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Q&A
Vicki Been discusses delays and costs in the housing development process
0:14:46
·
129 sec
Commissioner Leila Bozorg asks Professor Vicki Been about her firsthand experiences with housing development barriers while serving in city government. Professor Been elaborates on the significant costs and delays incurred throughout the development process, from pre-ULURP stages through financing updates and council negotiations.
- Delays occur at multiple stages: pre-ULURP, ULURP itself, and post-approval processes like securing financing.
- These delays add substantial costs to projects.
- Negotiations with council members over details like affordability levels (AMI) and homeless set-asides can add months or years and significant expense per unit.
Leila Bozorg
0:14:46
Please.
0:14:47
Thanks, professor Bean.
0:14:50
I'm curious if you could talk a little bit, about some of your experiences when you were overseeing, HPD and as deputy mayor in the effort to try to build more housing across the city.
0:15:02
I mean, you named some of those barriers, but, specifically, you know, in in given that New York City puts so many resources towards affordable housing production, this balance between how we do affordable, how we unlock even market rate, housing, just some of the not just the what what the research shows, but what you experienced firsthand too in trying to build in more neighborhoods.
Vicki Been
0:15:26
Okay.
0:15:26
I think, we are fortunate to be able to devote the kinds of resources that we've devoted over the last few decades.
0:15:33
I don't know that that will continue in the in the, the new era.
0:15:38
But the truth is that we add so much cost through so many delays.
0:15:43
Right?
0:15:43
And it's delays not just the ones that I've talked about in sort of the EULURP and the pre EULURP process.
0:15:49
But once you get through that process and you still haven't gotten a commitment from your council member or from the council, as you know, you then have to deal with the fact that your proposal, which was three years ago, may no longer pencil.
0:16:03
You've gotta get you've gotta update the financing.
0:16:05
You've got new term sheets in the agencies.
0:16:07
All of those things make you almost have to start all over again, and that's delay and risk and and litigation risk.
0:16:14
Right?
0:16:15
And and I do wanna say, I mean, we have so many incredible elected officials who are serving the city in in such amazing ways.
0:16:24
Nevertheless, sometimes you get a situation where a council member just digs in and you end up spending months, if not years, negotiating over, you know, can there be any homeless set asides in the in the in the housing?
0:16:41
Can there you know, what is the a what are the AMI levels?
0:16:44
And those those are legitimate conversations to have, but not when it's adding a year thousands tens of thousands of dollars per unit, to the housing.