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The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is soliciting bids from private developers to build more affordable housing at several publicly owned sites, including the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene and the Van Dyke Houses in Brownsville.

NYCHA issued a request for proposals (RFP) last week for building on the vacant sites, which also includes a NYCHA location the Bronx. The plan calls for buildings containing 100 percent affordable housing for seniors and families making up to 60 percent of the area median income, or $46,000 for a family of three.

The move is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to build the city’s affordable housing stock in the face of chronic NYCHA deficits and a dearth of federal funding.

 

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From left: NYCHA General Manager Michael Kelly, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams

“We must use every tool at our disposal to preserve public housing and create more affordable housing opportunities for seniors and families that are trying to make ends meet,” said NYCHA general manager Michael Kelly, in announcing the plan.

All told, NYCHA hopes to create around 500 new apartments at the three sites.

The Ingersoll Houses development site is a square plot at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and St. Edwards Street. The site at the Van Dyke Houses, pictured below, is a rectangular plot on the north side of Dumont Avenue, between Powell Street and Mother Gaston Boulevard.

A previous plan by the Bloomberg administration to open up city-owned land to private developers met with wide criticism — including from de Blasio, who was then Public Advocate. That plan, however, called for only a 20 percent affordable-housing component, instead of the 100 percent NYCHA currently seeks.

The city will open up additional public land for lease later this summer in higher-rent areas, including the Lower East Side and “hipster parts of Brooklyn,” according to a report in the Daily News. Developments on those sites will be evenly split between market-rate and affordable housing, according to the News.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams praised the city’s plan, calling it “an important step.” Patricia Brown, a resident of the Mill Brook Houses, likewise voiced her support.

“We are seeing the rents go up all around us, while the neighborhood has fewer and fewer options for people to live,” she said in a statement issued by NYCHA.

To read the NYCHA press release, click here. To download the RFP, click here.

Mayor Plans Thousands of New Apartments on NYCHA Land in Brooklyn [Brownstoner]
NYCHA Senior Housing in Bed Stuy to Be Sold, Possibly Go Market Rate [Brownstoner]
Bottom photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark

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What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. God this City is run by morons. Yep – that’s what we need in the middle of the projects – affordable housing units! Affordable housing should be built in more upscale communities and places like Ingersoll need market-rate housing. This is how you create a more diverse and healthy neighborhood.

  2. God this City is run by morons. Yep – that’s what we need in the middle of the projects – affordable housing units! Affordable housing should be built in more upscale communities and places like Ingersoll need market-rate housing. This is how you create a more diverse and healthy neighborhood.

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