The Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC) recently announced that it will move its 311 person headquarters operations to a 150,000 square-foot facility in Lower Manhattan.
AHRC will move downtown with the assistance of a grant through the Job Creation and Retention Program (JCRP), which is designed to support companies and organizations relocating in Lower Manhattan and committing to retain employees in New York City.
“Our rebuilding and economic recovery efforts for Lower Manhattan have been unprecedented, and I congratulate AHRC on its decision to move downtown,” said Charles A. Gargano, chairman of New York’s Empire State Development Corp. “With the purchase of a new headquarters building, AHRC is showing a strong commitment to Lower Manhattan.”
For decades AHRC’s headquarters was located at 200 Park Avenue South, but space constraints and rent increases necessitated the need for a move.
“The move of AHRC’s headquarters to 83 Maiden Lane will provide an opportunity for the organization to expand the services it provides,” said AHRC’s Executive Director, Michael Goldfarb. “This move also illustrates AHRC’s commitment to refurbishing New York City, the city in which it was founded and has continued to thrive for almost six decades.”
AHRC (the city chapter of the state organization, NYSARC, Inc.) was established more than 56 years ago by parents of children with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities in order to develop resources and programs that were unavailable at that time. Over the decades, the organization grew to become one of the larges providers of programs, services and supports to this population in New York City.
Today, AHRC is a cradle to grave organization that offers a wide array of services including, but not limited to, educational services, adult day services, residential services, medical and clinical services, camping and recreation, advocacy and legal services. AHRC serves over 11,000 individuals annually at over 100 facilities around the five boroughs.
AHRC will receive $575,000 in JCRP funds. Since September 11th, 79 companies have accepted more than $308 million in funding to assist in the economic recovery of Lower Manhattan.
The program has helped retain and create more than 94,000 jobs in New York City with an average commitment of more than nine years. Of this total, about 71,000 jobs have been retained and 7,500 jobs will be created in Lower Manhattan. In addition, more than 16,000 jobs will be retained in areas of the City outside Lower Manhattan. Fourteen of the 79 companies have been newly attracted to Lower Manhattan, representing more than 10,500 relocated and created jobs.
JCRP, a jointly administered program of the State and City, is designed to stabilize the job base in Lower Manhattan, restore the vibrancy of the downtown community, encourage the creation of new jobs, attract new businesses and diversify the downtown economy. The program targets companies employing at least 200 jobs downtown, accounting for more than half of all the private sector jobs in Lower Manhattan, which in turn support thousands of smaller-sized businesses.
For a JCRP grant, a company must make a minimum commitment to remain in Lower Manhattan for at least seven years.
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