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Concerns raised over project closings and phasing of large-scale developments
1:22:44
ยท
137 sec
Council Member Salamanca expresses frustration with the phasing of large-scale projects and delayed closings, citing community inconvenience and changes in AMI structures. Acting Commissioner Tigani explains the financial constraints that necessitate phasing and the efforts to balance citywide housing needs.
- Salamanca highlights issues with projects like La Central and Whitlock being split into phases, causing prolonged construction disruptions
- He notes that delayed closings result in higher rents than initially approved due to AMI changes
- Tigani explains that the high costs of large-scale projects necessitate phasing to manage federal and local subsidies effectively
- The commissioner mentions efforts to close projects faster and mitigate construction inconveniences in collaboration with DOB and developers
Rafael Salamanca
1:22:44
Another issue that I'm having is the closing of projects.
1:22:47
I I don't understand why a project like La Central or Whitlock 2, you have to break it up into phases.
1:22:53
Whitlock Whitlock project phase one is almost completed.
1:22:57
Now they have to wait for the closing of Whitlock 2, which in in return you know, construction is not nice in the community.
1:23:04
It's ugly.
1:23:04
Right?
1:23:05
You there's traffic, there's debris, and it's uncomfortable.
1:23:09
There could be noise.
1:23:11
And what HPD has done by not closing on phase two much sooner or in one shot, you've inconvenienced the community when it comes to construction.
1:23:22
And the AMIs that we're approving here in the council change when that building when you find it closed.
1:23:29
So if I approve an AMI structure in 2021 and you close in 2026, the rent is much higher than what it was approved in 2021.
1:23:38
And we as elected officials seem as if we're not being honest with our communities.
1:23:42
What can you do to close on projects, these big scale projects much quicker?
1:23:48
And instead of splitting them up, just close them up all in one shot.
Ahmed Tigani
1:23:52
So I would say just the price tag of closing a project of that size.
1:23:57
I mean, we we are encouraged.
1:24:00
We like seeing multi phase projects, but individual projects, standalone buildings as their own, they can come at hundreds of millions of dollars.
1:24:08
A multi phase project with three or four building can easily, significantly swallow both the federal resource and the local subsidy.
1:24:16
And we've made commitments throughout the city to build housing in every borough because we want accessibility and chance for housing to happen in every borough.
1:24:25
We try to think equitable about it.
1:24:27
We try to look at making sure we're making investments in every borough.
1:24:31
That may prevent us from being able to take a full project that's multi phase, it's multiple buildings and go after that project in one shot.
1:24:40
So, we are trying to close as fast as we can.
1:24:43
We talked about earlier about the resource constraints.
1:24:45
As we see more resources at the federal and local level, we'll move faster to get the projects done.
1:24:50
But on the construction coordination, we try to work with DOB and developers.
1:24:54
I was at DOB.
1:24:56
I agree with you.
1:24:56
It can be very inconvenient for communities, and we try to figure out mitigations.
Rafael Salamanca
1:25:00
Yeah.