NEW YORK—New York City’s cash-strapped public housing authority is on the lookout for developers interested in leasing some of its land. The highly-publicized and controversial project by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) wants to pair developers with 14 parcels of land within eight public housing projects.
Through what was known as the Land Lease Initiative, or informally infill, the Housing Authority hopes to buffer a $750 million budget shortfall with income from the private leases, all of which are on valuable real estate in Manhattan below 110th St.
NYCHA is currently taking proposals for the design, construction and operation of mixed-income rental housing. They say they hope to generate $30-50 million a year from the leases which can be put toward capital improvements and “bring them to a state of good repair,” according to a statement. Some of those will include basic items such as repairs to roofs, elevators, building facades, plumbing, heating and electrical systems, and common area upgrades.
The agency expects to make billions of dollars throughout the life of the leases.
Developers will be able to operate mixed-income rental housing that will include commercial, retail, or community space in some cases. As many as 4,000 new apartments will come out of the developments. NYCHA has repeatedly stated that no existing buildings will be torn down to make way for the new structures.
NYCHA has suffered city and federal cuts over the past 10 years that add up to the $750 million federal budget shortfall and a $875 million city shortfall.
