Sunday, May 12, 2013

8 families to move into Cynthia Gardens

By Anika Rawlins and A.J. Speier
BengalNews Reporters
         Eight families were selected from a lottery of applicants to move into Cynthia Gardens, a new energy-efficient housing development located at 294-302 Hudson St.

Applicants, who can move in as early as June 1, were drawn from the lottery that closed in April.

Cynthia Gardens was built on an empty lot, after a fire destroyed the previous building 12 years ago. The new building is equipped with energy-efficient appliances and heat saving windows.

The housing development is a combination of two town houses, which includes four two-bedroom apartments and four three-bedroom apartments. Each apartment will include a dishwasher, a washer and a dryer.

To be eligible for the apartments, applicants had to be within an income bracket of $30,500 and $44,200. The applicants also had to complete the lottery application process by its April 19 deadline.

“There are eight apartments available for rent so all applicants must meet all the criteria to be eligible to be entered into the lottery” Stephanie Simeon, executive director of the Heart of the City Neighborhood Inc. said.

In an effort to enhance the West Side, Heart of the City Neighborhoods Inc. is taking steps to make the neighborhood more appealing, while improving the quality of residential living.

Cynthia Gardens is one of the few projects that Heart of the City Neighborhood Inc. is working on. In addition to building Cynthia Gardens, the organization is working on neighborhood upkeep projects including Home Ownership Provides Equity (H.O.P.E.), a program that will revitalize existing abandoned homes on the West Side.

“We have a few different programs going on currently and it’s construction season so we are very busy,” Kristine Conroy, program administrator of the organization said.