Engagement Begins at La Guardia Houses to Create Affordable Housing and Fund for Repairs through NextGen Neighborhoods

NYC Housing Authority


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2017
CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov

RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT BEGINS AT LA GUARDIA HOUSES TO CREATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND RAISE CRITICAL FUNDS FOR BADLY NEEDED REPAIRS THROUGH NEXTGEN NEIGHBORHOODS PROGRAM

As NYCHA faces severe budget cuts, the Authority is generating new revenue under its 10-year strategic plan, NextGeneration NYCHA, providing independent, long-term financial security.

As the City faces a stark housing crisis, the Authority is building on its goal to create new affordable units for New Yorkers over the next 10 years.

NYCHA has introduced unprecedented community engagement to include residents in the planning process to ensure their voices are at the heart of this process.

NEW YORK — Today, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced the beginning of resident engagement at La Guardia Houses, a new addition to the NextGeneration (NextGen) Neighborhoods program. In the face of financial uncertainty and desperately needed funds for infrastructure repairs, NextGen Neighborhoods will raise money for repairs at La Guardia Houses and throughout the Authority. The new building, on a parking lot at La Guardia Houses, will have 50% affordable and 50% market-rate housing. At a time when the City is facing a housing crisis, these new affordable homes will be available to the City’s low-income residents most in need.

“NextGeneration Neighborhoods creates an opportunity for NYCHA to improve services by raising much needed resources to improve the quality of life for the residents,” said NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye. “Through this program, we’ll generate revenue to invest in La Guardia Houses and throughout all of NYCHA and create new affordable housing. This means better roofs, stronger facades and badly needed bathroom and kitchen repairs."

“NYCHA is a critical partner in our work to preserve and develop affordable housing in New York City,” said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer. “These new affordable homes at La Guardia Houses will provide stability and economic opportunity to so many families. Importantly, this development and plans across the city are being driven by extensive community engagement to ensure that we are best serving the needs of all New Yorkers. As we face budget cuts at the federal level, NYCHA and HPD will continue to collaborate, think creatively, and engage the community to preserve and expand public and affordable housing in New York City.”

NYCHA is facing unprecedented financial uncertainty with $17 billion in capital needs. Currently, La Guardia Houses alone has $70 million in unmet capital needs. In order to raise funds which are needed now more than ever, the Authority must create new funding streams that will allow residents to stay in their homes under the NextGeneration NYCHA plan.

“As the La Guardia Houses Resident Association Leader, I stand in partnership with NYCHA and the NextGen Neighborhoods Program. No one understands better than myself and my neighbors how the financial uncertainty and budget deficits impact residents,” said La Guardia Houses Resident Association President Jessica Thomas. “This program is a real opportunity to make much needed repairs in our development and to improve quality of life. For the future of my residents and NYCHA, we need NextGen Neighborhoods.”

NextGeneration NYCHA, the Authority’s 10-year strategic plan to repair and rebuild public housing to improve residents’ quality of life, launched NextGen Neighborhoods, a program to build mixed-income housing on underused NYCHA land. This will generate critical revenue for repairs and create more affordable housing.

NYCHA has previously announced NextGen Neighborhoods sites at Holmes Towers and Wyckoff Houses. No NYCHA funds will be used to build the development and 50 percent of the revenue will be reinvested back into La Guardia Houses for infrastructure repairs. The other 50 percent will be invested throughout NYCHA.

Unprecedented community engagement has been incorporated into the process from the very beginning. NYCHA will be knocking on resident doors, holding lobby meetings and general community meetings and making every effort possible to reach each resident to ensure NYCHA has their input. Today, the Authority is also launching a new digital platform with an engagement website, CoUrbanize, for residents to ask questions, provide their thoughts and receive the most up to date information. This resident input will inform NYCHA’s agenda before the release of the Request for Proposals (RFP) in Fall 2017. Through our unprecedented community engagement process, resident input will inform the social services offered, community spaces included and buildings specifics.

NYCHA will retain ownership of the land through a long term ground lease. Developers will be required to train and hire public housing and low-income residents and proactively engage NYCHA residents on a regular basis as the project moves forward. Rents will be stabilized in the completed properties, and NYCHA residents will have a preference for 25% percent of the affordable housing units.

The site at La Guardia Houses helps achieve NYCHA’s goal to rebuild, expand and preserve public and affordable housing, but it also advances the goals of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Housing Plan to create and preserve 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years.

Located on Madison Street between Rutgers and Clinton Streets, the site is currently a parking lot and NYCHA permit holders parking will be relocated elsewhere at La Guardia Houses. No residents at La Guardia Houses will be moved from their homes or see changes in their rents. NYCHA is committed to minimizing any impacts to residents.

The education and engagement period has begun and will run throughout the development process. The Authority will release an RFP in the Fall, and the selection of a developer is expected in 2018. Residents can learn more at the first community meeting on May 18 or on the engagement website: http://on.nyc.gov/ngneighborhoods.

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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

NYCHA’s mission is to increase opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers by providing safe, affordable housing and facilitating access to social and community services. More than 400,000 New Yorkers reside in NYCHA’s 328 public housing developments around the five boroughs, and another 235,000 receive subsidized rental assistance in private homes through the NYCHA-administered Section 8 Leased Housing Program. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nycha and for regular updates on NYCHA news and services, connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCHA and www.twitter.com/NYCHA.