Senator Charles E. Schumer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2012

SCHUMER HELPS SECURE CRITICAL LEASE AGREEMENT FROM FEDS FOR CADENCE SQUARE HOUSING PROJECT IN CANANDAIGUA – AFTER LONG DELAYS, VETERANS’ HOUSING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT FOR NEEDY VETS & FAMILIES CAN BREAK GROUND IN OCTOBER

Schumer Highlighted That VA Lease Agreement Means Cadence Square Project Can Build 48-Bed Facility for Vets & Families – Schumer Intervention Paves Way For New Center to Break Ground in October

Schumer Highlighted that Affordable Housing for Veterans Is Critical in Canandaigua and Across the Country In Mission to Eliminate Homelessness By 2014

Schumer: No Veteran Should Be Left Behind

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that at his urging, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reached a formal enhanced use lease agreement with Cadence Square Housing Development in Canandaigua, which will allow them to maintain their projected timeline and break ground in October. With this long-awaited lease agreement, the Cadence Square Housing development can move forward with plans to renovate the now vacant Building 14 at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center (VAMC) and construct an adjacent new building into affordable housing for homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. The project developers initially reached out to Schumer out of concern that negotiations over the enhanced use lease agreement for this project were stalled and could jeopardize government tax credits secured to fund the project. Today’s news means that this new living center can continue to move towards construction. This project is part of the VA’s Building Utilization Review and Repurposing (BURR) Initiative to identify and repurpose unused VA land buildings in support of the VA’s goal to end Veteran’s homelessness.

“One homeless veteran is too many, and the Cadence Square Housing development will help ensure that we provide homes and on-site support services to area vets and their families,” said Schumer. “That is why I am thrilled to have helped ensure that the VA signed, sealed, and delivered this lease agreement on time, so that the Cadence Square project can move forward with its plans to build this housing facility for nearly 50 veterans in Canandaigua.”

The Finger Lakes Addiction Counseling and Referral Agency (FLACRA), along with Cazenovia Recovery Systems, will help operate and administer this new center. Since the project is located on the Canandaigua VA Medical Center campus, veterans will also be able to utilize the VA’s medical services to ensure seamless service delivery. By closing on the enhanced use lease agreement this week, the VA ensured that the project can move along on time, paving the way for them to break ground next month, in October. The facility is expected to open by October of 2013. The VA needed to approve the Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) this week or it would have jeopardized a stream of funding sources needed to leverage this crucial project, including housing tax credits awarded to the project by the NYS Homes and Community Renewal agency. The project budget is approximately $11.1 million.

Through the Cadence Square project, the now vacant Building 14 at the Canandaigua VA campus will be renovated and a new adjacent building will be constructed to create a veterans housing facility which will provide an array of supportive services to residents. Specifically, the project will create a 15-bed Community Residence to provide recovery-oriented substance abuse and mental health services to at-risk veterans and assist them with vocational and employment skills. It will also create eight supportive living units for 11 individual residents coupled with support and employment readiness services and 17 apartments for 22 residents for veterans and their families as they transition out of care.

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