Archinect - News

NYC Mayor Eric Adams announces new adaptive reuse task force

2022-07-22T18:01:00-04:00

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced a new adaptive reuse task force that will explore the vast untapped potential for rehabilitation present in the city’s considerable stock of outdated office buildings.

Born out of the new Local Law 43, the task force is charged with producing recommendations by year’s end for how to best approach the rehabilitation of these buildings in the face of crises of affordability, homelessness, and the loss of tax revenue caused by corporate America’s yet-unresolved pandemic exodus from the city.

The creation of the panel indicates the further migration of large global cities towards adaptive reuse policies in the hopes of making strides in the area of sustainability before the end of the decade.

The 12-member panel is composed of four staffers from the city’s Department of Buildings, Economic Development Corporation, Depa...

New York State passes bill allowing NYCHA to acquire funding from private investors

2022-06-06T14:47:00-04:00

City leaders and lawmakers say thousands of public housing residents in New York City who have been forced to live with leaks, mold, broken elevators, and busted boilers may finally see better living conditions in what could amount to a fundamental shift in how public housing is funded in the city.

Last Thursday, the state Legislature passed a bill that would allow the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to establish a public-benefit corporation that could raise billions for much-needed renovations across 25,000 apartments. Called the Public Housing Preservation Trust, the entity would allow NYCHA to issue bonds and borrow money from private investors to pay for repairs. Under the program, the Authority would move away from direct federal subsidies, converting housing units from public housing under Section 9 of the U.S. Housing Act to the voucher-based system known as Section 8 that allows access to additional federal funding. Through Section 8, eligible low- and moderate-income families are provided assistance to rent housing in the private market.

Previously on Archinect: Private developers to renovate 1,673 NYCHA public housing units in East New York

Many tenants and some legislators oppose the plan, however, citing concerns that the legislation could threaten certain ...

NYC plan to allow cannabis cultivation on public housing rooftops runs into federal hurdles

2022-04-19T17:34:00-04:00

At an April 9 panel discussion in Albany, Adams said his team was exploring whether the city could allow cannabis cultivation on the rooftops of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) facilities. The idea, he said, would be to employ NYCHA residents to staff and oversee the greenhouses as the state continues to roll out its recreational marijuana program for adults. “The jobs can come from NYCHA residents. The proceeds and education can go right into employing people right in the area.”

As part of its economic development agenda, the Adams administration has been pushing an ambitious pilot program for rooftop cultivation on federally-funded NYCHA public housing properties. The current laws, however, still classify marijuana as a controlled substance, leading to an inevitable impasse. An inbound decriminalization bill written by New York Democratic congressman Jerry Nadler could clear the way for legal grow operations on such property via an update to the federal guidelines, which a spokesperson for the mayor told Gothamist are held over from a pernicious era of public policymaking.

“[Federal] laws still on the books continue to harm the same communities that have been targeted for decades,” City Hall spokesperson Charles Lutvak explained. “The House passed legislation to this effect earlier this month, and we need those who are obstructing progress at the federal level to follow New York’s lead.”

Related on Archinect: Michael Kimmelman on some newer rays of light ...

Michael Kimmelman on some newer rays of light in NYC’s public housing stock

2022-02-07T11:59:00-05:00

Writing about Twin Parks in 1973, The Times’s former architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, speculated that the project might “turn out to be important in the history of housing design.” [...] design, however compassionate, can mean only so much against the obstacles that make up the housing problem today.” The calculus is the same half a century later. But the South Bronx isn’t. Gradually, it has been remade. Progress isn’t impossible, it’s a process.

Both observed South Bronx developments, 1490 Southern Boulevard and a transformation of the Lambert Houses, are seen as examples of high-quality and effective public housing that offers residents more than just desultory amenities. The Times critic broke down the new-ish developments by Dattner and Bernheimer Architects by first cautioning us with a history lesson about nearby Twin Parks (which Paul Goldberger predicted might “turn out to be important in the history of housing design” at its opening in 1973), adding that, in his view, the pair offer “templates for redoing” many of NYCHA’s 302 other campuses.

“It’s an 18-story building with 163 permanently affordable units and a doorman. The boxy, drab exterior, set a few steps up and back from the street wall, looks almost belligerently banal. But inside the building is comfortable, luxurious even, compared with the deteriorating apartments and hallways I saw in the old buildings. Crucial to the conversion, no tenants are being dis...

NYCHA is challenging designers to create an affordable heat pump for 24,000 apartment units

2022-01-27T17:23:00-05:00

A creative answer to one of the most pervasive issues in American public housing is being sought by one of the largest civic authorities in the country as the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has issued a challenge to design an affordable new all-electric heat pump for the 21st century.

NYCHA has made design challenges a part of its program before. As Grist noted, the agency has previously issued similar challenges to older generations of industrial manufacturers, including a late-90s contest to design more energy-efficient refrigerators for its properties, which at the time, did not offer ample enough space for the appliances. A design from Maytag won the contest and was widely adopted by a number of other regional housing authorities in order to reduce energy costs.

