Affordable Housing

To Increase Affordability, Mayor de Blasio Wants to End 421-a for Condos and Up the Mansion Tax

Mayor de Blasio via @KevinCase via photopin cc; One57 © Wade Zimmerman courtesy of Agence Christian de Portzamparc (ACDP)

May 7, 2015

To Increase Affordability, Mayor de Blasio Wants to End 421-a for Condos and Up the Mansion Tax

By Dana Schulz

From the onset, Mayor de Blasio has been extremely vocal about his plan to add 200,000 units of affordable housing over 10 years, 80,000 of which will be new construction. Though many feel this is an arbitrary number, backed up by no data as to where the units will be, the Mayor seems committed to reforming current policies to reach his goal. And after months of speculation, he has revealed his planned changes to the city's 421-a tax incentive program, which is set to expire in June. According to the Times, under his proposal, the controversial tax would no longer apply to condo projects (to understand the logic behind this decision just look at the $100 million sale at One57 that received the tax abatement). But it would apply to new rental projects, which would have to have apartments for poor and working-class residents make up 20 to 30 percent of the building in order to qualify for city tax breaks. It would also extend the abatement from 25 years to 35 years. Another part of the overhaul is to eliminate so-called poor doors. De Blasio also wants to up the city's mansion tax. Currently, home sales over $1 million are subject to a 1 percent tax, but de Blasio proposes adding an additional 1 percent tax for sales over $1.75 million, as well as a third 1.5 percent tax for sales over $5 million. He estimates this will bring in an extra $200 million a year in tax revenue, money that would be allocated to affordable housing programs.
More details ahead

Norman Foster’s 551W21 under construction

April 30, 2015

A Record $11.9B Has Gone into Building New Condos, but Few Apartments Actually Produced

By Diane Pham

The NYC luxury real estate market is as hot as ever and developers are scrambling to get in on the action. The Daily News reports that a record breaking $11.9 billion was poured into new developments last year, a 73 percent jump over the last 12 months, and up $5 billion over the previous record (source: New York Building Congress). While this rise may seem like great news in a city facing a serious housing crisis, the bounty going towards new construction isn't doing much to remedy it. The paper adds that though spending is way up, the bulk of the cash is being funneled "into delivering only a few massive high-end pads with luxe finishes targeted at the global elite."
Find out more here

The Rise of Single People Hurts Affordable Housing

Photo: Barry Pousman

April 21, 2015

The Rise of Single People Hurts Affordable Housing

By Diane Pham

NYC's affordable housing crisis makes headlines daily, but while most are quick to point to the exploitation and mismanagement of existing apartments as the root of the cause (which to a great degree it most certainly is), the Washington Posts asks us to consider the effect single folks have on a city's housing inventory. Today, more and more folks are living longer and marrying later (if at all), and living alone at any given age no longer carries the stigma it once did decades ago. 26 percent of modern American households consist of just one person now, compared to the 1940s when this number topped out at just seven percent. While this dynamic shift seems more like a cause for celebration (yay, we're evolving and defying convention) it does have some serious implications when it comes to available housing. "Our housing stock wasn't built for a society full of singles," says reporter Emily Badger.
more on the issue here

April 21, 2015

Extell’s ‘Poor Door’ Building Receives a Staggering 88,000 Applicants

By Diane Pham

Poor doors be damned. It looks like the anger and public outcry swirling around Extell's new 50 Riverside Boulevard condo didn't do much to deter New Yorkers from vying for a low-income unit at the building. The Times reports that the development company received a whopping 88,000 applications for the building's 55 affordable apartments after they opened up the lines back in February. The overwhelming demand is most certainly a win for developer Gary Barnett, who found himself in the hot seat for creating a separate entrance for low-income tenants, away from the market-rate residents. When speaking to the paper, Barnett called the whole poor door ordeal a “made-up controversy” adding to that “I guess people like it. It shows that there’s a tremendous demand for high-quality affordable housing in beautiful neighborhoods."
So do poor doors really matter?

