Q&A
HPD officials respond to questions on homeownership units and historical context
1:32:47
·
3 min
HPD officials, including Kim Darga, respond to Council Member Brooks-Powers' questions about homeownership units and provide historical context for HPD's homeownership programs.
- Clarify that 2,130 homeownership units were financed last year, including preservation, new construction, and down payment assistance
- Explain that HPD has historically financed a significant amount of homeownership, especially when the city had more public land
- Discuss the emphasis on preserving existing limited equity homeownership opportunities and supporting 1-4 family homeowners
- Address questions about specific projects like Arbor East and ongoing discussions about including homeownership in the next phase
Kim Darga
1:32:47
Can you repeat that?
Selvena Brooks-Powers
1:32:49
Does HPD have data on how many homeownership versus rental term sheets are used by HPD funded projects year over year?
1:33:01
And by prioritizing the construction of rental units, HPD has deprived New Yorkers of the chance to build generational wealth for their families and contributed to displacement of renters that are forced to lead their neighborhoods due to increasing rents.
1:33:17
Given the decades long housing crisis in New York City, do you believe that we should set an even higher threshold than 6% for homeownership units?
1:33:30
And then my last two questions is just following up to something you said earlier.
1:33:34
1, you made reference of 15,695 units financed last year.
1:33:43
How many of those were homeownership.
1:33:46
I think you said it, but I didn't catch the numbers.
1:33:48
I just wanted clarity on that.
1:33:51
And then, lastly, can the office of the homeowner advocate be utilized to offset some of the burden that you speak to because I know you said it's labor intensive with the homeownership opportunity.
1:34:07
But is there a way that HBV could leverage that new office to support potential homeowners in terms of getting some of the requirements together and making them more viable to become homeowners.
1:34:24
And, okay, last last question.
1:34:26
Ocean Crest, I just like update on Ocean Crest, which is the project that the chair mentioned.
1:34:31
Thank you.
Kim Darga
1:34:33
Alright.
1:34:34
I think I got that all, but if I missed anything, maybe help me out.
1:34:40
Okay?
1:34:41
Alright.
1:34:42
Let's see So the number of homeownership units financed last year yeah.
1:34:50
Can you give me one second?
1:34:52
I can check that.
1:34:58
So it was, I believe, 2 130 units.
1:35:11
Was homeownership.
1:35:14
And that is a mix of preservation and new construction, as well as down payment assistance.
1:35:23
A lot of our I just want us to take this step back of of HPD has financed actually a a fair amount of homeownership over the years.
1:35:30
Most of it was because the city had a lot more public land.
1:35:36
And so and because of urban renewal.
1:35:45
Right?
1:35:45
So the mental trauma program, for example.
1:35:50
So A lot of our work has focused on preserving those homeownership opportunities, and that's why you see a lot of our resource investment has gone into preservation of existing limited equity, homeownership opportunities in New York City as well as more recently and increasing emphasis on providing support to existing 1 to 4 family homeowners.
1:36:14
Okay?
1:36:16
So let me try to go back and cover some of the other questions, the project questions really quickly.
1:36:22
So Arvin East, I don't have the total count of homeownership opportunities.
1:36:27
We have been working with the development team there to try to figure out if it's possible to include homeownership in the next phase.
1:36:37
So we are in active discussions looking at that.