Now, with the tragedy of this month’s devastating Bronx apartment fire in its recent purview, NYCHA is once again asking for help from the design community in solving a silent problem that has drawn increasing ...

Private developers to renovate 1,673 NYCHA public housing units in East New York

2022-01-11T15:00:00-05:00

A consortium of private developers recently closed on a $600 million loan to complete renovations and infrastructure upgrades across a 1,673-unit NYCHA public housing portfolio. Boulevard Together Developer LLC, a joint venture with The Hudson Companies, Property Resources Corporation, and Duvernay + Brooks, is undertaking the refurbishment of a total of 29 buildings in East New York.

The properties include the Boulevard Houses, Fiorentino Plaza, and the Belmont-Sutter Area Houses. This project is being facilitated through the NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative, in which selected developments receive needed renovations, along with expanded vocational and economic support services. It ensures that these homes remain permanently affordable. PACT depends on partnerships with private and non-profit development partners, who are selected based on resident input.

Previously on Archinect: NYCHA privatizes management of 5,900 units to fund needed repairs

Improvements to the housing developments will include new bathrooms, upgraded kitchens with Energy Star appliances, lighting systems, enhanced entryways and communal areas, both indoor and outside, and repairs to the façades and building envelopes. When complete, Boulevard Together Management LLC will serve as the new on-site property manager.

NYCHA privatizes management of 5,900 units to fund needed repairs

2020-02-18T13:02:00-05:00

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has struck a deal with five different private developers that will hand over the management and repair duties for seven public housing complexes to the selected companies in exchange for $1.5 billion in repairs.

The deal will impact 5,908 housing units spread across NYCHA's Linden Houses, Boulevard Houses, Williamsburg Houses, Bethune Gardens, Marshall Plaza, Audubon Houses, and Harlem River Houses 1 and 2 in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

In a statement highlighting the deal, NYCHA chairman and CEO Greg Russ said, “We are excited to announce the development teams that will partner with us in meeting the capital need of more than $1.5 billion associated with these NYCHA campuses ... [the developers] will be instrumental in completing the renovations our residents need and deserve.”

The Harlem River Houses, one of the complexes being handed over for private management. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Beyond My Ken.

New York City Deputy Mayor Vick...

AOC and Bernie Sanders unveil "Green New Deal for Housing" plan

2019-11-14T10:05:00-05:00

New York City Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have unveiled a bold initiative aimed at rejuvenating and decarbonizing the nation’s public housing stock.

The visionary Green New Deal for Public Housing Act aims to bring sorely needed maintenance upgrades to America’s 500,000 public housing units through a series of repair, weatherization, and retrofitting efforts. The improvements will come via seven grant programs aimed at addressing specific design and material shortfalls currently plaguing public housing complexes across the country.

Triple bottom line plan

The plan is expected to cost somewhere between $119 billion and $172 billion over the next decade, according to a study conducted by progressive think tank Data for Progress and the University of Pennsylvania’s McHarg Center and Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative research centers. The Data Progress study estimates that the plan could create up to 240,723 jobs per year. Those jobs, u...

NYCHA swaps air rights for $25 million, 21 affordable units in Brooklyn

2019-10-18T12:31:00-04:00

A first-of-its-kind deal to sell the air rights at a Fort Greene NYCHA development is nearing completion after months of negotiation. The deal would transfer nearly 100,000 square feet of building rights from the Ingersoll Houses to a yet-to-be-built private development next door. In exchange, developers would provide nearly $25 million for maintenance at Ingersoll as part of NYCHA’s new long-term strategy to leverage private funds for the repair of its beleaguered housing stock.

The deal will help a 183-unit mixed use development located next door to Brooklyn's Ingersoll Houses grow to 400 units in size. In exchange, the number of affordable housing units designed into the project will increase from 79 to 100, New York YIMBY reports.

The proposed 202 Tillary Street development as designed before the acquisition of additional air rights. Image courtesy of New York YIMBY.

The landmark deal is a preview of NYCHA's long-rumored plans to monetize unused development rights in exchange for funds that could help address unmet capital needs like maintenance and repairs.

The $25 million garnered through the deal, however, falls far short from the projected $300 million in repairs the Ingersoll Houses will require over the next decade.

Private funding for repairs and improvements could come to America's senior housing for the first time under new HUD rule

2019-08-01T19:09:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is close to finalizing a major reform of its extensive senior housing portfolio, allowing nonprofit owners of 125,000 apartments to tap private sources of financing for the first time. HUD built nearly 2,900 of these properties over the past three decades. Though owned by nonprofits, the federal government funded their construction and subsidized tenant rents.

The nation's recent crop of senior housing projects could see much-needed improvements come to reality as the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) loosens rules dictating where nonprofit building owners can draw funds from to make building repairs.

Tom Davis, director of the Office of Recapitalization at HUD told The Wall Street Journal, “Fundamentally what we’re trying to do is avoid the kind of capital backlog problem that other parts of the affordable housing portfolio have, like public housing."

