901 Peoples Ave. is being renovated for graduate student housing.

As part of its ongoing multimillion-dollar Neighborhood Renewal Initiative (NRI), Rensselaer continues to move forward on several community projects, including helping neighbors bring their homes up to standard and renovating properties for quality student housing.

Collaborating with the City of Troy and local neighborhood leaders, Rensselaer has committed $50,000 to support the NICE (Neighborhood Improvement Through Code Enforcement) program. The funds, in the form of $1,000 grants, have been distributed to homeowners cited with exterior building code violations, such as broken windows and railings, peeling paint, and unkempt yards.

“The grants are designed to help owners, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, bring their properties up to standard,” says Barbara Nelson ’80, NRI project manager in campus planning and facilities design.

In other efforts to help low-income homeowners, Rensselaer is in the process of distributing 30 $8,000 grants to qualified applicants to remedy home structural problems, improve energy conservation, and address safety concerns. The grants come from the $240,000 awarded to the university by the Federal Home Loan Bank matched by $65,000 of Rensselaer funding.

Rensselaer also continues to focus on quality student housing. Renovations for the three-story building at 901 Peoples Ave. for graduate housing are expected to be complete by early 2005.

The university continues to improve city streets, traffic signals, crosswalks and sidewalks surrounding campus. Improvements worth $3 million have been completed to date, with $775,000 worth of work having occurred this summer alone.

In addition, Rensselaer continues to award $5,000 Homebuyer Incentive Program grants to encourage homeownership in neighborhoods around campus. Since July 2002, Rensselaer has awarded 37 grants and has invested more than $210,000 in the program.

Originally published in Rensselaer Magazine, Fall 2004
Photo by Mark McCarty

Published October 1, 2004