Dear Partners:

The last few months have been tumultuous, to say the least, and I want to thank all of you, our partners in the affordable housing community, for your ongoing commitment and creativity in these uncertain times. While it is hard at the moment for many of us to think much beyond December closing season, I want to draw your attention to some important new initiatives underway at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to address one major cause of uncertainty in the City – the critical need for land on which to build affordable housing.

As we look to the future and the challenges ahead, it is imperative that we seize every opportunity to bring land into the pipeline for affordable homes. To that end, HPD is working to leverage new tools, such as Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA), strengthen existing programs, and forge new partnerships to identify new development potential.

ZQA updated the City’s zoning regulations to make it easier and less expensive to create high quality senior and affordable housing that improves surrounding neighborhoods. ZQA unlocked potential for the development of affordable housing on thousands of sites across the city. Since ZQA was adopted last April, HPD has worked to identify specific sites that may benefit from these changes, including underused parking lots and land adjacent to existing affordable housing developments. We are now reaching out to property owners to let them know about those development opportunities and to link them with resources to make development easier for them to consider.

Many opportunities for development lie on sites currently under HUD restrictions or in the city’s or state’s Mitchell-Lama rental or coop portfolios. There are over 700 HUD projects in New York City, many of which contain multiple buildings. HPD and HUD are partnering to facilitate creative ways to both preserve the affordability of the existing buildings and build new affordable housing on underused land the properties control. The agencies are working together to identify and analyze new affordable housing opportunities on HUD-assisted sites, track indicators of physical and financial distress to detect projects that need help to preserve affordability, and conduct joint outreach to the owners of these properties. This unprecedented level of coordination between local and federal agencies is already producing concrete results for the owners and tenants the agencies serve.

For example, HPD and HUD will co-host an information forum for the owners and managers of HUD 202 properties on January 12, 2016, at HUD’s regional headquarters. The HUD 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program provides ongoing HUD rental assistance for HUD 202 projects built or renovated with federal, city, or state financing. There are nearly 250 HUD 202 projects in New York City, providing approximately 20,000 affordable apartments. Many were built by our terrific nonprofit partners, including faith-based organizations and groups providing social services for seniors, and some were built on formerly city-owned land. Many HUD 202 buildings are 40+ years old, in need of repair and rehabilitation, and would benefit from the financing options HPD provides for both new construction and the preservation of existing assets.

At the forum, HPD and HUD will describe the opportunities that ZQA unlocked, highlight projects that have taken advantage of those opportunities, and describe the resources available to owners interested in both new construction and preservation, including loan programs and technical assistance.

HPD and HUD staff will be on hand to answer questions, and speak with owners to determine both their interests and property needs. Please get the word out to any owners you know who might benefit from the forum.

In addition, HPD is reaching out to mission driven organizations to identify and facilitate new development opportunities. Because the development process is daunting for many faith-based institutions and nonprofit organizations unfamiliar with the development process, HPD has created a Pre-Qualified List (PQL) of Owners' Representatives who can help mission-driven owners evaluate real estate development opportunities. The list is the result of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process that evaluated each respondent’s technical expertise, experience, and capacity to represent owners in the project management, planning, developing, financing, and operation of multifamily affordable housing in New York City.

We are also collaborating with LISC on a new program to help mission-driven organizations with limited real estate experience form joint venture partnerships to develop affordable housing on their underused land. The New York Land Opportunities Program consists of a series of workshops, followed by an intensive package of technical assistance for select groups—including legal help and the assistance of a LISC housing development officer. Please visit LISC’s website for more information. The deadline to apply is January 16, 2017.

HPD, the Mayor’s Clergy Advisory Council, and the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit also are hosting a series of workshops to let faith-based leaders around the city know about preservation, development and tenant protection resources. Many faith based organizations have land that could be developed into affordable housing that will help meet the need for quality, safe, affordable housing. These sessions introduce the clergy leaders to technical assistance resources, including the Owner’s Rep list and the New York Land Opportunity Program, and provide faith leaders with information they can use to help members of their congregations with housing problems and to advocate for affordable housing in their neighborhoods. Please refer any faith-based leaders you know to Jonathan Soto, Clergy Liaison for the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, at JSoto@cityhall.nyc.gov.

We look forward to working together on these programs to forge partnerships between our not-for-profit and for profit affordable housing community developers and those organizations and entities that own underused land around the city that could be used to develop and preserve affordable housing for all our communities. Please let us know of any other ways in which we can be helpful as you see opportunities to press land into service.