Going Green and Curbing Gentrification: How the Bronx Is Doing It Differently

Image: View Grand Concourse via photopin (license)

April 20, 2015

Going Green and Curbing Gentrification: How the Bronx Is Doing It Differently

By Emily Nonko

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning." The infamous phrase, uttered in a 1977 broadcast of a Bronx fire, has stuck in the mind of many New Yorkers even today. Indeed, the Bronx saw a sharp decline in population and quality of life in the late 1960s and 1970s, which culminated in a wave of arson. By the early 1980s, the South Bronx was considered one of the most blighted neighborhoods in the country, with a 60 percent decline in population and 40 percent decline of housing units. Although revitalization picked up by the '90s, the Bronx never quite took off like its outer-borough counterparts Brooklyn and Queens. While media hype, quickly rising prices and a rush of development has come to characterize those two boroughs, the Bronx has flourished more quietly. The borough, nevertheless, has become home to growth and development distinct from the rest of New York City. Innovative affordable housing, adaptive reuse projects, green development and strong community involvement are redefining the area. As Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said during this Municipal Arts Society discussion in 2014, this is "The New Bronx."
Keep Reading About What's Going on in the Bronx

April 16, 2015

New Clinton Hill Building with $1,064 Two-Bedroom Apartments Now Taking Applications

By Diane Pham

Clinton Hill rents may be skyrocketing, but there are a handful of units coming up sure to bring some peace of mind to those worried that the neighborhood is turning into another haven for the rich. DNA Info reports that a brand new building coming up at 490 Myrtle Avenue at Hall Street that will boast a terrace, veggie garden, reflecting pools with cabanas and $1,064 two-bedroom apartments. The building is sited along one of the more rapidly gentrifying areas of the neighborhood, just a block away from the Pratt Institute along a stretch of Myrtle Avenue that is about to see a serious boom in new developments and green space.
Find out more here and if you qualify for one of the units

March 26, 2015

Mayor’s Affordable Housing Plan Flawed, More Likely to Harm Brooklyn’s Most Expensive Nabes

By Diane Pham

The revitalization of East New York is at the center of Mayor Bill de Blasio's affordable housing plan, but like his ambitious Sunnyside Yards project, his ideas for the fallen areas of Brooklyn are apparently also filled with holes. According to a piece published by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, de Blasio's plan to re-zone 15 neighborhoods to allow for taller and denser housing won't do much good for affordable housing. The main reason? The rents are too low. In fact, housing experts believe that his plan is more likely to hurt the character of Brooklyn's most tony areas, including Park Slope, Fort Greene, and Crown Heights, amongst many others.
More on their findings here

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

Image by Jorbasa Fotografie / Flickr

March 24, 2015

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

By Michelle Cohen

In New York City there are currently about one million rent stabilized apartments–about 47 percent of the city’s rental units. So why is it so hard to snag one? What are the benefits of having one (other than affordable rent, of course)? According to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board nearly 250,000 rental units have lost the protections of rent regulation since 1994. Why are we "losing" so many of them?
Find out the facts and how they could affect you

New Maps Show How Much You Need to Work in Order to Own a Home in NYC and Other Major Metros

Image via CityLab

March 16, 2015

New Maps Show How Much You Need to Work in Order to Own a Home in NYC and Other Major Metros

By Diane Pham

Have you been thinking about buying a home in NYC? Well if you're single, get ready for a life of mortgage-gouging hardship. A new study conducted by the Martin Prosperity Institute takes a look at how much Americans spend on housing, where in the United States we're spending the most, and how many years we'll need to put in if we want to own a home in a big city.
maps and results here

5,484 Affordable Housing Units Could Be Lost if 421-a Abatement Isn’t Renewed, Says New Report

