"Affordable" nature

QNS 

 City officials, elected leaders, developers and community members gathered at the location of a formerly vacant illegal dumping ground on Beach 44th Street Wednesday to cut the ribbon at the new 35-acre Arverne East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center along the Rockaway waterfront in Edgemere.

 he preserve represents phase one of an ambitious Arverne East development project, which will transform more than 100 acres of underutilized space between Beach 32nd Street and Beach 56th Place into 1,650 units of housing — 80% of which will be affordable, serving low-income and middle-income individuals and families — in addition to retail and community space, a hotel and a tap room and brewery.

“The Rockaway renaissance takes another historic step forward,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “What was once a vacant, overgrown illegal dumping ground for decades is now a stunning hub of wildlife and a successful example of what community-centered sustainability looks like. I could not be prouder of this project or of the Arverne East development as a whole, which represents transformational change for a community that had previously been ignored for generations.”

 Richards added that future generations would benefit from resources he never had while growing up at the nearby Ocean Villages apartments staring at the blighted oceanfront parcel of land. Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, who grew up in Far Rockaway, said he looks forward to the completion of the preserve and called the Arverne East development a once-in-a-generation investment.

 The community can have affordable housing and environmental sustainability while enjoying local flora and fauna,” Anderson said. “The welcome center will be a fitting centerpiece of this relationship our neighbors will share with the environment. I hope this model of the first net-zero community in New York City will be an example emulated by others.”

 

 

Affordable housing for Christmas

 

Queens Chronicle

The JFK Hilton will soon be the Baisley Pond Park Residences now that the city closed a deal on Monday to convert the South Jamaica hotel into affordable housing with the help of a nonprofit and a real estate group that focuses on creating multifamily homes.

The cost for the city to partially acquire and develop the property is projected at $167 million. Located at 144-02 135 Ave., the space will be transformed into 318 permanent units for low-income and formerly homeless New Yorkers, according to the office of Mayor Adams.

“Digging our city out of this severe housing shortage will require every tool in our toolbox, and our administration helped win an important fight to add this hotel conversion,” Adams said in a statement. “Advancing this plan ... is a sign that we can think outside of the box and take advantage of the opportunities in front of us. I want to thank our partners in Albany for making it possible to turn empty hotels into affordable homes and our development partners who will deliver on the promise of this idea for hundreds of New Yorkers.”

The development partners, which include the nonprofit RiseBoro Community Partnership and Slate Property Group, a real estate lender and operator primarily focused on the adaptive reuse of property for family housing, acquired the property for $64 million.

MSquared, a women-owned real estate development and impact-investing platform, will also be a part of the project.

“Our city faces an urgent need for quality affordable housing and Baisley Pond Park Residence is a great example of how we can utilize new strategies and funding sources to address this crisis head-on,” said Alicia Glen, founder and managing principal of MSquared, in a statement.

MSquared provided a key $4.4 million predevelopment loan. The city will get $48 million from the state’s new Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act program. The remaining capital is being provided through a $50 million senior loan from the city Housing Development Corp., which is being serviced by Chase, and the project is funded with an allocation of 501(c)(3) bonds from HDC.

There will be 192 shelter residents with CityFHEPS vouchers in the homes, according to city Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park.

Aracelia Cook, president of the 149th Street South Ozone Park Civic Association, said she is excited about the prospect of affordable housing in the Southeast Queens area.

“We definitely need more permanent housing,” Cook told the Chronicle. “Instead of just another hotel to be a center for migrants.”

Earlier this year, the hotel was closed permanently and later it was used as a shelter for asylum seekers, prompting a protest.

“We need a more permanent housing solution,” Cook said. “They spoke to us about their vision and we are looking forward to partnering with them.”

Cook said RiseBoro and Slate Property have been talking to members of her civic since April and she is glad to see that the deal is finally done.