Minneapolis public housing chief picked to lead NYCHA

2019-06-27T12:44:00-04:00

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday that the city had tapped Gregory Russ as Nycha’s new chairman, following 14 months without a permanent leader and after an exhaustive nationwide search, which included a salary increase to entice reluctant candidates.

Gregory Russ, current head of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, has been picked to lead the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

Russ told The New York Times, “Nycha’s issues actually are not just important for New York City, but they’re important nationally.”

Currently, Russ oversees housing for 11,000 people in Minneapolis. NYCHA, on the other hand, houses over 400,000 residents. The New York Times reports that Russ's annual salary, $402,000, will make him New York City's highest-earning public official.

The decision comes as New York's Regional Plan Association selects Peterson Rich Office to oversee research into finding ways for addressing NYCHA's unmet capital improvement needs, an effort that will require over $45 billion in repairs.

Peterson Rich Office to research NYCHA upgrades

2019-06-26T16:26:00-04:00

The Regional Plan Association of New York (RPA) has named Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich of architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO) as the organization’s inaugural Richard Kaplan Chairs for Urban Design.

The year-long research position, funded to “address a critical need for preservation and better design in the New York City region” will position PRO to continue their ongoing efforts to understand and articulate potential solutions for the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) current capital needs deficit.

View of PRO's Roof By Roof proposal that would add new housing units atop existing NYCHA housing towers. Image courtesy of Peterson Rich Office.

According to research already conducted by PRO, NYCHA is currently suffering from $45 billion in unmet capital needs, a byproduct, according to a 2018 RPA report, of “decades of neglect and underinvestment by all levels of government.” That total includes deferred general maintenance and lead abatement issues in individual un...

NYCHA in danger of a federal takeover

2019-01-02T14:50:00-05:00

According to the United States’ General Accounting Office, receiverships in housing authorities generally result from “longstanding, severe, and persistent management problems that led to deterioration of housing stock.” NYCHA, who took the public advocate’s top spot for the city’s worst landlord in 2018, faces mounting repair costs in excess of $25 billion and has exhibited failures eliminating mold and lead paint, among a laundry list of other nightmarish woes for its tenants.

Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have until the 31st of January to agree on how to run the agency. If that does not happen and Ben Carson declares New York City Housing Authority in substantial default, NYCHA which oversees housing for over 400,000 New Yorkers might be taken over by the federal government.

In the case of an administrative receivership, NYCHA’s affairs would be taken over by HUD, which could potentially involve working together as partners. However, if placed into a judicial receivership, NYCHA would be appointed a receiver, ranging anywhere between HUD officials and private firms, that after personal assessment would have full authority to change the agency and manage its properties to their liking, backed by the court.

Trump appoints his "event planner" as a head of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Region II

2017-06-16T17:55:00-04:00

President Trump has reportedly appointed a longtime Trump family supporter and event planner with no housing experience to oversee federal housing programs in New York. Lynne Patton will lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) region that oversees New York and New Jersey, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

Appointed on Wednesday, Lynne Patton, has zero experience in housing, and is now in charge of running the office that oversees federal housing programs in New York.

Patton falsely claims to have a law degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law in Connecticut. Yale University is also listed on her LinkedIn profile with no official explanation.

Her relationship with Trump family began in 2009 when she became responsible for arranging tournaments at Trump golf courses. Patton later served as the liaison to the Trump family during his presidential campaign, arranged Eric Trump’s wedding and helped run the Eric Trump Foundation, a charity that's now under investigation.

Michael Kimmelman on the state of affordable housing in NYC

2016-01-26T17:28:00-05:00

New York City once set the standard for subsidized housing. The city started out building and maintaining tens of thousands of apartments for working families, sponsoring job training and social programs. It ran a budget surplus. [...] Now the Village is like a gated playground for runaway wealth. Subsidized apartments all across town are converting to market-rate rentals and condos faster than City Hall can build affordable units or preserve old ones.

NYC's public-housing woes

2015-05-19T20:24:00-04:00

Still, when Mayor Bill de Blasio today unveiled his plan for New York’s troubled housing authority, NYCHA, dismantling these aging towers was not a piece of it. The plan calls for charging more for parking, redeploying staff to other agencies to save costs and leasing land within the housing complexes to private developers to save money. [...] So why does New York City still have so many high-rise housing projects?

Nychaland is a zone of its own

2012-09-13T12:42:00-04:00

If Nychaland was a city unto itself, it would be the 21st most populous in the U.S., bigger than Boston or Seattle, twice the size of Cincinnati. Despite these prodigious stats, the projects remain a mystery to most New Yorkers, a shadow city within the city, out of sight and mind, except when someone gets shot or falls down an elevator shaft—just these bad-news redbrick piles to whiz by on the BQE.

Mark Jacobson visits New York City’s various housing projects, which are he argues the last of their kind in the country. He also suggests that they may be on their way to extinction.