Comptroller found that HPD was successful in ensuring that the primary housing goals of the Cornerstone Program were met. In 2000, HPD established the Cornerstone Program, a new construction initiative designed to expand private housing and increase the City’s affordable unit housing stock. The primary goals of the Cornerstone Program are two-fold: sell City-owned land, usually for a small fee, to encourage private residential development, and create affordable rental and homeownership units in specific neighborhoods. The City Comptroller audited HPD to determine whether the agency had made sure the primary goals of the Cornerstone Program were met in FY 2008.

The Comptroller found that, through the Cornerstone Program, HPD had encouraged new residential development, and to a smaller degree, expanded affordable housing. As of March 2009, 2,191 units had been completed under the Cornerstone Program. Of those, 22 percent were designated for lowincome families, 47 percent were designated for middle-income families, and the remaining 31 percent of units were market-rate units or unspecified. The Comptroller, however, found that HPD was unable to adequately assess the effectiveness of the program because HPD’s Production Credit System, which tracks all new multi-family developments, did not distinguish Cornerstone developments from non-Cornerstone developments, and did not track the number of started, completed, and affordable units being developed. (more…)

Louise Carroll is the new Commissioner of HPD. Image Credit: Mayor’s Office/Twitter

Carroll previously worked with HPD on housing incentives. On May 2, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Louise Carroll as the new Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Carroll, whose career in public service includes prior work with HPD to protect tenants, will work on preservation to avoid tenant displacement and work with the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. (more…)

Building owners denied certification may not significantly alter their buildings for five years. On October 12, 2018, the de Blasio Administration announced the application of the Certification of No Harassment (CONH) Pilot Program, which seeks to expand tenant harassment protections. The program will require buildings to meet certain criteria to certify that no previous tenant-harassment has occurred prior to obtaining construction permits for significant alterations to their property. CONH currently applies to more than 1,000 buildings, totaling to approximately 26,000 units protected under the program. (more…)

Image credit: HPD.

One hundred percent affordable buildings will rise in the South Bronx. On April 20, 2018, construction began on two new buildings at La Central in the Bronx. The 1.2 million square-foot development is one of the largest mixed-income projects currently in development in the City. The buildings will be located at 556 and 600 Bergen Avenue. (more…)

NYC HPD

Property owners face 421-a suspension for failure to submit Final Certificates of Eligibility. On March 9, 2018, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer and Department of Finance Commissioner Jacques Jiha announced the suspension of 421-a benefits to more than 1,700 property owners. The decision to suspend benefits is part of the Housing Preservation and Development and Department of Finance’s initiative to ensure that properties comply with the 421-a application rules. Currently, there is a total of 11,022 apartments that are not in compliance with 421-a rules. These owners’ 421-a benefits represent $66 million in tax revenue for 2018. (more…)