The hotel, which is a half-mile from JFK Airport, will have full kitchens, ADA-compliant bathrooms, community rooms, a computer lounge, fitness room and on-site laundry. The landscape architecture firm, OSD, has also designed a stunning indoor/outdoor garden space for residents. Rent will range from $784 for studios to $1,493 for a two-bedroom unit, according to the city.

 

The City Of Yes wants SRO's ASAP

 

 Crain's New York

Ray Ray Soto’s apartment on the Upper West Side has hardwood floors, ceramic counters and city views. At first blush, it’s not so different from many other units in newly built towers.

“This is a beautiful building,” said Soto, 66, who moved there in March after a years-long search. “I love the place I’m living in. I really do.”

Her studio, however, is not inside a conventional rental development. It’s actually located in a single-room occupancy hotel, commonly referred to as an SRO, one of the few remaining examples of a once-common type of dwelling that served as a lifeline to generations of New Yorkers without much money. But their often dark, drecky and dangerous conditions led to a ban on SROs decades ago and prompted officials to allow most of the remaining ones to be razed.

But as homelessness and housing costs hit record levels, Mayor Eric Adams is considering allowing the controversial properties, with their unusually small unit sizes and shared kitchens or bathrooms, to be built for the first time since the Eisenhower era. Soto’s digs could be a glimpse of things to come.

“We have to try something new, and that’s when old ideas become new again,” said Muzzy Rosenblatt, chief executive officer of the Bowery Residents' Committee, a nonprofit housing provider that operates a handful of the city’s few surviving SROs.

But several housing providers who support the mayor’s SRO push said they would tweak a few details this time around, such as getting more buy-in from nonprofits and insisting on regular inspections to make sure living conditions stay up to code. “When SROs were run by private landlords, it was very hard to make them a successful business, because their customers were the poorest of the poor,” Rosenblatt said.

The set of pro-housing zoning changes that Adams proposed in September includes measures that would eliminate rules that have long prevented the construction of new SROs.

Specifically, the mayor would amend zoning laws that set a minimum average size for apartments in new developments to encourage more studios and, the thinking goes, more small-unit apartment buildings.

In the push to get more shared housing in general, City Hall would also loosen rules that prevent developers from adding rooming-house-style units in low-density areas and converting offices into the properties.

Although the City Council would have to approve these zoning changes and likely pass additional legislation for SROs to make a full-fledged return, the need for cheap housing options no longer seems as controversial as it had been for decades. Gale Brewer, a City Council member whose Upper West Side district was the epicenter of the SRO fight in the middle of the last century, told Crain's she “absolutely” supports the mayor’s idea.

So does City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick. “Zoning should not act as a bar to different types of housing that meets the needs of lots of current and future New Yorkers,” he told Crain’s. “We want to allow for a level of creativity within buildings and to explore new ways of living.

SROs may still be a lightning rod. A preview of the possible resistance came in March, when some observers reacted with outrage when Adams hinted at his eventual plan by floating the idea of allowing bedrooms without windows.

But if the City Council were to vote for the reforms, it would represent a remarkable full-circle moment for a type of housing once seen as an island of affordability in a pricey metropolis.

Instead of shelling out for a full-size apartment, tenants—especially single men—with reduced means could fork over much less money for a private bedroom alone and then share a bathroom and kitchen with their neighbors, a model not dissimilar to the increasingly popular co-living communities of the past few years.

 

AOC brings the ruckus again

The forum was organized by Ocasio-Cortez in order for residents to ask questions and get feedback from the lawmaker on her record and policy positions.

 

Queens Post 

A community forum hosted by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Astoria last night was disrupted by a group of angry protesters.

The event, which was held at The Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens on 30th Road, saw a group of around 10 demonstrators heckle the progressive Congresswoman inside the packed auditorium.

Video clips of the disruptions have gone viral showing demonstrators chanting “AOC Has Got to Go” and “Vote Her Out.”

A man with a hand drum can be seen pounding out a beat, while other protesters are holding signs reading “Stop Sandy Lying,” and “Wake up New York. Vote for Tina Forte. F–k AOC.”

