Rendering of proposed buildings at 204 Avenue A (left) and 535 East 12th Street (right) in East Village, Manhattan. Image Credit: CPC.

Approval of the proposed project will provide housing to families that have been displaced for over ten years. On December 5, 2018, the City Planning Commission heard an application that would allow for the demolition of existing buildings on two City-owned lots and development of ten co-operative units at 204 Avenue A and eleven one-bedroom rental units at 535 East 12^th Street in Manhattan. The lots are located on the same block in the East Village, bounded by Avenue A, East 12^th Street, East 13^th Street, and Avenue B. To facilitate the proposed development, the applicant team requested approval for the disposition of the City-owned lots and designation and approval of the lots as an Urban Development Action Area Project.  The application was brought by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, along with the selected developer for the project, Juan Barahona of SMJ Development. (read more…)

Coops created by an HPD sale of City-owned buildings engaged in dispute over an obligation to share commercial space income. In 2003, the City conveyed 14 buildings, located on the West Side of Manhattan on 87th, 88th, 89th and 95^th Streets. The buildings were to be converted Housing Development Fund Corporations (HDFCs), which are low-income residential cooperatives owned by tenant-shareholders . Three of the 14 buildings contained commercial space. Under the City’s conveyance, the City and the 14 buildings entered into an agreement for a portion of the commercial rental income to be paid into a reserve fund, which would be used to the benefit of all 14 buildings. So far, only $5,000 from the commercial rental income has been deposited into the reserve fund.

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