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Q&A
Discussion on 160 Van Cortlandt Park South development project
0:40:31
·
161 sec
Council Member Eric Dinowitz and Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani discuss the affordable housing development at 160 Van Cortlandt Park South. Dinowitz expresses concerns about the high percentage of studio and one-bedroom units in the project, while Tigani mentions new initiatives to address family-sized units.
- The development is 100% affordable but consists of 70% studios and one-bedrooms
- Dinowitz argues that the site's location near schools, family shelters, and parks makes it ideal for more family-sized units
- Tigani mentions a new program to increase two and three-bedroom units in targeted areas
- Dinowitz requests that HPD reconsider the financing for this specific project to increase family-sized units
Eric Dinowitz
0:40:31
I could speak about a particular development in my district where I've been back and forth with HPD on where unfortunately you're not budging on the financing.
0:40:40
That's 160 Van Cortlandt Park South, and we're really glad that it's a % affordable.
0:40:45
However, it's 70 Percent studios and one bedrooms.
0:40:50
And that may make sense in the aggregate in some neighborhoods, but it doesn't make sense when the site is adjacent to a school, when there are two family shelters in the neighborhood, when it's across the street from a park and a playground.
0:41:03
This is the perfect site where HPD should have looked in by neighborhood, looked at the surrounding area and said, you know what, we should be financing more of these family size units.
0:41:13
And instead, it went to the default, which is shoving as many units in a building as possible.
0:41:19
And we are very glad that we're getting more units and they're 100% affordable, but I think HPD should be looking at how can we meet the different needs of each individual neighborhood.
Ahmed Tigani
0:41:30
So just two things.
0:41:31
One, that's actually something that we've talked about as part of this year's State of the City.
0:41:37
The mayor had announced that we're launching a new program to look at increasing in targeted areas additional two and three bedrooms where we can.
Eric Dinowitz
0:41:44
Separate So I ask just about that?
0:41:46
Can you commit to going back, looking at the financing of this particular site that is adjacent to a school in the neighborhood of two family shelters across the street from a playroom?
0:41:57
Can you go back and relook at the financing to see if anything could be done to increase the number of two and three bedroom apartments, the number of family size units?
Ahmed Tigani
0:42:05
So council member, we'll talk about any project that you need us to talk about and look at.
0:42:10
But there are two parts I would say here.
0:42:11
One is through the development pipeline.
0:42:13
And HPE is proud of the work that we do, but we are thinking about the larger housing market as well.
0:42:18
And a couple years back, thinking about families first, we actually adjusted our payment standards on our vouchers, which allowed for more flexibility to allow larger families to use that voucher to access larger units.
0:42:33
So when we are doing our work, the production side and the investment side and the term sheets, they come with their challenges.
0:42:39
We'll look for other opportunities.
0:42:41
But for us, it's also making sure that we are using all our tools.
0:42:45
So rental assistance is another way that we're able to make gains for families.
Eric Dinowitz
0:42:49
Thank you.
0:42:50
I want to be clear on the time, and I don't mean to interrupt you.
0:42:54
If I may ask one more question.
0:42:56
Chair?
Pierina Sanchez
0:42:57
Yes.
Eric Dinowitz
0:42:58
Thank you.
0:42:59
So I would like to, like I said, look back at that and see if we can rework the financing.
0:43:05
Everyone can make the same amount of money, but we can just have more of the units that are for the people who really need it in the neighborhood.
0:43:12
Just a very quick question.