Mayor Bill de Blasio at his August 5 Press Conference Image Credit: Mayor’s Press Office
Mayor’s affordable housing announcement appears more retrospective than optimistic. On August 5, 2020, The Mayor’s Press Office released a statement touting the amount of affordable housing created in fiscal year 2020. The announcement states that the City preserved 23,520 homes and constructed 6,503 new units, totaling 30,023 affordable City financed homes. More than 50 percent of these homes serve families earning less than $52,000 and 3,600 people received voucher increases to ameliorate income lost from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Rendering of 515 Blake Avenue Project/Image Credit: HPD, HELP USA, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, and City Planning
The new development proposes services for both residents and the greater East New York community. On October 16, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve a land use application to develop four mixed-use buildings in East New York, Brooklyn. The lot is bounded by Sutter Avenue to the north, Blake Avenue to the south, Snediker Avenue to the west, and Hinsdale Street to the east. To facilitate the new 387,100 square feet development, the applicants would demolish the existing three-story homeless shelter at 515 Blake Avenue. The project will redevelop the shelter and bring affordable housing, community facilities, and retail. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development, HELP USA, a national non-profit focused on providing shelters, Department of Homeless Services, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, and Curtis + Ginsberg Architects are the applicant team.
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HPD Commissioner Vicki Been answering questions at the 130th CityLaw Breakfast. Image credit: CityLaw
The former HPD Commissioner will continue to work on affordability and economic opportunities for the City. On April 4, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of former Department of Housing and Preservation Commissioner Vicki Been as the new Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development. She succeeded Alicia Glen, who served in the position for five years.
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Image Credit: CetraRuddy/S9Architects/HPD
The new buildings will provide affordable housing, space for businesses, and social services from partnering non-profits in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen community. On February 13, 2019, Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer announced the selection of development teams to build approximately 260 affordable housing units on two City-owned sites in the Clinton and Hell’s Kitchen neighborhoods of Midtown Manhattan. The sites were identified for development into affordable housing through the Hudson Yards Plan, a comprehensive proposal to develop Manhattan’s Far West side. The two developments were approved following HPD’s Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen request for proposal (RFP) for the two sites. One building will be located at 806 9th Avenue (the Ninth Avenue site) and the other building will be located at 705 10th Avenue (the Tenth Avenue site).
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Image Credit: Magnusson Architecture and Planning/HPD
The shared-use building is expected to be completed in December 2020. On February 6, 2019, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer announced that HPD is joining Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc., Brooklyn Public Library, and New York State Homes and Community Renewal in bringing a new, first of its kind, shared-use model building to Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The eight-story building will house both Sunset Park’s new state-of-the-art public library and 49 deeply affordable apartments. The project was financed through $35.5 million in public and private investment.
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Three-City owned sites will be developed to provide affordable housing, art and media centers, and commercial space. On July 26, 2018, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced plans for nearly 900 affordable homes in Brownsville, Brooklyn. This announcement updates the commitments made in the Brownsville Plan, which originally included building 880 units on three-City owned sites and infrastructure upgrades. According to HPD, the Plan is the result of a community-driven process to identify neighborhood goals, form strategies to address local needs and find resources to fill gaps in service. The Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the NYC Department of Transportation, and the NYC Housing Development Corporation are working together with HPD on the Brownsville Plan. (read more…)
