JERSEY CITY-Local developers 3481 Kennedy LLC and 395 Second Street LLC secure funding for the gut rehabilitation of two vacant buildings here. They will use the funding to convert the buildings at those addresses to residential condos for moderate- to middle-income families.

New York City-based Community Preservation Corp. is providing two construction loans totaling $2.5 million. A loan of $922,000 was provided for the 3481 Kennedy Blvd. property in this city's Heights section. The rehab of the three-story building will turn it into a total of six five-room units.

The second loan, for just under $1.6 million, is for 395 Second St. in the city's Downtown area. The project calls for the four-story walk-up building's eight apartment units to be rehabbed and converted to market rate condos for moderate-income families.

"The middle income housing market is strong in several neighborhoods of Jersey City," says Annemarie Uebbing, vice president and regional director of CPC's New Jersey office. Encouraged by the waterfront development that began two decades ago, areas such as the Heights and Downtown are seeing many buildings being converted to condominiums as interest rates remain low. "This provides a variety of housing types for different income levels in Jersey City," Uebbing says.