Housing Starts: Pied-a-Tier Neighborhoods I Modular-Design Setback I Disputing a “New” Neighborhood

Activists in the South Bronx (Photo Credit: Curbed NY)

1. Pied-à-Neighborhood New Yorkers want to know: Who are these people who hide behind limited liability companies while shelling out a fortune for a condominium — who see the apartment as an investment or even just a vanity play, and who are too busy sunning in St. Bart’s or skiing in Gstaad to actually show up and shop at the local market or pay for tickets to a Broadway show? [New York Times – 10/24/14]
2. Hunter’s Point Affordable Housing Lottery Draws 25,000+ Applications In First Week Since the affordable housing lottery for Hunter’s Point South, a two-tower development in Long Island City, launched on October 15, approximately 25,000 people have applied, according to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. Ultimately, the development will house some 925 low- and moderate-income families, a significant number, but far below the evident demand in the area. [New York Observer – 10/24/14]
3. Build Senior Housing with Surplus Billions (Opinion) Statewide, the percentage of people 65 and over is expected to climb rapidly as baby boomers gray, going from 3.2 million today to 5.3 million by 2030, according to a Cornell University study. In the city, by 2030 there will be an additional 300,000 seniors — on top of the current population of 998,000.The growth in the city’s seniors will be greatest among immigrants, who are poorer and have less in terms of Social Security and other supports to sustain them as they age. From Sunset Park to Flushing, from the North Shore of Staten Island to Mott Haven, pockets of seniors in distress will expand. [New York Daily News – 10/26/14]
4. Experts Lower Expectations for de Blasio Housing Plan “We would not necessarily be disappointed or hold the administration accountable if they did not reach the full 200,000-unit goal,” said Benjamin Dulchin, executive director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. “We think it is very important to have a tremendous impact on affordability in communities, some part of that is going to be building a lot of new units, but the goal isn’t the number of units built, necessarily.” [Capital New York – 10/24/14]
5. Amtrak Weighing Development of Massive Queens Rail Yard Sunnyside, he said, is the perfect example of the type of site on which Amtrak believes it can make a considerable amount of money. There have been conversations about the site between Amtrak executives and Mayor Bill de Blasio, deputy mayor Alicia Glen and chief of staff Laura Santucci, Coscia said. A spokesman for the mayor said building on the yards could fit in to the city’s ambitious affordable housing plan—which calls for construction of 80,000 affordable units over the next decade—but cautioned nothing is imminent. [Capital New York – 10/23/14]
6. A Modular-Design Setback in Brooklyn Advocates of affordable housing and for design innovation cheered in 2011 when developer Bruce Ratner announced plans to push “modular” construction techniques to a new height with a Brooklyn apartment tower…That hope was dashed last month when Forest City Ratner and Skanska USA, the construction company building B2, sued each other and work was shut down with the tower only at 10 stories. Skanska blamed the design. Forest City blamed the execution. [Wall Street Journal – 10/27/14]
7. Brooklyn Heights Site Sold for Record Price The property, between Court street and Boerum place, has a four-story, 10,570 square foot building that was delivered vacant. The site has a maximum floor area ratio of 10.0, which will allow for the additional building. The buyers plan to build a luxury 20-story condominium building, says Kelly. “This sale signifies the demand for new condominium product in Brooklyn Heights. There is a lack of condo inventory in Brooklyn Heights and the surrounding neighborhoods, and there are less than 200 units in the pipeline.” [GlobeSt.Com – 10/24/14]
8. Bronx Residents Disrupt Tour of Proposed ‘New Neighborhood’ The city’s plan to create a new neighborhood in the South Bronx was shown to be a tough sell to locals over the weekend when residents disrupted a walking tour led by the Department of City Planning. The department wants to rebrand a 57-block corridor that is currently dotted with auto shops as “Cromwell Jerome.” New housing, both affordable and market-rate, would pop up along with new retail stores after a rezoning of the area. [Curbed NY – 10/27/14]
9. Two Years After Being Inundated by Hurricane Sandy, Brooklyn’s Red Hook Community is Rebounding and Moving Forward The waterfront community of Red Hook, Brooklyn, offers a powerful example. Red Hook experienced flooding that closed businesses and rendered many homes uninhabitable. Among the worst hit were residents of the Red Hook Houses, the second largest New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex in the city. After the storm, more than 6,000 Red Hook Houses tenants lived without water, heat, and electricity for more than two weeks. The silver lining, if there was one, was the way that people came together to help each other. [New York Daily News – 10/26/14]
10. Williamsburg Apartments Starting at $640 Per Month in Housing Lottery The building will have a total of 47 affordable units, with one reserved for a super, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Eight are also reserved for the developmentally disabled and are not included in the lottery, an HPD spokesman said. Competition could be tight for the apartments, which sit just two blocks from McCarren Park. When 105 units became available at 1133 Manhattan Ave. in Greenpoint earlier this year, nearly 60,000 people applied for the lottery. Recently, hundreds of people attended the latest meeting to discuss how to obtain affordable housing at the former Domino Sugar Factory grounds project, where units will start at $553 a month. [DNAinfo New York – 10/23/14]