Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a report yesterday that indicated that the New York City Housing Authority has about 30.5 million square feet of unused development rights at its existing housing projects in the city.
The report noted that that amount of space conceivably could accommodate 35,000 housing units. It also noted that the authority "is currently partnering with City agencies and private developers to make use of unused development rights on three of its Manhattan properties, at least partly to raise revenue to meet its $195.3 million budget gap."
Mr. Stringer's report cautioned, however, that "we should not begin disposing of a potentially multibillion-dollar asset in a piecemeal manner to meet short-term needs without first developing a thoughtful, long-term strategy."
In a June, 2006 amendment to its Annual Plan, the authority stated that Chelsea Houses and Elliot Houses, Fulton Houses and Harborview Terrace Houses in Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen "were being considered for infill housing opportunities." The report said that these sites had been the subject of agreements between the Bloomberg Administration and the City Council when the City approved the Hudson Yards and West Chelsea rezonings in 2005 and 2006, adding that in December, 2006 the authority and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development "issued a joint request for proposals for the development of these sites with the goal of creating over 400 affordable rental units for middle-income families, as well as new parking, community and retail spaces." Selected developers were announced in 2007.
The authority owns and operates 78 residential communities in Manhattan and nearly 85 percent of its unused development rights are in Central and East Harlem, the Lower East Side, and the Upper West Side.
The report found that 94 percent of the unused development rights exist in "concentrations of 100,000 square feet or more on individual sites, making them particularly useable for on-site use or distribution," adding that 24 developments have at least 500,000 square feet of unused rights.
The sites are not subject to the city's Uniform Land Use Review Process or environmental reviews, but the authority is required to consult the affected tenant association when disposing of assets. In its current proposals, the report said the authority "has worked closely with the relevant tenant associations to design infill development RFPs that respect the integrity of the existing community and meet priorities and needs identified by the residents of the development."
Mr. Stringer's report said that the authority's "developments are uniquely planned communities - most of them planned before the 1961 rezoning - that could be disrupted by poorly planned infill development proposals," adding that "the study of environmental and community impacts originally conducted for these developments did not contemplate the considerable excess development potential the sites now possess."
Residents in the authority's developments "deserve input into the planning process for infill development proposals, which should serve to enhance, not detract from, the quality of life of current residents," the study continued, adding that "communities adjacent to NYCHA properties deserve a role in the planning process if significant NYCHA air rights are sold to development sites elsewhere in the community."
The report called for creating "a process for examining and proposing mitigation of potential environmental impacts such as traffic, parking, shadows, community facilities, etc."
The authority's development rights, it concluded, "are a precious publicly owned resource - perhaps the last large-scale stock of public property in the City that could be leveraged towards meeting New York's affordable housing needs."
The report noted that that amount of space conceivably could accommodate 35,000 housing units. It also noted that the authority "is currently partnering with City agencies and private developers to make use of unused development rights on three of its Manhattan properties, at least partly to raise revenue to meet its $195.3 million budget gap."
Mr. Stringer's report cautioned, however, that "we should not begin disposing of a potentially multibillion-dollar asset in a piecemeal manner to meet short-term needs without first developing a thoughtful, long-term strategy."
In a June, 2006 amendment to its Annual Plan, the authority stated that Chelsea Houses and Elliot Houses, Fulton Houses and Harborview Terrace Houses in Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen "were being considered for infill housing opportunities." The report said that these sites had been the subject of agreements between the Bloomberg Administration and the City Council when the City approved the Hudson Yards and West Chelsea rezonings in 2005 and 2006, adding that in December, 2006 the authority and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development "issued a joint request for proposals for the development of these sites with the goal of creating over 400 affordable rental units for middle-income families, as well as new parking, community and retail spaces." Selected developers were announced in 2007.
The authority owns and operates 78 residential communities in Manhattan and nearly 85 percent of its unused development rights are in Central and East Harlem, the Lower East Side, and the Upper West Side.
The report found that 94 percent of the unused development rights exist in "concentrations of 100,000 square feet or more on individual sites, making them particularly useable for on-site use or distribution," adding that 24 developments have at least 500,000 square feet of unused rights.
The sites are not subject to the city's Uniform Land Use Review Process or environmental reviews, but the authority is required to consult the affected tenant association when disposing of assets. In its current proposals, the report said the authority "has worked closely with the relevant tenant associations to design infill development RFPs that respect the integrity of the existing community and meet priorities and needs identified by the residents of the development."
Mr. Stringer's report said that the authority's "developments are uniquely planned communities - most of them planned before the 1961 rezoning - that could be disrupted by poorly planned infill development proposals," adding that "the study of environmental and community impacts originally conducted for these developments did not contemplate the considerable excess development potential the sites now possess."
Residents in the authority's developments "deserve input into the planning process for infill development proposals, which should serve to enhance, not detract from, the quality of life of current residents," the study continued, adding that "communities adjacent to NYCHA properties deserve a role in the planning process if significant NYCHA air rights are sold to development sites elsewhere in the community."
The report called for creating "a process for examining and proposing mitigation of potential environmental impacts such as traffic, parking, shadows, community facilities, etc."
The authority's development rights, it concluded, "are a precious publicly owned resource - perhaps the last large-scale stock of public property in the City that could be leveraged towards meeting New York's affordable housing needs."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
