Gov. Kathy Hochul Announces $150 Million Housing CNY Fund

CenterState CEO President and CEO Rob Simpson released the following member message after Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement of the $150 million Housing CNY Fund:

Central New York is experiencing a once-in-a-generation surge of growth that promises transformative opportunities and thousands of new residents. To seize this moment, we must ensure that the families arriving and the generations who already call this region home can find housing that is affordable. Sustainable growth depends on it. That means acting now to dramatically expand our housing supply, building enough homes to meet demand, stabilize costs and secure a prosperous future for all in Central New York.

Today, we have made important progress toward this goal as Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the launch of the Housing CNY Fund, an intentional solution that will directly impact Central New York’s ability to rapidly increase its housing supply while preserving affordability in the region. The $150 million public-private financing tool will provide low-cost capital to multi-family, mixed income housing projects that our community needs, allowing projects to come off the sidelines and create more affordable housing options for Central New Yorkers.

CenterState CEO is proud to have played a role in convening funding partners, identifying critical market gaps and helping select the fund manager. The fund will be initially capitalized by a truly unique public-private collaboration between Empire State Development, the Community Preservation Corporation, Micron Technology, KeyBank, M&T Bank, Canandaigua National Bank, Community Bank, NBT Bank, Pathfinder Bank, Broadview Federal Credit Union, CenterState CEO and the CNY Community Foundation.

This unprecedented partnership showcases our community’s ability to unite around bold, market-driven solutions to complex challenges. The $150 million housing loan fund is the largest of its kind in New York State and among the most capitalized at launch nationwide. It is projected to support at least 2,500 new housing units over its initial seven-year term. This is not just investment at scale, but a shared commitment to ensuring Central New York’s growth is inclusive, competitive and sustainable.

I want to thank Gov. Hochul for her leadership and commitment to advancing housing solutions in Central New York. Her support has been instrumental in making this effort possible. In addition, I extend a special thank you to the financial institutions backing the Fund. By working together, we’ve created something far more impactful than any one organization could achieve alone. This spirit of collaboration and shared commitment is what sets Central New York apart, and what will continue to drive our success.

In conjunction with the opening of the Housing CNY Fund, CenterState CEO is launching the CNY Housing Development Dashboard supported by Erie Materials. This dashboard will provide quarterly, geographic updates that track development and delays of multi-family housing projects in the region. Through this unique tool, developers, investors and others interested in the region’s housing landscape can better understand both pain points and areas of opportunity.

The CNY Housing Development Dashboard and Housing Fund CNY are powerful steps forward, but they’re only part of the solution. Meeting this moment will require housing of every type and at every price point. I look forward to continuing to work with partners from across our community to build the housing, momentum and innovative solutions necessary to ensure growth is realized across our community.