New York City Public Advocate Letitia James. Image credit: The Office of the New York City Public Advocate

Investigation uncovers HPD’s 13 years of failing to enforce housing program requirements against developers and depriving the City of affordable housing and resources. On February 29, 2016, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James released a report on an investigation conducted by her office into 26 residential properties in Brooklyn. The 26 properties had been given to a nonprofit developer to be rehabilitated and resold, subject to affordable housing income restrictions, as part of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Neighborhood Homes program. The report uncovers how HPD’s failure to adequately supervise the progression of these residential properties caused the City to lose over 40 units of affordable housing and waste a considerable amount of the City’s resources, and left prospective homebuyers waiting for apartments they placed deposits on for more than a decade.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the financing of 17,300 units of affordable housing. Image credit: Mayoral Photography Office

17,300 units of affordable housing were created or preserved in 2014.  On January 15, 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference to announce the financing of over 17,300 units of affordable housing during 2014.  These units, 11,185 preserved and 6,191 of new construction, were financed as a part of the Mayor’s Housing New York plan to preserve and build 200,000 units of affordable housing by the end of Fiscal Year 2024.  According to Mayor de Blasio, these units will be enough to provide housing for 42,000 New Yorkers.

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HPD adopted amendments to the rules governing Mitchell-Lama housing, such as this building in Manhattan. Image credit: NYC.gov

New rules address transferability of applications, preferences for veterans, and more.  On November 25, 2014 the Department of Housing Preservation and Development formally adopted amendments to the rules governing city-aided limited-profit housing companies, commonly referred to as the Mitchell-Lama program.  A public hearing on the proposed changes was held on November 6, 2013 and public comments were received by HPD through November 30, 2013. (read more…)

HPD Commissioner Vicki Been addresses the annual luncheon of Women in Housing and Finance. At right: WHF board member Arianna Sacks Rosenberg. Image credit: Women in Housing and Finance

HPD will permit architect self-certification and expand M/WBE developer opportunities. On October 7, 2014, Commissioner Vicki Been of the NYC Housing Preservation and Development gave the keynote address to the annual luncheon of Women in Housing and Finance. Commissioner Been elaborated on and announced new HPD initiatives to advance Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plan.

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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. (read more…)