Housing Starts: Tests Ahead for de Blasio | Dialing Down Luxury Condos? | Affordable Housing Design

Map of housing violations across New York City. (Credit: Capital New York)

1. Big Tests Ahead for de Blasio Despite any idealistic goals, every mayor has to balance interests from all corners of the city if he wants anything to get done. For example, de Blasio needs to navigate a pro-tenant City Council that is very much behind him, while also ensuring that he doesn’t alienate developers, who he must rely on to reach his ambitious housing goals. [The Real Deal – 10/01/14]
2. A Home for Creativity in East Harlem Getting past the notoriously selective co-op boards at fabled buildings like 740 Park Ave. or the Dakota appears to be a breeze when compared with nabbing a home at El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 in East Harlem. Some 53,000 people applied for one of the 90 apartments in the decommissioned school, which is in the last stages of being converted to affordable housing for artists. Less than 0.2% of them will secure a space. [Crain’s New York Business – 10/03/14]
3. Luxury Condos: Dialing it Down A great deal of hubbub has surrounded the luxury real estate market in Manhattan in recent months. Seemingly every week prices reach new heights — the latest is a triplex penthouse on Park Avenue that is listed for $130 million — and bidding wars have become so common as to be unexceptional. Yet, what was once just a whisper among a few dissenters is now a chorus, with market experts increasingly concerned that too many luxury apartments are being built and there are not enough buyers willing to pay for them. [New York Times – 10/03/14]
4. Landlord Suits Could Delay Harlem Affordable Housing Project The city hopes affordable housing and large commercial structures will rise one day on a full block in Harlem now occupied by low buildings, a parking lot and a gas station. But landlords of five of the parcels says the city’s efforts to condemn the properties came too late. The White Plains-based Heron Real Estate filed a lawsuit yesterday in New York State Supreme Court claiming a move in February to seize the properties was tardy, and should be voided. [The Real Deal – 10/03/14]
5. Community Board Approves Silvercup Studios Expansion Permits When the plan first debuted about eight years ago, developers agreed to set aside 10 percent of the proposed 1,000 residential units for affordable housing, but the board now recommends at least 20 percent. It is also urging developers to use original and not modern materials when constructing the Silvercup sign to preserve the historic nature. [Queens Courier – 10/03/14]
6. TriBeCa Site Could Fetch $50M Another potential residential development site is hitting the market for a huge price at a moment when builders are clamoring to raise luxury condo projects. A collection of six buildings, making up the entire blockfront on West Broadway between Warren and Murray streets in TriBeCa, is being offered for sale. The property could fetch $50 million or more, according to Bob Knakal, chairman of the brokerage firm Massey Knakal Realty Services, which is marketing the portfolio. [Crain’s New York Business – 10/03/14]
7. The 12 Latest Trends in Affordable Housing It is no secret that the world’s urban population is picking up, and, in many cases, urban rent prices are rising with it. Architects are continually inventing new solutions to confront the challenges of maximum unit count paired with minimum budget, all the while incorporating architecture’s latest technologies and trends into the designs. Design, of course, can’t solve it all. [Architizer – 10/06/14]
8. Long Island’s Suburbs Must Change to Thrive—But are Far from Dying A Rutgers Regional Report released last week could have been viewed as bad news for Long Island. It says, essentially, New York City is getting larger while some of the exurbs—that is extended suburbs, which in New York State reach all the way up toward to Sullivan County—are getting smaller. The reason? According to the study, young people prefer lively urban neighborhoods to the land of single-family homes. But dig deeper into the study, eliminate the exurbs and zero in on Nassau and Suffolk, and there’s ample reason for optimism about Long Island’s future. [Newsday – 10/04/14]
9. More Than $3.4M Announced in Housing, Urban Development Funding for NYC U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday announced $3,410,944 in federal funding for New York City. The funding was allocated through two U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs. $1,980,377 was allocated through HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program and $1,430,567 was allocated through HUD’s Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle – ]
10. City in Distress In the depths of the subprime mortgage crisis, the housing advocacy group University Neighborhood Housing Program created a data tool called the Building Indicator Project to keep better track of housing conditions, which were in danger of deteriorating dramatically as owners’ difficulties mounted. The project tracked the conditions in city buildings using housing-code violations and building-code violations, but also kept an eye on the building’s financial health, tracking delinquencies in payment of city taxes, water bills and housing code fines. [Capital New York – 10/02/14]