By Diane Pham

This morning the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) released a report today saying if the city fails to renew the existing 421-a partial tax exemption program, we could stand to lose thousands of affordable units. REBNY took a look at a sample of projects in the pipeline—including Essex Crossing, 5Pointz, Domino and Pacific Park, amongst others—and found that 421-a is responsible for 5,484 affordable apartments and 13,801 market-rate units in these developments. They argue that without the abatement the theses units would be in jeopardy and be "immediately be sent back to the drawing board." They add that some of the units could even end up as high-end luxury condominiums and some of the middle- and low-income housing now in the works would be lost forever.
Find out more

March 11, 2015

City Proposes New Zoning Plan to Increase Affordability, Current Height Limits to Be Lifted

By Dana Schulz

On the surface it sounds like a great idea: Adjust zoning regulations to better accommodate the Mayor's goal of preserving and creating 200,000 units of affordable housing. But some are angered that the proposal would lift current zoning protections and height limits by as much as 20 to 30 percent. According to the Department of City Planning, the newly released plan, called Housing New York: Zoning for Quality and Affordability, addresses the city's outdated zoning regulations that don't reflect today's housing needs or construction practices. However, an email from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation asserts: "The proposal would change the rules for ‘contextual’ zoning districts throughout the city–zoning districts which communities frequently fought hard to secure, to limit the height of new development and keep it in character with the surrounding neighborhood."
More information ahead

March 6, 2015

REVEALED: Massive Mixed-Use Development at Red Hook’s Revere Sugar Factory Site

By Ondel Hylton

The housing-design experts at Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP) have hashed out a feasibility study to redevelop the Revere Sugar Factory site in Red Hook with a 1.7 million-square-foot development to include more than 900 apartments, 250,000 square feet of retail, and 400,000 square feet of parking. The six-acre site at 280 Richards Street is owned by the Joesph Sitt-led, Thor Equities, who purchased the parcel back in 2005 to the tune of $40 million, according to the New York Observer. The vacant parcel juts out 700 feet into the Erie Basin, and sits between the Ikea parking lot and the Red Hook Stores building home to Fairway Supermarket (and Michelle Williams, of course). Though MAP's rendering date back to 2007, they have yet to be publicized, and we have the first look here.
More information on the project here

March 4, 2015

New Website Will Help New Yorkers Find Out if Their Apartment Is Rent Stabilized

By Dana Schulz

Let's face it, we all feel that we're paying too much for our tiny NYC apartments, and while for most of us that's just the name of the game, for others who are living in a rent-stabilized unit but being charged market-rate rent, it's actually true. Want to know if you fall into that boat? A new website called amirentstabilized.com will help you find out. The site allows renters to search their building to see if it's on the city's list of addresses with rent stabilized units. Unfortunately, it can't tell you if your specific apartment is one of them, but it's a great first step and provides resources for confirming your unit's status, as well as filing a complaint if you're being overcharged.
Find out more here

March 3, 2015

New Ruling: Landlords Can’t Kick a Bankrupt Tenant Out of Their Rent-Controlled Apartment

By Diane Pham

Going broke will no longer mean losing out on your rent-controlled apartment in NYC. According to Bloomberg, city tenants who file for bankruptcy will now be able to keep the keys to their affordable apartments as public assistance. The decision is taken from two opinions formed by the New York State Court of Appeals and the Manhattan-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Previously bankrupt tenants faced a threat of eviction even when they were current on rent.
Find out more here

Where Will Mayor de Blasio Land on the 421-a Tax Abatement Debate?

Mayor de Blasio via @KevinCase via photopin cc; affordable housing buildings via gkjarvis flickr

March 2, 2015

Where Will Mayor de Blasio Land on the 421-a Tax Abatement Debate?

