Affordable Housing Escalates in New York Neighborhoods

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

New York’s affordable housing initiative has come a long way—with $1.3 billion invested in the plan and 15,827 units of affordable units financed for middle-class and low-income residents in Fiscal Year 2011, which ended on June 30, Mayor Bloomberg’s plan is just one quarter away from completion.  According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the goal of the New Housing Marketplace Plan financed under the Bloomberg Administration is to create and preserve 165,000 affordable housing units for 500,000 New Yorkers by the end of 2014. The new affordable developments that closed Fiscal Year 2011 include 1,200 units of mixed-income housing, 1,500 units of low-income housing and 940 units of supportive housing that were built in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, informs the newspaper.

In other affordable housing news, the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the NYC Housing Development Corp., Goldman Sachs, L+M Development Partners Inc. and Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement Inc. (HCCI) have closed a $75 million deal meant to preserve 14 Harlem buildings as affordable for families with moderate incomes over the next 30 years.

NY Daily News reports that work has already begun on some of the buildings included in this plan—the improvements include changed roofs, replaced interior lighting, security improvements, upgraded apartment interiors, kitchens and bathrooms and new elevators. According to Rick Gropper, L+M project manager, for the next 30 years rents will remain at the same levels, thanks to an “extended use” clause in the regulator agreement.