Forte is Ocasio-Cortez’s Republican opponent in the upcoming election for New York’s 14^th Congressional District.

Ocasio-Cortez in one of the clips can be seen smiling and dancing to the taunts while sitting on the stage and sipping from a bottle of water.

A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez said the demonstrators were not constituents and are part of a “far-right wing group that regularly protest against COVID vaccinations [and] LGBTQ rights.”

“We do thank the numerous constituents from Astoria who turned out last night to engage in the civic process,” the spokesperson said. “We’re grateful that we were still able to have a meaningful dialogue, in spite of that group.”

The forum was organized by Ocasio-Cortez in order for residents to ask questions and get feedback from the lawmaker on her record and policy positions.

Adams initiates more affordable "green" housing developments for Southeast Queens

 

QNS

The mayor and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — both of whom grew up in the area — celebrated the completion of a $50 million project delivering more than six miles of new sewers and water mains to alleviate flooding of homes and streets in Rochdale under budget. They also kicked off the construction of “Habitat Net Zero,” a project that will turn 13 dilapidated homes previously owned by the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) into 16 green homes for affordable homeownership. 

“This community represented the promise of a better life for my family, and I am going to keep that promise for generations of New Yorkers,” Adams said during a press conference outside of a dilapidated house at 126-01 116th Ave. in south Jamaica that will be transformed by Habitat for Humanity. “The government has ignored this community for too long, denying them their fair share of investments and services — that ends in my administration. These projects will make life better for the residents of southeast Queens today and those who will be able to move here in the future, and I’m proud to say that this is just the beginning.”

For far too long, southeast Queens has endured systemic disinvestment and neglect, resulting in widening disparities that persist today, Council Speaker Adams said. 

“With the completion of the $49.3 million water infrastructure project in Rochdale and the start of construction for Habitat Net Zero — a project to deliver new affordable homeownership opportunities — our communities are seeing the investments and improvements that we have always deserved,” the speaker said.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), and New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) completed the $49.3 million project under budget, bringing more than six miles of new sewers and water mains to Rochdale — improving street conditions, alleviating flooding, and upgrading infrastructure, while staying $5.7 million under budget. Work began in March 2018 and took place on 78 individual blocks.

 “Ever since the residential development of southeast Queens more than 50 years ago, neighbors have worried about any threat of rain in the forecast, because there were no catch basins or sewers built to drain the roadways, resulting in chronic flooding and property damage,” said Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations. “With a commitment of $2.5 billion for a comprehensive drainage system, we are now correcting that past failure block by block.” 

Affordable huh? We shall see...

Gowanus rezone approval spurs luxury public housing over-development blowback

 

The Real Deal 

 Developers have filed plans to build three more largely residential buildings in recently rezoned Gowanus.

Rabsky Group affiliate Galaxy Developers and Monadnock Development each submitted plans for a 22-story building with approximately 300 residential units at 395 Carroll Street and 155 3rd Street, respectively. Avery Hall Investments put in paperwork to build nearly 200 units at 653 Union Street.

A steady flow of Gowanus developments have been filed since October, when it became clear the rezoning would pass.

But that is not the only reason that project filings are piling up at the Department of Buildings. The scheduled expiration of 421a, a generous property tax break for residential construction, in June is prompting developers to get their foundations in the ground by then.

Largavista Companies filed plans to build a 46-story tower with 518 residential units at 30-05 Queens Boulevard in Long Island City. The building will span about 474,000 square feet.

Howard Hughes filed its application to build at 250 Water Street after slogging its way through the Landmarks Preservation Commission and City Council as opponents complained that the project is too tall.

The building clocks in at 26 stories with 324 residential units and 160,000 square feet of commercial space. The site, which abuts the high-rent Financial District, has been a parking lot for decades, despite several attempts to develop it.

Also in Queens, Albert Shirian’s Lions Group filed plans to build a 49-story tower with 363 residential units at 26-32 Jackson Avenue. The company secured construction financing for an adjacent residential project at 27-01 Jackson Avenue with 164 units across 27 stories, the Commercial Observer reported.

