NYCHA Looks to Expand its Footprint With Private Partnerships

The city s society housing agency is calling for proposals from private partners to create new housing near NYCHA campuses A view of NYCHA s St Nicholas Houses near the intersection of Frederick Douglass Boulevard and West th Street in Harlem Adi Talwar City Limits Being New York City s largest landowner comes with specific perks NYCHA is looking to leverage its large footprint together with private advancement to help address New York City s housing predicament and the agency s own deep rehabilitation demands NYCHA has acres of land in the city and a population the size of Minneapolis As of the aging NYCHA housing stock has a billion backlog in physical repair requirements after decades of federal disinvestment Now bureaucrats want to expand their footprint even further emerging housing projects on private land near NYCHA sites The public-private partnerships would create new affordable housing and potentially help NYCHA address its deep repair necessities function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'zwcugqstyjmfwec wgkn' NYCHA will leverage private-sector partners which will lead to the evolution and expansion of deeply affordable housing stated Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrion in a report Authorities say it s part of an all-hands-on-deck strategy to address the housing emergency in the city NYCHA is already converting units to private management under the city s PACT campaign PACT converts inhabitants housing subsidies to project-based vouchers which command a higher payment from the federal cabinet generating revenue NYCHA plans to use on repairs Another units have voted to be part of NYCHA s Preservation Trust pipeline which retains NYCHA management while converting to Section With this initiative NYCHA is seeking proposals from private developers that leverage new funding and rise tools the agency has developed That could include building new units that would join the federal administration s RAD plan supporting new affordable housing with project based vouchers or selling expansion rights to fund repairs or new housing Returning to its roots as a inhabitants developer NYCHA must leverage available assets to serve current populace housing residents while creating more affordable housing opportunities citywide added NYCHA Chair Jamie Rubin Councilmember Chris Banks who runs the City Council Committee on Citizens Housing expressed skepticism about the proposed effort He declared that past private partnerships have not delivered what they promised I don t buy that explained Banks I don t trust NYCHA or these developers that it s going to help and promotion the surrounding buildings The proposals could include build first projects where new housing is constructed offsite and made available to current NYCHA residents who can move in with a voucher It may also create vacancies that would enable NYCHA to make repairs in older buildings and eventually move new tenants in from the agency s long wait lists for housing assistance Wouldn t it be great if you could get access to that vacant lot across the street to help free up the space for the regeneration of that campus that s never been done before commented Jessica Katz former Chief Housing Officer for the city and leader of the NYCHA Regeneration Initiative Any redevelopment project is logistically hard especially when rehabilitation requires tenant relocation but the conditions at NYCHA increasingly demand it Katz says The physical requirements of the NYCHA portfolio have deteriorated very significantly over the last years stated Katz who noted that rehab requires more money and longer relocations One goal of this new construction model is the fact that there just demands to be a place for people to go while the buildings are being rehabbed It s notably different from more controversial infill projects where NYCHA partners with developers to build on parking lots or other open space within campuses generating revenue that supports repairs at existing buildings NYCHA has tested infill projects in the last few days like when it sold a slice of land to fund repairs at the Manhattanville Houses in West Harlem or a contested plan to move NYCHA tenants to new buildings and demolish and rebuild the Fulton and Elliot-Chelsea Houses in Manhattan Infill projects have garnered criticism from residents but gained more vocal sponsorship from elected leaders in latest years like Council Speaker Adrienne Adams Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo also mentioned infill at NYCHA campuses in their primary poll housing plans A spokesperson for NYCHA revealed that the Request for Expressions of Interest RFEI only seeks proposals for private land not infill Banks disclosed NYCHA s priorities are in the wrong place After a NYCHA apartment is vacated it takes the housing authority an average of days to move a new tenant in while more than applicants sit on a waitlist I find that very presumptuous of NYCHA when as of now there s about vacancies I think they should truly deal with that issue before they step outside to develop more to be a part of these types of partnerships revealed Banks The tools used and the ownership structures of the plans NYCHA is soliciting may depend on the specific project Developers have other tools to play with in their proposals NYCHA hopes that lending chosen of its affordable housing funding mechanisms to private expansion will chip in on filling a citywide affordable housing need NYCHA has several wiggle room under a federally-mandated cap on the number of constituents housing units in the city Under one of the tools it could build new constituents housing units up to the cap then convert them to PACT making room to build more under the cap and doing it all again Another way is through a transfer of assistance where society housing residents would switch to Project Based Section assistance and move into a new growth freeing up vacancies in existing constituents housing that could facilitate repair and rehabilitation or get people off the housing authority s long wait list Because of its towers in the park design a large number of NYCHA campuses have a lot of land at their disposal Where NYCHA campuses don t have as much housing as zoning would allow on their lot a transfer of improvement rights enables them to sell off that extra buildable area to an adjacent owner who could build bigger than otherwise permitted Getting tenants on board will be a challenge no matter the project We re heavily focused on making sure that residents have input when these programs are being introduced to them noted Banks Trust is very hard won and it is very easily lost and NYCHA residents have lots of reasons not to trust that these projects are going to go forward revealed Katz To reach the reporter behind this story contact Patrick citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint guidelines here The post NYCHA Looks to Expand its Footprint With Private Partnerships appeared first on City Limits