Closing Bell: Mayor de Blasio Announced a $41 Billion Affordable Housing Plan Today

Today Mayor de Blasio unveiled his administration’s comprehensive plan to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade. You can read the full 116-page report here [PDF]. Of those 200,000 units, 80,000 are slated be new while 120,000 will be preserved. So how will he do it? Basically the de Blasio administration will institute a policy of mandatory inclusionary zoning, requiring developers to include affordable housing in new developments in exchange for zoning allowances. And he is doing away with Bloomberg’s 80/20 initiative — 80 percent market rate housing with 20 percent affordable — in favor of a 50/30/20 model, designating 20 percent of units to low-income households, 30 percent to moderate income households and 50 percent as market-rate. The administration will also lift requirements to make it easier to convert old industrial buildings to residential, as well as add two new city programs to help spur development of vacant sites. And to address the increasing loss of rent-regulated apartments, the city plans to closely monitor landlords to make sure they are not illegally destabilizing apartments.

The mayor has also stated the desire to build tally and densely — the study cites the towering Hunters Point South project as a positive city investment in affordable housing. de Blasio didn’t mention any specific areas that will be targeted for increased affordable development, but Crain’s reports that the administration plans “to initiate a ‘dozen’ planning studies in the months ahead to start that process.” As the Mayor stated on Twitter earlier today, “Priority is going to be given to where the need is greatest — but this is a five-borough plan.”