City gives big real estate developer 90 million to build housing project in Far Rockaway

 QNS

The long-delayed Edgemere Commons mega-project in Far Rockaway is expected to break ground in January after Tishman Speyer’s TS Communities on Nov. 19 announced that it has entered an agreement with Arker Companies to acquire and develop 10 of the 11 building sites at the location of the former Peninsula Hospital.

The 100% affordable housing development will encompass 2,050 apartments, including 237 that will be set aside for seniors, was originally approved by the City council in November 2019 and was expected to begin construction in 2020.

“We are proud to join the Edgemere community and look forward to working with residents and local elected officials to advance the three pillars of Edgemere Commons: affordability, community and resiliency,” TS Communities Managing Director Gary Rodney said. “Real estate is more than buildings. Our team is committed to building community and connection by focusing on what people need to make their lives and their neighborhoods better.”

The Edgemere neighborhood, an area where the median family income is the lowest on the peninsula, will benefit from hundreds of permanent and construction jobs and the project will include a community center, medial space and 72,000 square feet of “neighborhood-oriented retail,” including a supermarket, fitness center, food and beverage and shops, as well as 973 accessory parking spaces.

“Edgemere Commons will increase the availability of affordable housing in Far Rockaway and bring many amenities that will benefit both existing and future residents,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “The planned supermarket is especially needed in this community, which is considered a food desert because of its lack of easy access to healthy and nutritious food. I look forward to making sure all of this project’s community benefits will come to fruition and are fully enjoyed by Far Rockaway’s great residents.”

5 WTC needs to make it 100

  

 

THE CITY

 Two decades after Sept. 11, 2001, the last re-building block of the World Trade Center is coming together.

A proposal for a 900-foot residential skyscraper on “Site 5”, formerly home to the Deutsche Bank Building, is in the works. It will include 1,325 apartments, a quarter of which will be so-called affordable, or rented below market rate.

But as the 20th anniversary of the attacks arrives, some locals are pushing for something different: Why not make the building a place where survivors and their families can live, with all of the units set at income-adjusted, affordable rents?

To Mariama James, a longtime downtown resident who said she struggles with 9/11-related health issues and lost her father to a related cancer, taking that course is the right thing to do.

It would represent a recognition of the residents who made Lower Manhattan a “phenomenal” place to live after the attacks, she said.

“It’s the people who were asked to stay here, not to leave, and to live, basically, through a war zone — to move here in the aftermath of that, or to return to their homes that had been destroyed, and rebuild them. We did it. You asked, and we did it,” she said. “And there’s been no compensation for that. There’s been no thanks.”

James is a co-founder of a new coalition of Lower Manhattan residents and housing advocates rallying to push multiple public agencies and two mega-developers, Brookfield Properties and Silverstein Properties, to change course on the Site 5 plan. 

 The building is set to be the first residential property within the downtown complex, and the last major site to be redeveloped there since the 2001 attacks.

 The current plan for the site calls for about 995 market-rate apartments and 330 affordable-housing units, also known as income-restricted apartments because they are rented to families within specific household earning categories.

The affordable units will be reserved for families making up to 50% of the area median income. With a local AMI of $107,400, a three-person family making only about $53,000 annually could secure a spot in the tower.

 

Strolling through Ridgewood

 

 

 FOX 5 NY

So it is possible to build real, "deeply" affordable housing without one building monstrosity taking up a whole block. 

 

Affordable housing hotel conversion bill passes

4 Hotels by Suthpin Blvd, Jamaica (JQ LLC)

 

 

QNS

With the legislative session winding down in Albany, state Senator Michael Gianaris passed his Housing our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA) in the upper chamber Wednesday, June 9.

The legislation will allow the state to finance the purchase and conversion of distressed hotels and vacant commercial office space into permanent affordable housing by nonprofit organizations to ensure every New Yorker has access to a safe and affordable place to live.