By Dana Schulz

Developers have been rushing to break ground on projects before June, when the controversial 421-a tax abatement is set to expire, as it provides incentives to developers for up to 25 years when they reserve at least 20 percent of a building’s units for low- and moderate-income tenants. However, those against the 40-year-old program criticize it for using working people's tax dollars to build swimming pools and pet hotels for the world's billionaires; after all, the construction of One57, where a penthouse recently sold for $100 million, was built using subsidies from the program. But on what side of the debate does Mayor de Blasio, whose goal is to implement "the largest affordable housing program that any city, any state has attempted in a ten-year time span in the history of the republic," fall? Though many of his supporters oppose 421-a, in order to reach his goal of building 80,000 new affordable housing units–especially in places like East New York where a rezoning would be necessary to allow for denser construction that mandates the inclusion of permanently affordable apartments–de Blasio says he needs the program, according to Capital New York.
More on the 421-a debate here

City Council Proposes New Law That Would Allow Tenants to Sue Landlords for Using Airbnb

Via Airbnb

February 27, 2015

City Council Proposes New Law That Would Allow Tenants to Sue Landlords for Using Airbnb

By Dana Schulz

One week ago we learned of the landmark ruling to evict a rent-stabilized tenant from his ultra-luxe 450 West 42nd Street building for listing the unit on Airbnb for nearly triple what he was paying, a show of just how serious the city is about the issue. Now they're getting even more aggressive, as two City Council members want to pass a new law that would let tenants sue their landlords for renting out neighboring apartments as illegal hotels through Airbnb.
More details ahead

Rent-Stabilized Tenant Gets Evicted for Listing His Apartment on Airbnb in a Landmark Decision

Inside the apartment. Image via Airbnb

February 20, 2015

Rent-Stabilized Tenant Gets Evicted for Listing His Apartment on Airbnb in a Landmark Decision

By Diane Pham

If you were questioning how truly serious the city is about its beef against Airbnb, look no further than this landmark ruling to evict a rent-stabilized tenant from his ultra-luxe 450 West 42nd Street building. The Post reports that Henry Ikezi was just given the boot by a Manhattan Housing Court judge for posting his 46th-floor Hell's Kitchen apartment on the site for $649 per night, about triple what he was paying at $6,670 per month. The home's market value is upwards of $9,000.
More on the landmark case here

The New Broadway Plan Could Bring 3,000 Housing Units to West Harlem, 50 Percent Will Be Affordable

Broadway and 146th Street, a typical stretch in West Harlem

February 11, 2015

The New Broadway Plan Could Bring 3,000 Housing Units to West Harlem, 50 Percent Will Be Affordable

By Dana Schulz

You may remember the Harlem Promenade project, which proposed transferring air rights over the Amtrak rail lines in West Harlem to create affordable housing and using the sale of the air rights to pay for $170 million in community improvements in Hamilton Heights, including a High Line-esque park. We've now learned that the project has taken on a new life as the New Broadway Plan, which may be smaller in scope than the original plan, but would be the largest creation of affordable housing in Manhattan since 1959 if fully realized. It would also make a huge dent in Mayor De Blasio's goal of creating or preserving 200,000 affordable units over ten years. The Plan proposes a rezoning of portions of Broadway from 125th to 155th Streets in order to build 3,000 new units of housing, 50 percent of which will be permanently affordable, and to equalize the amount of new affordable to market rate housing stock, which is currently at a disproportionate ratio of 20 percent to 80 percent, respectively.
Get the scoop here

February 3, 2015

HIGHLIGHTS: De Blasio Announces Plans for More Affordable Housing and a New City-Wide Ferry Service

By Diane Pham

Mayor Bill de Blasio just wrapped up his State of the City address, and in addition to focusing in like a laser beam on affordable housing, the mayor also unveiled a number of additional improvements that certainly had us sitting up straight in our seats. In his address, De Blasio emphasized that his plan would look to creating denser, economically diverse affordable residential communities for not only low-income New Yorkers, but also for chronically homeless vets, seniors and artists. “While the state of our city is strong, we face a profound challenge,” de Blasio said during his speech. "If we fail to be a city for everyone, we risk losing what makes New York, New York…Nothing more clearly expresses the inequality gap—the opportunity gap—than the soaring cost of housing." The mayor also spoke about the administration's plan to raise minimum wage and expand public transit, which would include adding more Bus Rapid Transit lines to the outer boroughs, and, most notably, a brand new city-wide ferry system that would serve areas such as the Lower East Side, the Rockaways and Red Hook for the same cost as a subway ride. Keep reading for more highlights.
Highlights from de Blasio's speech here

