NYCHA - NYCHA Launches NextGen Neighborhoods 20150910

NYC Housing Authority


Press Release


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 10, 2015
Contact: media@nycha.nyc.gov, (212) 306-3322

NYCHA Starts Wyckoff, Holmes Engagement; Launches NextGen Neighborhoods

“This week we started resident engagement at Wyckoff Gardens and Holmes Towers as part of the NextGen Neighborhoods program—a NextGeneration NYCHA strategy intended to put our financial house in order and create safe, clean and more connected communities. Centered on resident engagement and community input, NextGen Neighborhoods intends to create 50 percent affordable and 50 percent market-rate units on the site of underused NYCHA land, generating revenue to be reinvested back into NYCHA. As we start this comprehensive, inclusive process and engagement moves forward, we cannot forget our purpose and why we are doing this—we must save NYCHA today and for tomorrow; we can no longer kick the can further down the road to address our finances, resident concerns and pressing infrastructure needs.”
-Shola Olatoye, NYCHA Chair and CEO

Background

Since May, NYCHA has been rolling out key pieces of NextGen NYCHA—the 10-year strategic plan to get NYCHA’s financial house in order (ways to address NYCHA’s chronic operating deficit and $17 billion in unmet capital needs) and to become a more efficient and effective landlord. This week we are launching NextGeneration (NextGen) Neighborhoods, a program to build 50% market-rate and 50% affordable housing units on underutilized NYCHA land to create revenue to save NYCHA, reinvest in capital needs, and to create more affordable housing.

We are beginning community and resident engagement at 2 sites--Wyckoff Gardens in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn and Holmes Towers on the Upper East Side as NextGen Neighborhoods. Engagement is central to our approach on this program, we are reaching out to residents to inform them about the program and benefits this week, will hold briefings and meeting starting next week and host a resident forum in the next few weeks.

As a balanced approach to save NYCHA today and for tomorrow, reinvest in capital needs at Wyckoff, Holmes and across NYCHA, and create vital new affordable housing units for the City, NextGen Neighborhoods includes:

Key resident components:

Input and engagement: NYCHA is planning comprehensive community and resident engagement. NYCHA will collect feedback as residents learn more about the program, its benefits and trade-offs as they help inform the scope of the project. Residents will also provide input on the way revenue from the new mixed-income housing is reinvested in their development’s existing buildings—major capital repairs, such as roofs, new kitchens or updated bathrooms.

Reinvestment: Unlike previous plans, NextGen Neighborhoods ensures a direct benefit to residents at the site of new construction. A significant portion of generated revenue, which will be determined through the engagement process, will be reinvested for major repair and improvement projects at Wyckoff and Holmes, while the remainder is funneled back to NYCHA for operations and improvements at other developments.

Affordable Housing: NextGen Neighborhoods will ensure half of the new housing units are affordable, by capping the income at a minimum of 60% of the AMI (equivalent to a family of three making of $46,600 a year as the minimum with the potential for deeper affordability.)

Jobs: NYCHA will be creating a local, resident hiring program to match residents with job and training opportunities associated with the new mix-income housing units.

Engagement Site Background:

Holmes: Holmes Towers’ includes two 25-story buildings on 2.81 acres of land on the Upper East Side. About 930 residents live in nearly 540 units in the two buildings, which covers about 16.2% of the NYCHA-owned land at the development. Completed in 1969, the development has nearly $47 million in capital repair needs in the next five years. Proposal: Replace and move the current playground to construct one mixed-income housing building consisting of about 350-400 units (175-200 units of which would be affordable.)

Wyckoff: Wyckoff Gardens includes three 21-story buildings on 5.81 acres of land in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. About 1,150 residents live in nearly 530 units in the three buildings, which covers about 12.3% of the NYCHA-owned land at the development. Completed in 1966, the development has nearly $45 million in capital repair needs in the next five years. Proposal: Replace two underutilized parking lots with mixed-income housing buildings consisting of about 550-650 units. (225 to 325 units of which would be affordable.)