90% of the tenants reported income below 80% of the NYSMA median. The ethnic composition of the MHA is 44% white, 39% Latino, 10% black and 7% Asian American, making it a model of racially-integrated housing.

All of the CSMHA buildings are old law tenements, generally 5 and 6 story walk-up buildings. The CSMHA buildings are not assisted living facilities. However, the Cooper Square Committee has Social Services Staff that can assist residents with special needs in accessing specialized services such as a home health attendant. The CSMHA makes an effort to accommodate the needs of residents with special needs such as the elderly and disabled by relocating them to lower floor apartments within their building or in other CSMHA owned buildings when such units become available.

The Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association can be reached at 212-477-5340. The Executive Director is Val Orselli.