Developers Rush to Break Ground and Add Affordable Housing Before Tax Incentives End

Image via Pexels

February 2, 2015

Developers Rush to Break Ground and Add Affordable Housing Before Tax Incentives End

By Dana Schulz

It would be nice to think that developers added affordable housing to their projects out of the goodness of their hearts, but it probably has more to do with the construction bonuses and tax incentives afforded for up to 25 years to developers when they reserve at least 20 percent of a building's units for poor and moderate-income tenants. But this real estate tax break, known as the 421a abatement, is set to expire on June 15, lighting a fire under developers to break ground on new projects. The concern, though, is that some development sites receive 421a benefits as of right (meaning solely for putting up a new building), while others are required to include affordable housing. The difference is based on geographic location. For example, Manhattan between 14th and 96th Streets and the waterfronts of Brooklyn and Queens must include affordable housing. According to Crain's, some housing advocates "want projects to get abatements only if they create affordable units—which are priced for renters who earn 60 percent or less of the area's median income."
What does this mean for the future of affordable housing?

City Exceeds 2014 Affordable Housing Goals, but Few Apartments Are Below 96th Street

Photo via Pexels

January 16, 2015

City Exceeds 2014 Affordable Housing Goals, but Few Apartments Are Below 96th Street

By Dana Schulz

Photo via Pexels The Mayor announced yesterday that the city had exceeded its affordable housing goal for 2014 by 1,300 apartments, building or preserving 17,300 affordable units. This represents 8.6 percent of de Blasio's larger goal of 200,000 units over 10 years. But on the heels of the announcement, a report by New York University's Furman Center shows that only 6 percent of new subsidized affordable rental units have been built below 96th Street since 2000, compared with 16 percent in the '70s. The city says it's ramping up its building and preservation efforts to 20,000 affordable units per year, but this likely won't do much to sway the numbers above 96th Street.
More on the affordable housing news here

January 16, 2015

Could These Portable Temporary Homes Help Solve NYC’s Affordable Housing Crisis?

By Diane Pham

As the De Blasio administration struggles to find ways to remedy the city's affordable housing crisis, here comes a solution from overseas that could help solve their woes while also putting the city's nearly 15,000 revitalization-ready vacant lots to use. Dubbed Heijmans ONE, these Dutch-made prefab homes are easily portable, easily deployable, and are designed specifically to provide cheap housing for those who need it.
More details on the beautiful design here

December 29, 2014

The Bronx Is the Least Affordable County in the U.S. for Renters

By Dana Schulz

Brooklyn may hold the title for most unaffordable place to buy a home in America, but when it comes to affordability for renters, the Bronx is the worst. According to the Daily News, a new report shows that tenants in the borough spend 68% of their earnings on rent, which roughly equates to $2,000 per month for a three-bedroom […]

Study Says Brooklyn Bridge Park Towers Will Have Insignificant Environmental Impact

Rendering of the Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront via Brooklyn Bridge Park

November 21, 2014

Study Says Brooklyn Bridge Park Towers Will Have Insignificant Environmental Impact

By Dana Schulz

Critics of the two new residential towers planned for Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park have made complaints that the structures' environmental impact needed further analysis, but a new study, completed by environmental engineering firm AKRF and set to be released today by the city-controlled Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation asserts that the towers' environmental impact will be insignificant. In a statement, Brooklyn Bridge Park said: “After evaluating the potential impacts on 19 distinct environmental categories—including schools, flood resiliency, traffic and open space—and incorporating any relevant updated changes to the project, the environmental regulations and background conditions, the technical memorandum concludes that the Pier 6 uplands project would not have any additional significant impacts.”
More on the planned towers here

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