Is New York going to assume Asbury Park’s old moniker, “Beirut by the sea,” so called for the half-built construction projects littering the town? Well, probably not, but now added to the various stalling or halting developments around town are affordable housing endeavors, reports the NY Times. Not all the news is bad — Jonathan Rose’s East Harlem affordable and market-rate project has secured all its financing, and he thinks he’ll get the money for two more projects soon. “Affordable housing is said to do better than other real estate sectors in a bad economy because government subsidies are available, land and construction costs fall and demand for the apartments rises,” they write. “But because of the toll that the credit squeeze has taken on financial institutions, busy developers like Mr. Rose may be more the exception than the rule.” Even successful projects are plagued by a recurring problem here in New York: there just aren’t enough units to go around. Palmer’s Dock, a building crafted from a former garbage transfer station in Williamsburg, with rents from $398 to $920, saw 13,000 applications for apartments; they have 113 to rent.
Affordable Housing Deals Are Stalling [NY Times]