New York Construction Report staff writer
A $500 million commitment from the Battery Park City Authority’s joint purpose fund was announced this week, for projects to build and maintain affordable housing across New York City.
“To solve a generational housing and affordability crisis, every sector has a role in providing relief to working-class New Yorkers. Today’s announcement takes us one step closer to delivering that relief,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “Our administration and our partners are united by a common cause: building more affordable housing.
“The only way to solve these dual crises is to simply build more, and with this $500 million commitment, we are coming together to use our dollars to make a difference and better support working-class New Yorkers.”
The BPCA is a New York state public benefit corporation charged with operating, maintaining, and improving Battery Park City, a 92-acre community of residential, commercial, retail, and open space in lower Manhattan.
As Battery Park City was being developed, the BPCA entered into long-term ground leases with developers, generating lease revenue from commercial and residential buildings that serves as the primary source of funding for this affordable housing commitment.
“As New York City’s housing crisis deepens and the cost to build new affordable housing continues to rise, we appreciate the efforts of our city and state leaders in securing new and innovative financing sources essential to increasing our housing supply,” said New York City Housing Development Corporation President Eric Enderlin.
“We look forward to collaborating with our partners to leverage this vital funding and provide more housing for New Yorkers.”
The city financed a record number of affordable homes in 2023 and is ahead of schedule on a 2024 State of the City commitment to advance two dozen 100-percent affordable housing projects on city-owned land this year through the “24 in ‘24” initiative.
Steps have also been taken to cut red tape and speed up the delivery of much-needed housing, including through the “Green Fast Track for Housing,” a streamlined environmental review process for qualifying small- and medium-sized housing projects; the Office Conversion Accelerator, an interagency effort to guide buildings that wish to convert through city bureaucracy.
