Housing Starts: Housing Seniors in New York | Affordable Housing in Queens? | Foreclosures Rising

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1. Mentally Disabled New Yorkers Face Eviction as Pathways to Housing Program Fails to Pay Landlords Hundreds of mentally disabled New Yorkers have been slapped with eviction notices because a nonprofit that was supposed to arrange their taxpayer-funded housing was not paying their rent, the Daily News has learned. Landlords have whacked the vulnerable clients of Pathways to Housing with 1,300 eviction notices within the last four years, records show. [New York Daily News – 09/07/14]
2. New York at Bottom of the Heap When it Comes to Housing Seniors New York City, especially Manhattan, is certainly an ideal spot to start a life. Successfully launch a career here and it’s doubtful that you’ll ever struggle to launch one elsewhere. But when it’s time to pack the briefcase away and prepare to retire, the Big Apple could be one of the worst places to retire. A recent study published by WalletHub ranked New York City third last on a list of 150 senior-friendly cities, citing high taxes and an over-priced lifestyle as the primary flaws. Providence, Rhode Island was last. [Real Estate Weekly – 09/10/14]
3. Will De Blasio Pass His “First Test” On Affordable Housing? As the director of the Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission, Carl Weisbrod is the point man for de Blasio’s vision of more equitable living spaces for New Yorkers. ‘In order to even have a shot at 200,000 units of housing, we have to become a denser city,’ the former head of Trinity Real Estate told the packed audience at New York Law School on Friday morning. ‘I understand that neighborhoods are wary of density. We all know that. Neighborhoods fear change…and are concerned about gentrification.’ [Gothamist – 09/09/14]
4. In Terms of Affordable Housing, Queens Is de Blasio’s Last Best Hope Almost everyone in New York is being nudged out of somewhere, migrating from neighborhood to neighborhood, from doorman building to walk-up, from two-bedroom to studio, or leaving the city with a mixture of regret and relief. The surreal cost of housing has propelled teachers out beyond tolerable commuting distances, signaled to young college graduates who lack parental subsidies that they might want to think about Pittsburgh, and ratcheted up the pressure on affordable housing so high that nearly 60,000 people applied for the 105 subsidized apartments in a new building in Greenpoint. [New York Magazine – 09/10/14]
5. Foreclosure Activity Reverses Course, Rising Again After falling for four years straight, the number of U.S. properties scheduled for foreclosure auction in August was higher than it was a year ago, according to a new report from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure sales and analytics company. The rise was very small, just one percent, but it was, nonetheless, a warning that the foreclosure crisis is not entirely over. [CNBC – 09/11/14]
6. Manhattan and Brooklyn Renters Catch a Break as Prices Dip People looking to rent in Manhattan and Brooklyn have caught a break - albeit a little one. Prices were down slightly in both boroughs in August, providing a welcome respite after six straight months of increases, according to new reports released Thursday. The dips have surprised some industry experts, who say summer is normally the most competitive rental season of the year. [New York Daily News – 09/11/14]
7. Tallest Bed-Stuy Apartment Building Hits Market Gaia Real Estate has put 11 Spencer Court on the market with the aim of netting $13 million for the 13-story residential rental building. The landlord has hired Brooklyn-focused brokerage company TerraCRG to handle the sale. In addition to its height, the building is notable for its checkerboard of balconies on its façade along Spencer Court. [Crain’s New York Business – 09/10/14]
8. Where D.C.‘s ‘New Communities’ Public Housing Program Went Wrong Washington D.C.‘s New Communities program has failed to live up to its titular promise, according to a new report released by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. ‘In short,’ writes Aaron Wiener, ‘the New Communities program has failed to produce new communities.’ [Planetizen – 09/11/14]
9. Location, Location, Location: $1 Million Parking Spaces for Sale in NYC Manhattan’s One Percenters will now have one more type of real estate investment that the have-nots of the world could never hope to afford: $1 million parking spaces. The spots for sale cost more per square-foot than the luxury building’s apartments do. A new luxury development in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, 42 Crosby Street,w ill offer 10 underground parking spaces in the 10-unit apartment building. [Reuters – 09/10/14]
10. The Surprising Thing Gen Z Wants to Do With Its Money Teens want to own a house so much that more than half would give up social media for a year and do double the homework if it guaranteed they’d be able to buy one when they’re older. During the Great Recession, home ownership took a beating as the ideal for the American dream. The median home nationally lost a quarter of its value, prompting adults of all ages to adopt other elusive goals—like retiring on time for boomers or working on their own terms for millennials. [Money – 09/10/14]