INHS renovation plan draws tenant worries about bedroom conversions and potential displacement

A tenant and INHS officials sparred over how a planned renovation of the Henry St. John building could affect current residents during the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency public hearing.

Rebecca Kramer, a current Henry St. John tenant, said she and others learned about INHS’s application only recently and alleged inaccuracies in the renovation materials that describe three-bedroom units as occupied by single individuals. Kramer said changing layouts to create smaller one-bedroom units could displace long-term residents and cause real hardship.

INHS’s response: Lynn Truame, director of real estate development at Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, outlined the renovation scope — windows, roof, repointing, insulation and a conversion from gas to all-electric heating — and the programmatic rationale for adjusting unit mix to match demand (higher waitlist pressure for one-bedroom units). Truame said INHS sent letters requesting anonymous income information but received limited returns and that, under New York HCR regulations, the entity cannot “overhouse” tenants when the building becomes regulated. She said no current resident will be permanently displaced; residents will be temporarily relocated during construction and offered a unit to return to, and higher-income households currently in a unit designated for a lower AMI would be allowed to remain until natural turnover.

Why it matters: The project aims to increase energy efficiency and align unit sizes with local need, but tenants fear loss of affordable family-sized housing and potential relocation stress. Truame said the small project size limits financing options (HCR small rental development initiative is being pursued) and that INHS is contributing part of its developer fee back to the project to support construction costs.

Committee questions: Reviewers asked whether the project would include standby power for residents with medical needs; Truame said emergency lighting will have battery backup but no full-building generator is planned because HCR requires generators only for senior or disabled housing. Members also probed whether the conversion is scalable if full funding is not obtained; Truame said systems conversion (radiant gas heat to air-source heat pumps) creates a cascade of upgrades that are not easily phased, though unit-mix changes could be separated out.

Next steps: INHS will pursue HCR small-rental funding, county and IURA support and a member item request from Senator Webb’s office; the board will review the application before making funding decisions at a later meeting.