Union dollars put union members to work

Construction begins on a union-financed, union-built pediatric center in Yonkers, N.Y.

Boilermakers invest in pediatric center that L-5 members may help build

THE BOILERMAKERS union, as an HIT investor, is helping to finance a new pediatric center that HIT anticipates will employ New York Local 5 members in its construction. The project is being funded by labor pension capital through HIT — the ALF-CIO Housing Investment Trust. HIT is providing $100 million to finance the new home for the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center in Yonkers, N.Y.

HIT Chairman John Sweeney joined local labor, business, and community leaders to announce the investment at the construction site Oct. 7. All on-site construction work will be performed by union labor, creating an estimated 800 jobs. The project will allow the pediatric center to move from a leased space in Midtown Manhattan to a new 165,000-square-foot facility in Yonkers, offering state-of-the-art care for medically-fragile children. The $100 million financing is the largest single investment in HIT’s 45-year history. The $116 million development will feature a 137-bed in-patient center and an on-site school for resident children on a 6.5 acre site.

“We are pleased to be able to help finance this very special project,” said Sweeney, who is president emeritus of the AFL-CIO. “Investors in the HIT can be proud of the impact this investment will have on New York’s children and their families.”