The Times reports on a new program announced by the city that provides incentive financing for Mitchell-Lama projects. Mitchell-Lama was one of the most forward-looking housing programs in the twentieth century, enabling a number of large apartment projects to be financed with goal of providing affordable housing for middle income earners. The most notable success was Stuyvesant Town, developed by MetLife in the 40’s. The program was so successful that many developers are buying out their mortgages and converting the units to market rate rentals. Stuyvesant Town is already gone, and Independence Plaza, in TriBeCa, is teetering (the city did broker a deal to keep Independence Plaza North tenants in their homes; Independence Plaza South is still awaiting a vote, though there the issue is ownership, not retention of leases). Unfortunately, this program is elective, and the city hopes for the best, but if you’ve rented an apartment in this town recently, or are a sentient being, you know that there’s money in them thar hills, and the carrot might not be juicy enough. Aside from simply paying off landlords directly, this is about as much as the city can be expected to do, and it’s good to see a commitment to finding some way out of the dead end road that is affordable housing in New York.
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We do what we can.
The Times reports on a new program announced by the city that provides incentive financing for Mitchell-Lama projects. Mitchell-Lama was one of the most forward-looking housing programs in the twentieth century, enabling a number of large apartment projects to be financed with goal of providing affordable housing for middle income earners. The most notable success was Stuyvesant Town, developed by MetLife in the 40’s. The program was so successful that many developers are buying out their mortgages and converting the units to market rate rentals. Stuyvesant Town is already gone, and Independence Plaza, in TriBeCa, is teetering (the city did broker a deal to keep Independence Plaza North tenants in their homes; Independence Plaza South is still awaiting a vote, though there the issue is ownership, not retention of leases). Unfortunately, this program is elective, and the city hopes for the best, but if you’ve rented an apartment in this town recently, or are a sentient being, you know that there’s money in them thar hills, and the carrot might not be juicy enough. Aside from simply paying off landlords directly, this is about as much as the city can be expected to do, and it’s good to see a commitment to finding some way out of the dead end road that is affordable housing in New York.