In addressing one of his administration's top priorities,
Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced his ten-year plan to meet the
city's affordable housing challenges.
With Public Advocate Letitia James, Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams, several key agency commissioners, union leaders, and
private sector developers, the Mayor stood at an active
construction site in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, providing a broad
mission statement of sorts and taking questions from the assembled
media.
In doing so he broadly outlined the ways in which the
administration will build or preserve 200,000 affordable units,
serving a half-million New Yorkers in all five boroughs.
The major points of the plan include the following:
- Establishing a mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program in certain zoning districts and as part of new rezonings
- Preserving existing government-assisted housing stock
- Reviewing opportunities to modify existing zoning requirements, including an increase in allowable floor area (increasing the maximum residential floor area over 12 FAR) and building height, a decrease in parking requirements, and more flexible rules for building conversions and transfers of development rights
- Seeking changes to the 421-a tax exemption program, including an increase in the percentage of affordable units, changes to the benefit schedule, and changes to the AV cap provisions
- The city will also seek to streamline the 421-a program process and to harmonize the requirements of the inclusionary and 421-a programs
- Refining city financing tools and expanding funding sources for affordable housing
- In order to implement the plan, the city will also seek to double the capital budget of the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD), increase staffing at the Department of City Planning and HPD, and maximize resources at the City Housing Development Corporation
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.