By Devin Gannon, Mon, September 13, 2021 Rendering courtesy of Robert A.M. Stern Architects
About a month after Robert A.M. Stern’s affordable rental building opened in Brooklyn, the renowned architect’s firm has been tapped to design another residential development designated for low-income New Yorkers. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development last week announced a project to bring 40 homeownership opportunities to a new 8-story building in the Bronx, which will be designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) and developed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, Camber Property Group, Almat Urban, and Interboro Community Land Trust. The building, located near Claremont Park, will have apartments that are affordable to families of three earning up to $93,000 annually.
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By Devin Gannon, Mon, August 16, 2021 Rendering of Timbale Terrace courtesy of Lantern Organization, Mega Development, Urban Architectural Initiatives, HPD
Nearly 600 affordable homes and a new performing arts center are planned for two sites in East Harlem, the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation announced Friday. The projects include a 330-unit residential building with a new arts center for the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance and a 250-unit development that will have an expanded East Harlem Multi-Service Center. The projects are among the first major developments under the East Harlem rezoning, which was approved in 2017.
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By Dana Schulz, Thu, July 15, 2021 Photo by mari small on Unsplash
Affordable housing has long been a topic at the forefront of NYC politics, but it gained even more attention with Mayor de Blasio’s plan to preserve or build 300,000 affordable units by 2026, which has resulted in a slew of new lotteries, a new more user-friendly web portal, and an update to ease the process for immigrants and low-income New Yorkers. But the topic is not without its issues, especially with the city reeling in the wake of the pandemic. Many still wonder if the city is doing enough for affordability and if some of the available units are really affordable. Ahead, we break down the different types of affordable housing programs, how you can qualify and apply, and what happens if and when you get in.
Everything you need to know about affordable housing
By Devin Gannon, Wed, June 30, 2021 All images courtesy of NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, unless otherwise noted
A housing lottery opened this week for 127 middle-income apartments at a brand new rental tower in Greenpoint. Two Blue Slip, one half of a pair of luxury towers developed by Brookfield Properties and Park Tower Group, is a 40-story building located on the waterfront at the northern end of the Brooklyn neighborhood. New Yorkers with combined household incomes between $81,258 and $192,400, or 130 percent of the area median income, can apply for the apartments, which start at $2,370/month studios, $2,542/month one-bedrooms, $3,063/month two-bedrooms, and $3,530/month three-bedrooms.
Do you qualify?
By Devin Gannon, Fri, June 18, 2021 Photo © Julienne Schaer
The first two rentals at the five-building South Bronx complex La Central officially opened on Wednesday. The mixed-use towers, located at 556 and 600 Bergen Street in the borough’s Melrose neighborhood, contain 500 units of housing, a new YMCA, studio space for BronxNet, and a rooftop farm operated by GrowNYC.
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By Devin Gannon, Mon, January 4, 2021 Photo by Jeffrey Blum on Unsplash
Before lawmakers passed sweeping rent reform legislation in 2019, New York City renters moving to a new apartment paid a hefty lump sum, typically including an application fee, broker fee, and a security deposit. With the new law limiting application fees to $20 (and broker fees next on the chopping block), city officials are now looking to make it even easier to move into a new home. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Housing Development Corporation last week issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking companies that would provide alternatives to paying a security deposit all at once at city-financed affordable properties.
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By Devin Gannon, Mon, November 23, 2020 Rendering courtesy of Marvel Architects/SCAPE Landscape Architects
The city’s proposed six-building residential development in Gowanus will be 100 percent affordable, officials announced last week. The Gowanus Green project, part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration’s plan to rezone the Brooklyn neighborhood, will contain 950 units of affordable housing, with at least 50 percent designated to extremely low and very low-income households. Previously, the plan called for roughly 74 percent of units to fall below the market rate.
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By Devin Gannon, Tue, June 16, 2020 Photo by Emiliano Bar on Unsplash
New York City’s highly competitive online affordable housing lottery system is getting a revamp to make applying for the income-restricted apartments easier. The city’s Housing Preservation and Development on Tuesday rolled out a new web portal that aims to be more user-friendly, allowing applicants to view available lotteries on their smartphones and upload required documents online.
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By Devin Gannon, Tue, March 10, 2020 The site of the proposed affordable senior housing building in Morrisania; Map data © 2020 Google
The city is looking to construct two affordable senior complexes with between 150 and 200 housing units each. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Friday released a request for proposals for two underused city-owned sites, one in the Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood and the other in Crown Heights in Brooklyn. The developments fall under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration’s “Seniors First” housing program, which aims to serve 30,000 senior households by 2026 through the creation and preservation of affordable housing.
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By Devin Gannon, Wed, August 21, 2019 Via Creative Commons
New Yorkers applying for affordable housing no longer need to provide credit scores or social security numbers, making it easier for low-income and undocumented immigrant households to qualify, the city announced Wednesday. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development expanded the guidelines of its affordable housing lottery policy to allow applicants to show 12 months of positive rental history instead of a credit check run by a landlord. This erases the need for adult household members to provide a social security number or an individual tax identification number.
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