New york city ahead of schedule on affordable housing

City officials announced Wednesday morning that New York is ahead of schedule on its ambitious 10-year housing plan.

“With better than expected results this past year, we're now more than three-quarters of the way towards our goal to create and preserve 165,000 affordable housing units for 500,000 New Yorkers by the end of 2014,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a press statement. “That's more people than who live in Miami.”

Since 2004, the city has funded 124,495 units of housing for middle-class and low-income New Yorkers as part of its $8.4 billion housing initiative dubbed New Housing Marketplace Plan. In the most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30, the city invested $1.3 billion in creating or preserving 15,827 units, surpassing the goal for the year by more than 1,100 units. Mr. Bloomberg, along with other city officials and housing advocates, announced the figures at West Farms Square, a 526-unit affordable housing project in the Bronx that was distressed until the city stepped in last year to refinance and rehabilitate the property with $59 million in fresh capital. Financing of all the projects stemmed from city funds, monies raised from bond offerings and various agencies.

About 74% of the total units that were funded this past year were either badly deteriorated apartments rehabbed for existing tenants or were in financially distressed buildings. When the real estate market collapsed and financing froze three years ago, the city decided to focus its efforts on preserving affordable housing as opposed to creating new housing. Since the inception of the city housing plan, 81,484 apartments have been saved.

Source: CrainsNewYork.com