Gianaris noted that $100 million was included in the state budget in April to fund such conversions under HONDA.

“New York has seen a decades-long affordable housing crunch exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic devastation,” Gianaris said. “This legislation is a good way to tackle the dual problems of distressed properties and lack of affordable housing. I am thrilled that this passed, and that we have a funded program that will provide real relief going forward.”

Under the legislation, new affordable housing must be made available to low-income households, and people who were previously homeless. At least 50 percent of the units will be set aside for individuals who experienced homelessness immediately prior to applying for converted units.

The legislation passed in the Assembly Thursday, June 10. Jackson Heights Jessica González-Rojas Assemblywoman co-sponsored the measure. (Let's see how fast this works-JQ LLC)

Kathryn Garcia wants to upzone us into oblivion

"Former NYC Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia is running for NYC Mayor this year. Below is a portion of her plan to address the affordable housing and homelessness issues. I received this today via email. She was soliciting for campaign contributions.

These two issues are important to work on, however, some of her proposals are rather shocking and reflect the increasing attacks on our contextual rezonings and our fight against dangerous illegal conversions. Again, this is a portion of Ms. Garcia's Policy Statement.

Is this what we can expect to hear from other candidates for Mayor this year?" - anonymous

Housing supply has not kept up with demand. We added 500k New Yorkers over the last decade, but only 100k units of new housing.

Public dollars cannot fund all affordable housing, but we can make it easier and faster for private partners to build.

That means comprehensive upzoning to ensure all neighborhoods - particularly those rich in transit, jobs, and great schools - have their fair share of affordable housing.

We need to get creative: end apartment bans and legalize basement apartments, accessory dwelling units, and single-room occupancy apartments (SROs).

Accelerate approvals for new housing construction by streamlining the ULURP and environmental review process, especially for affordable housing projects.

Here she comes to save the day!

The tide is nigh for endangered affordable housing

 

Queens Eagle 

Tenants in nearly 1,800 subsidized housing units in Queens could be displaced as a result of rising sea levels over the next 30 years, according to the first nationwide analysis of the climate crisis’ impact on affordable housing. Nearly all of the impacted units are located in the eastern portion of the Rockaway Peninsula, including Far Rockaway and Arverne.

The peer-reviewed study published by the organization IOPScience found that flooding will render more NYCHA, Section 8 and other subsidized homes unlivable in New York City than any other city in the country by 2050.  

Authors Maya Buchanan, Scott Kulp, Lara Cushing, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Todd Nedwick and Benjamin Strauss refer to these subsidized units as “affordable housing” as they consider the impact of rising sea levels on 20 vulnerable coastal cities including Boston and Miami Beach.

“The frequency of coastal floods around the United States has risen sharply over the last few decades, and rising seas point to further future acceleration,” they write. “Residents of low-lying affordable housing, who tend to be low-income persons living in old and poor quality structures, are especially vulnerable.“

An interactive map published alongside the report shows the specific communities facing the greatest risk, with nearly all the units concentrated in Far Rockaway and Arverne. The two neighborhoods have a high number of NYCHA and Section 8 units compared to other waterfront neighborhoods of Southeast Queens and the Rockaways.

A city plan to rezone coastal communities for greater resiliency highlights the dangerous impact on Broad Channel, Howard Beach and the neighborhoods around Flushing Bay, as well. All are expected to fall below the floodplain by 2050.
 

 The IOPScience report anticipates factors 30 years in the future, but New York City already has among the highest number of units vulnerable to flooding at least once a year, the authors write.

At least 1,373 subsidized units are vulnerable right now, a total that represents less than 1 percent of the city’s current affordable housing stock, according to the paper by Climate Central and the National Housing Trust. 

“Climate-change-driven sea level rise will continue to amplify coastal flooding in the coming decades,” the report states.. “As community resilience investments are made, complementary policies may be needed to protect against the displacement (and potential homelessness) of residents.”

