Cambray Terrace Accepting Applications as Project Nears Completion

GOUVERNEUER – The completion of Cambray Terrace in Gouverneur will bring 71 brand new low-income housing units to a community, which according to its mayor, very much needed them.

“It’s very much needed. There’s no question about that,” Mayor Ronald McDougal, who also serves as president on the Cambray Housing Corporation Board of Directors, said. “Looking at other communities around us, it was obvious we needed public housing upgrades.”

While the Cambray Housing Corporation isn’t the sole owner of Cambray Terrace, they are together with Beacon Communities Development and several other entities partners in the $13.954 million project.

Each of the one-bedroom apartments will be made available to low-income individuals 55 and older, or people with disabilities regardless of their age, with priority given to current residents of Cambray Courts or those temporarily displaced by the construction project.

“Anyone who was a resident at Cambray Courts was given the opportunity to move into the new building,” said United Helpers Housing Assistant Carol Basford. According to Ms. Basford, roughly 45 of Cambray Court’s 63 current and temporarily displaced residents elected to accept a new apartment, leaving several vacancies in the new complex.

Anyone interested in applying for a spot at Cambray Terrace can apply in person at Cambray Courts or online at www.unitedhelpers.org.

Beacon Communities Development Director Paul Kruger said the project was funded through the sale of low-income housing tax credits provided by New York State Homes & Community Renewal, as well as soft loans from the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation and the Development Authority of the North Country.

Up next, he said is renovations at Cambray Courts, which remains opened with 28 units. “We’re (Beacon Communities Development) going to help the Cambray Housing Corporation with an application to secure funding for renovations to the remaining units,” he said.

Assuming work at the site is completed on schedule, Ms. Basford said tenants are slated to begin moving into their new apartments on Jan. 16.

Mr. Kruger said those apartments range in size from 620 to 630 square feet, making them slightly larger than the apartments at Cambray Courts.

Robert “Bob” Porter, of Bette & Cring, a Watertown-based construction firm, is serving as project manager. He said he’s proud of the work his firm has done on the project.

“They will go quick once people see them,” he said.

Mr. Porter also noted each of the apartments will be Energy Star Certified. “The building is pretty much air tight,” he said.

Mr. McDougal said the completion of the project will be the culmination of many years of work. “This is something the board has worked very hard on for long time,” he said, noting Judy Peck, Ron Tuttle, Dave Blevins, Scott Gillan, Ken Snyder, Dwayne Winters and Kathy Bigarel also serve on the board.

“We’re all thankful for our legislators, who wrote letters of support, and for the Cuomo administration for authorizing the work.

Cambray Terrace, 24 Mill St., sits adjacent to Cambray Courts just off of Main Street along the shores of the Oswegatchie River.