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Q&A
Renovation projects and tenant relocation procedures
3:37:05
·
4 min
Council Member Bottcher inquires about NYCHA's renovation projects and the factors determining tenant relocation during renovations. NYCHA officials explain the various scenarios and processes involved in temporary relocations.
- Relocations can range from short-term (1-3 weeks) for hazardous material abatement to long-term (3-9 months) for major renovations
- NYCHA engages with residents for years before major renovations to understand and address individual family needs and circumstances
- Off-site relocations are common due to limited on-site vacancies during large-scale renovations
- NYCHA tries to minimize adverse impacts on families, considering factors like school access when relocating tenants
Erik Bottcher
3:37:05
Last question.
3:37:06
I've heard you give updates on several renovation projects that are happening around the city.
3:37:14
And I've also heard you talk about how tenants are being required to temporarily relocate from their homes during those renovations.
3:37:27
What what determines for you whether or not a tenant has to relocate from their homes during a renovation versus staying in place during a renovation?
3:37:40
And how many tenants are being asked to relocate temporarily out of their housing development entirely to other developments and where are those developments where tenants are being asked to temporarily relocate out of their development elsewhere?
3:40:07
tenants who are being moved off campus during renovations?
Lisa Bova-Hiatt
3:38:00
It's a great question and it's complex.
3:38:04
So we'll have Sean answer the first portion and then Eva might want to add additional.
Shaan Mavani
3:38:11
Sure.
3:38:11
So there are different types of repairs and renovations that you'd imagine that require tenants out of the apartment for different reasons, right?
3:38:18
At the lower end, as Eva explained earlier, for things like lead based paint abatement or asbestos abatement, there is a basic code requirement and legal requirement that that space cannot be occupied while that work is undergoing.
3:38:30
And so we may relocate for a week or two weeks or three weeks or something like that.
3:38:35
Typically those short term relocations will be on the property or at a hotel or by property based on availability.
3:38:43
But for the major renovations that I spoke about, the relocation can extend to three months, four months, up to six months, even up to nine months.
3:38:51
And that's because we're doing so much work in the apartment beyond just the hazardous materials abatement that it wouldn't be viable for residents to continue to live in the apartment during that work and be safe.
3:39:02
Both from a, you know in terms of environmental health and safety, but simply because there's so much construction work happening around them where we're taking down walls and putting up new walls.
3:39:11
Completely redoing kitchens and bathrooms and other things like that.
3:39:14
So there's a very extensive process for those major renovations to engage with residents for several years before we get to any work.
3:39:21
To understand and survey each apartment.
3:39:24
What are the challenges that family may face around relocation?
3:39:28
What is their unique circumstance?
3:39:30
What are their needs?
3:39:31
And to make sure those are addressed through the relocation process.
3:39:34
And obviously in particular if there isn't sufficient vacancies at that property that they need to be temporarily relocated at an adjacent property, then those challenges can be greater.
3:39:45
And we work very closely through our capital work for example where the renovation is part of that to solve for whatever concerns and issues they have through that process.
3:39:54
And so that that temporary relocation doesn't have an overly adverse impact where we minimize any adverse impact on their family in terms of getting to school or things like that.
3:40:03
So I think that answers most parts of your question.
3:40:05
I'm not sure if I got the last one.
3:40:13
Yeah.
3:40:13
That is common.
3:40:14
And part of that tension is the tension we have about renting out vacant units as quickly as possible.
3:40:20
Being able to maintain tenants on a campus, whether it's a smaller campus or even a large campus, during a large scale renovation would mean that we'd have to have a significant amount of vacancies to cycle tenants through.
3:40:31
Right?
3:40:31
If we're doing two or three buildings at a time, all two of those buildings we would need the equivalent number of vacancies on the site for those tenants to temporarily live there and move back.
3:40:41
We do not hold that level of vacancy even for these very large renovations.
3:40:45
We solve for whatever we can on the campus by using existing vacancies, maybe holding for one year or so.
3:40:52
That will typically give us two, three, four percent of units, but not nearly enough if we're gonna need to clear full buildings during renovation.
3:40:59
And so that's where we end up using other sites.
3:41:02
There are cases both on capital renovation and PACT where we're able to do the work with a very short term relocation or keep people on the site.
3:41:10
It also depends on the scope of work that's being undertaken in that specific project.
Ahmed Tigani
3:40:07
Are there