Phipps Houses looking to get rezoning approval for affordable housing development

 

 

 

  

Queens Post

Phipps Houses has filed plans to rezone its Barnett Avenue property and build a seven-story, 167-unit building.

The non-profit developer applied for a zoning change earlier this year and the application was certified by the Dept. of City Planning on Oct. 5– officially kicking off the public review process. Phipps needs to rezone its site from manufacturing to residential in order to proceed with the project that would go up at 50-25 Barnett Ave.

The plans call for a mixed use building on the north side of Barnett Avenue between 50th and 52nd streets. The building would consist of 167 units that would all be deemed affordable–subject to income restrictions. The units would be 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments and there would be no studios.

The development would also include room for a community facility as well as 170 attended parking spaces, of which 111 would be made available for the public.

The application comes four years after Phipps abandoned a more ambitious rezoning plan for the site after facing fierce community opposition.

The current plans are about to go before Community Board 2 for review. The board is expected to hold a public hearing in November before it renders an advisory opinion. The plans will then go to the Queens Borough President’s office, the City Planning Commission and then the city council for a vote. The whole public review process is expected to take about seven months.

The proposal is smaller than what Phipps put forward in 2016, when it sought a rezoning to build a 10-story, 209-unit building. The units in that plan would have all been affordable, although at higher income brackets.

The affordable units in Phipps’ latest plan would target households earning significantly less.

It does seem nice that Phipps was persuaded to bring down the size and the rents. A welcome change to how they operate their other buildings.

 

 

 

Mayor de Blasio defunds affordable housing

The Real Deal

  City Council members are fighting Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed cuts to the city’s capital budget, saying it will mean a loss of 21,000 affordable apartments over the next few years.

Based on an analysis by the New York Housing Conference, officials estimate that the mayor’s proposed $2.3 billion reduction in the city’s capital budget will delay financing for 5,000 new affordable units and 15,000 affordable and supportive housing units that would have been preserved.

Under the mayor’s proposal, $583 million would be slashed from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s capital budget in fiscal year 2020 and $457 million in fiscal year 2021, a nearly 40 percent reduction.

“While the subsequent three years are projected to offset these losses, they are beyond the term of the de Blasio administration,” Council members Vanessa Gibson and Brad Lander wrote in a report released Monday.

The mayor proposed the cuts to help balance the city budget, due July 1, after the pandemic wiped out what is now estimated as $9 billion in city revenue over two years.

But the report calls the planned capital budget cuts a “misguided application of austerity economics” that have “little benefit for immediate budget savings.” According to the report, proposed cuts will also result in the loss of more than 9,000 construction jobs.

During a press conference Monday, Gibson noted that demand for supportive housing is only going to increase in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

“Housing has to be prioritized,” she said, adding that minority communities have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic. “They have felt this pandemic the most, and they are going to feel this capital budget the most.”

Mayor de Blasio keeps two cities alive by planning cuts to "affordable" housing

Politico

The Real Deal

Mayor Bill de Blasio’ signature affordable housing plan, already troubled by a string of setbacks at the start of year as rezonings encountered roadblocks, is set to take another big blow.
 
The mayor has proposed cutting $583 million from the plan’s budget for the fiscal year which ends June 30 and another $456 million next year, Politico reported. The de Blasio administration says it will compensate by adding just over $1 billion to the budgets for fiscal years 2022 through 2024.
 
“The agency is taking a hard look at the projects in our pipeline and working creatively with partners to find additional sources of financing to move our projects forward,” a spokesperson for the city’s housing department told Politico.
 
“We understand that affordable housing will be more important than ever on the other side of this crisis, which is why we are advocating for more federal resources to support our push forward.”

All those open streets aren't going to pay for themselves.

Mayor de Blasio's basement housing initiative is not making any steps

Hilarious illustration by the Real Deal 

The Real Deal

Across the city, tens of thousands of people live in illegal basement apartments. The de Blasio administration aims to turn these units into legal affordable housing, but it’s not clear how the city will address the challenges associated with bringing these units up to code.

Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a citywide legalization initiative that would build on a pilot program launched in East New York last year. The mayor projects that it will add 10,000 affordable units over the next decade.

However, financial and logistical obstacles abound, including high costs, engineering issues, a lack of political will to shutter illegal apartments, and persuading homeowners to let the city randomly choose their tenants.

Experts say upgrading a basement or cellar unit can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The city’s building code requires, among other things, ceiling heights of at least eight feet, windows in every bedroom and many other rooms, a sprinkler system and at least one exit in basement apartments and two in cellars.

(Basements are partly below curb level but have at least half of their height above it. Cellars are more than half below curb level.)

“This idea has been kicked around for a while, but there’s no actual proposal of how it’s going to work or how it’s going to be safe,” said Stuart Saft, leader of Holland & Knight’s real estate group. “Even if money was no object, even if the city came along and said ‘we’ll pay for it,’ you still have the logistical problem of doing it.”

Though the mayor hasn’t released specifics on his plan, he has indicated that the city will fund low-interest loans for homeowners to bring below-ground units up to code. Jane Meyer, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the projects would be subject to regulatory agreements that lay out income restrictions in the same manner as other city-financed projects.

Former city planner Eric Kober, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, was skeptical that subsidized loans would be enough to incentivize landlords to legalize already-occupied units.

“You could raise the fines and penalties, but then you have to be willing to throw people out on the street,” Kober said, referring to tenants in illegal apartments. “And that raises a whole other set of issues about what happens to that household.”

Man looks forward to city contract to build more tiny houses under de Blasio's latest plan to build "affordable" housing

THE CITY

Entrepreneur Tom Saat built a teeny, tiny house in Queens.

“It has a stand-up shower, compost toilet, full-size refrigerator and a second-story high enough to stand in,” said Saat, a 57-year-old Turkish immigrant who worked on his 300-square-foot home in Astoria before moving it to a Long Island City industrial warehouse last year.

“It took my family more than a year to build,” he said. “I have a construction background and watched a lot of YouTube videos. God bless the internet.”

Tom Saat sits atop the roof of tiny house he built. Photo: Courtesy of the Saat family

Saat, who runs a business as a general contractor, is among those excited about the de Blasio administration’s bid to boost affordable housing by easing restrictions on backyard dwellings and basement apartments. The mayor revealed the proposal last week ahead of his State of the City address at the American Museum of Natural History.

“People should be allowed to put tiny houses in their backyard — or someone else’s backyard with their permission,” said Saat, who actually lives in Lower Manhattan. “And there should be lots assigned for tiny-house owners.”

Saat’s eight-foot-wide, 23.5-foot long house on wheels, with an electronic, retractable second floor, cost roughly $50,000 to build. He and his family eventually moved it out of an industrial warehouse in Long Island City on Thanksgiving Day last year and headed to a more affordable lot upstate in Stormville, N.Y.

Saat conceded that his little home, while cozy, does not comply with city building codes in its current state: The 6.5-foot second-story ceiling does not meet the required minimum clearance, for instance, and the bathroom uses removable plastic bags for waste.

“Number one goes into a separate container which can include a small chlorine tablet inside for keeping it clean, germ- and odor-free,” he said. “Number two goes into the plastic bag area and sawdust, or other natural dust made from coconut shell, is used to cover number two each time it is used. Once or twice a month, this bag is replaced.”

If the city were to ease restrictions, Saat said, he would consider offering classes on building tiny homes in the boroughs. He had planned to offer classes in Queens before heading north.

De Blasio administration officials predict at least 10,000 additional units, including newly approved basement apartments and tiny backyard homes, could be added to the city within the next 10 years under the proposed changes, which the City Council must approve.

I think it's necessary to also post the conclusion of this article, which throws this ridiculous (and gross idea) into the growing dung heap of de Blasio's housing policies:

Other architects, however, remained a bit skeptical.

