Q&A
Council Member Diana Ayala questions HPD on homeownership units and specific projects
1:16:19
·
4 min
Council Member Diana Ayala engages in a Q&A session with Kim Darga from HPD, discussing the status of homeownership units in New York City. They cover topics including the number of approved units waiting for financing, the distribution of recently developed units across the city, and a specific homeownership project in Ayala's district.
- Darga reveals there are 23 projects in the pipeline for homeownership, with financing taking 4-5 years at the current pace.
- HPD created homeownership units in every borough of New York City last year, with a mix of preservation and new construction.
- Ayala expresses frustration over a long-delayed homeownership project in her district and requests a strategy discussion with HPD.
Diana Ayala
1:16:19
Be better.
1:16:22
I'm only kidding.
1:16:22
I love him.
1:16:24
But I do have a question following up on on Consumables Alemangas.
1:16:28
I have no questioning.
1:16:29
Regarding the number of units that are currently approved, but waiting for financing.
1:16:36
Do you know what that number is?
Kim Darga
1:16:39
Approved for homeownership.
1:16:41
Uh-huh.
1:16:43
Oh, I know there are a couple dozen projects.
1:16:47
I think they're 23 projects in the pipeline.
1:16:49
I don't know the unit count of those projects.
Diana Ayala
1:16:51
And do we know what the length of time it you know, each project approximately is on hold for?
1:16:58
The
Kim Darga
1:17:00
interestingly, the the actual the pipeline is much bigger on the rental side.
1:17:08
So there you know, we base the resources we have.
1:17:13
We can finance a few projects a year.
1:17:16
So it'll take, you know, maybe 4 or 5 years to get through the pipeline at the current pace of financing.
1:17:23
Not all of the projects in the pipeline today are ready.
1:17:26
Right?
1:17:26
Some of them actually have pre development work they need to do.
1:17:31
That's gonna take some time.
Diana Ayala
1:17:32
Mhmm.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
1:17:34
But, you
Kim Darga
1:17:34
know, there's a pipeline there, but we're making good progress.
Diana Ayala
1:17:38
And of the 900 plus units that were developed last year, do we know if those units were created throughout the entire city of New York, or were they concentrated to specific communities or, you know, boroughs districts that?
Kim Darga
1:17:54
Yes.
1:17:55
There were so 396 new units.
1:17:57
There was a larger universe of preservation work.
1:18:00
Okay.
1:18:00
Right?
1:18:00
So that's just the units that would count toward meeting the target if this bill move forward.
1:18:08
Let me just see.
1:18:08
So there were homeownership units created in every borough of New York City.
1:18:15
And I think think almost every single council district, it's a mix of preservation and new construction.
Diana Ayala
1:18:20
Okay.
1:18:21
Okay.
Kim Darga
1:18:22
If you wanted a specific breakdown on new construction, I think we'd have to follow-up to get Yeah.
Diana Ayala
1:18:26
That would be great.
1:18:27
That would be great.
1:18:28
And I, obviously, I, you know, would be remiss if I did not pitch for my own district.
1:18:33
I do have a home ownership project that's part of the former MEC project on a 125th Street that's been, you know, in the pipeline for most 18 years, we've been having conversations.
1:18:46
There was a lot of, you know, litigation and stuff.
1:18:48
So the project you know, it it hasn't ever been finalized.
1:18:52
We had we agreed through Ulerp to a number of units that you know, I understand the city now may have some difficulty funding as is, but I would really welcome a conversation about what the strategy is moving forward in terms of, you know, can we build half now, half later?
1:19:11
Are we not you know, are is it a definite definitive that we are not able to get to the number that was agreed upon through Euler?
1:19:18
But that conversation needs to happen.
1:19:20
And I know I've I've reached out on a couple of other projects, but I just feel like the open ended, you know, goodness of this the, you know, the status of these projects is problematic.
1:19:31
You know, we need to be able to make decisions at the council that you know, determine based on whatever feedback we're getting from HPD.
1:19:39
So if we're not getting that feedback, we're not able to plan accordingly.
1:19:43
And and this project, you know, was already, you know, past through you, love.
1:19:47
It was promised to the community many, many years ago, and we're still in conversation.
1:19:52
I know the developer is interested in moving forward with some, you know, type of of development.
1:19:59
It's not where we were supposed to be, but I'm agreeing to in the event that, you know, hoping that we are also gonna have a commitment to build more at a future time.
1:20:10
So I'm flexible, but running out of time and patience.
Kim Darga
1:20:14
Okay.
1:20:14
Yes.
1:20:15
We absolutely are happy to sit down and and appreciate that.
Diana Ayala
1:20:19
I appreciate it.
1:20:19
Thank you.
1:20:20
Yeah.
