Westchester County has received the 2011 Award of Excellence from the National Association for County Community and Economic Development (NACCED) for a housing project in the Village of Ossining, County Executive Robert P. Astorino announced Wednesday.    

The award, in the "HOME Investment Partnership Program" category, focuses on the Ossining T.B. Flats project, the conversion of an old bank into 12 affordable condominium units. The award was announced earlier this month at the 36th Annual NACCED Conference held in Los Angeles.

"The award acknowledges the county's creative approach to providing fair and affordable housing opportunities that also can help bring life back to a village's main street," Astorino said.

The Ossining National Bank was built in 1873 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The deteriorated building was empty for decades until its rehabilitation. Reopened in 2009, the building was adapted into affordable housing, adding to the revitalization of downtown Ossining.

The units in the Ossining T.B. Flats project were sold to households at or below 80 percent of the Westchester's Area Median Income of $59,600 to 85,200 – an annual range that varies according to the number of persons in the household. Four units are still available. The purchase price for the one-bedroom condominiums starts at $183,000; for the two-bedroom, $221,000.

The total development cost for the six one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units was $4,639,513. The building's purchase price was offset by more than $1 million in county-administered funds: $722,000 from the New Homes Land Acquisition, a $866,000 federal grant from the Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) and $ 240,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds.

The building is zoned for mixed and commercial use. The developer, Ossining T.B. Flats, LLC, contributed $138,000, the cost equivalent to the value of the commercial portion of the building.