Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (4)

Save Article

New York City - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn today announced a $20 million pilot program to turn unsold condominiums, unrented apartments and stalled construction sites into affordable housing opportunities for moderate- and middle-income families. Through the Housing Asset Renewal Program (HARP), the City will negotiate with developers and banks and provide financing to turn unsold or stalled units intended to be sold or rented at market rate into affordable housing. As many as 400 units could be converted as part of the pilot program, which was first proposed by Speaker Quinn in her State of the City speech. The program is part of the City’s New Housing Marketplace Plan to create affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers and the City’s Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan to create jobs for New Yorkers today, implement a vision for long-term economic growth, and build affordable, attractive neighborhoods.

“Private developments that sit vacant or unfinished could have a destabilizing effect on our neighborhoods, but we’re not about to let that happen,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “This program holds out the promise of addressing the unintended blight caused by vacant sites, while transforming what would have been market-rate buildings into affordable housing for working class New Yorkers.”

“The economic crisis has forced everyone to look for new and innovative solutions to age old problems,” said Speaker Quinn. “The credit crunch has left buildings across our city empty, just waiting for someone to call them home. And now, because of the Housing Asset Renewal Program, these units represent our best chance to confront the housing crisis head on.”

The Housing Asset Renewal Program will focus on two types of problematic developments: completed projects with a high number of vacancies and stalled sites that are still under construction. HPD will issue a Notice of Funding Availability for the new program in late July. Projects will be selected through a competitive process based on three goals:

* Neighborhood Stabilization – Priority will be given to buildings in neighborhoods that will have the greatest impact on keeping communities stable;

* Efficient Use of Public Funding – Preference will be given to projects that need the lowest amount of public assistance to achieve maximum affordability;

* Deep Discounts to New Yorkers – Projects will be selected based on which developers and banks offer the deepest discounts below market rates on prospective units.

“This program gives us an opportunity to stabilize neighborhoods that have been most affected by the economic downturn while giving us fresh opportunities to create affordable housing,” said NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero. “We at HPD appreciate the leadership shown by Speaker Quinn, Housing Chair Dilan and Land Use Chair Katz and look forward to strengthening this productive relationship for the benefit of our City.”

“This pilot program is prudently structured to efficiently capture affordability in housing assets that would otherwise languish in the marketplace,” said New York City Housing Development Corporation President Marc Jahr. “In designing the program, we carefully considered the implications of stepping in to developments that the market had effectively stepped away from. We concluded that in this tough real estate market there are great, cost-efficient opportunities to create affordable housing for New York’s residents, while stabilizing neighborhoods.”

“It appears as though the housing crisis won’t subside any time soon due to the economic downturn,” said City Council Housing and Buildings Committee Chair Erik Martin Dilan. “If anything, we need to come up with the right plan right now. HARP is a great step forward in turning the current recession into an affordable housing opportunity for working families.”

“At this time in history it is incumbent upon the government to look at all options to create affordable housing in our City,” said City Council Land Use Committee Chair Melinda Katz. “The Housing Asset Renewal Program will be another tool at our disposal to continue our efforts to add affordable units citywide. Everyone would agree that a completed affordable project is a better investment for our city than a skyline of half finished projects.”