NYC launches program to preserve 39K supportive housing units
Credit: Matthew Moloney on Unsplash
New York City has launched a program aimed at preserving existing supportive housing units for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. The Supportive Preservation Program (SPP), launched on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), will provide tax exemptions, below-market loans, and other financial assistance to ensure the long-term stability of supportive housing projects. The program is a key part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “Block by Block” housing plan, which seeks to preserve the city’s roughly 39,000 supportive homes.
The program determines the needs of each project and creates a long-term preservation strategy to address physical and financial needs. It includes three different ways to assist preservation projects.
HPD will offer full or partial tax exemptions for multifamily housing where physical needs can be addressed without an HPD loan and where non-HPD public funding can be used alongside the exemption.
The agency will also provide low-interest loans and tax exemptions for buildings that cannot leverage private debt for rehabilitation, helping ensure building safety, preserve affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households, and reduce operating costs.
For buildings that can leverage private debt, HPD will extend low-interest loans paired with tax exemptions.
HPD’s Office of Housing Access and Stability will also issue a new request for proposals to expand eligibility for NYC 15/15 Rental Assistance to projects with city-administered supportive service contracts.
Properties eligible for SPP include existing supportive housing projects in NYC with social services contracts administered by a city or state agency that will be maintained after the transaction closes. Sponsors may also propose combining existing non-supportive housing properties with supportive homes in a single transaction.
“NYC has been at the forefront of the supportive housing movement since its inception more than forty years ago. We are proud to once again lead the way with the SPP, a new initiative which will help stabilize and preserve our supportive housing stock,” HPD Commissioner Dina Levy said.
“Supportive housing is a vital resource for New Yorkers facing homelessness and other complex challenge,” she added. “For those struggling with immense challenges, the SPP will offer an opportunity to live more stable and dignified lives in homes that are safe and affordable.”
The program was shaped by feedback from supportive housing sponsors, trade organizations, and lenders. HPD developed a term sheet based on stakeholder input and historical data to make SPP more responsive to the needs of supportive housing projects.
HPD announced the program’s launch alongside representatives from Nazareth Housing, a nonprofit serving vulnerable families, and the Supportive Housing Network of New York, a membership organization representing more than 200 nonprofits that develop and operate supportive housing.
“This innovative initiative recognizes that preserving supportive housing is just as important as creating new housing,” Rachel Levine, executive director of Nazareth Housing, said. “NYC cannot solve its housing crisis without protecting the homes that already provide stability, affordability, and critical supportive services to vulnerable New Yorkers.
Preservation is a central component of Mamdani’s “Block by Block” housing plan, unveiled in May. The initiative aims to build 200,000 new affordable homes over the next decade, the most ambitious target set by a NYC mayor. It also calls for $22 billion in capital investments over five years to fund new affordable housing and preserve an additional 200,000 existing homes.
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