Lorena del Río, an assistant professor of architecture at The Cooper Union who has worked on affordable housing in Madrid, said, “It’s not going to resolve the bigger problem. Affordable housing should have even higher standards in terms of design so that people don’t end up living in a closet.”

The solution to the city’s housing crunch, she suggested, involved more alliances between the public and private sectors — and the “political will” to regulate housing prices.

“That is the future of affordable housing,” she said. “Not tiny houses.”

 Not only should people not end up living in a closet, but people shouldn't end up shitting in plastic bags every day.

Mayor de Blasio proposes housing fund program for basements, backyard sheds and upzoning garages

 

THE CITY

The de Blasio administration wants to make it easier for homeowners to legally add apartments in basements, atop garages — and even in backyard tiny houses — to boost affordable housing.

The plans, shared Wednesday with THE CITY, entail easing parking requirements as well as supplying low-interest loans to finance construction that would bring the new digs up to code.

“The key to unlocking more housing for New Yorkers is just below our feet,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Legalizing basement apartments will give homeowners a new way to make ends meet and give thousands of New Yorkers an affordable place to live.”

He’s expected to formally announce the effort Thursday during his State of the City address at the American Museum of Natural History.

The city plans to set aside $150 million in capital funds for the loans. Zoning changes woud address rules that currently require additional parking spaces for new apartments in many residential areas — action that could take at least two years, the mayor’s office indicated.

De Blasio administration officials expect at least 10,000 safe and affordable units could be added to the housing-starved city within the next decade under the proposed changes, which require City Council approval.

The new dwellings could even include “tiny homes in a backyard,” City Hall officials said, though they didn’t offer details.

The Pratt Center for Community Development estimates that New York City already has as many as 114,000 occupied basement apartments.

Will Spisak of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, a housing advocacy group, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the new de Blasio plan.“if this really does allow for easier basement conversion experiences, and allowed folks to create accessory dwelling units on their property, this could be really transformative for a lot of homeowners,” said Spisak, the organization’s director of housing justice.

One less hospital, one more alleged affordable housing development

The Real Deal


The Chetrit Group has landed $200 million in construction refinancing for its planned multifamily redevelopment at Jamaica’s Mary Immaculate Hospital site, according to sources familiar with the deal.

The funding comes from Square Mile Capital in a deal that was brokered by Henry Bodek of Galaxy Capital Group. The project will be a four-building, 324-unit complex at 150-13 89th Avenue in Queens.

Bodek declined to comment on the deal. Square Mile Capital and Chetrit did not respond to requests for comment.

Developers claim that the only way affordable housing can be built is if the workers are paid less

Crains New York

Developers of low-cost housing and homelessness advocates say paying the prevailing wage will put them in the poorhouse. Three of the leading industry groups representing below-market builders joined with nonprofit homeless providers Tuesday to warn that a bill in the City Council obligating them pay union rates would roughly double their labor costs—and have a "crippling" impact on new construction.

"We urge the City Council to delay the vote on this bill until it is amended such that it will achieve its goals without crippling housing production and preservation or hampering the efforts to provide shelter to homeless New Yorkers," according to a joint statement by the the Supportive Housing Network of New York, the Human Services Council of New York, Homeless Services United, the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, LiveOn NY and Enterprise Community Partners.

Developers have battled prevailing wage rules for construction workers for years, but have generally enjoyed an amicable relationship with the bill's main beneficiary 32BJ SEIU, which represents janitors and other building employees.

Large projects in areas of the city rezoned under the de Blasio administration already must pay union-level wages.

The statement on Tuesday marked a change not only in who the industry is feuding with, but also in tactics: the release sent to Crain's linked resistance to the prevailing wage with the longstanding difficulties homelessness service providers have in receiving reimbursements from the city, and with the low standard of living experienced by many workers in the senior and indigent care sector.

"While we agree that all workers should be paid a living wage, we want to point out that the (primarily female) staff that work in affordable/senior housing and shelters have government-funded salaries that are far below those of non-prevailing wage building service workers," the group said. "This bill would exacerbate an already gaping pay—and gender gap."