Real estate in brief

Bloomberg announces affordable housing plan at NYU talk

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his plans to pour another $1 billion into an affordable housing build-up effort during a talk at the New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. During the speech, made at the school’s inaugural event for its new Institute for Affording Housing Policy, Bloomberg said that the majority of this funding would come from reserves in the New York City Housing Development Corporation, rather than from additional tax revenue. This announcement comes on the heels of a choppy effort to create or preserve 165,000 affordable housing units by 2014. Although the city has, so far, funded the creation or preservation of 100,000 units, last year it saw just 12,500 units of affordable housing created or saved.

Devonshire House to host Food Network celeb

Devonshire House, the pre-war-turned-condo building at 28 East 10th Street, will be the site of a cooking event with Food Network chef and star Alexandra Guarnaschelli. The event is being hosted by the Devonshire and by Divalyssicious Moms, a social and philanthropic network of New York City mothers. The event, set for tomorrow, will include a viewing of a model condo inside the Devonshire House.

Elika partners with relocation, renovation specialists

Buyers’ brokerage Elika Associates announced a new partnership today with alchemyRED, a real estate developer and renovation liaison service for homeowners, and Cross It Off Your List, a so-called “relocation and lifestyle management company.” The partnership is intended to create a seamless transition from contract closings to move-ins, Elika said in a written statement. “Thanks to this cross-marketing opportunity, investors and international buyers can feel comfortable about leaving their renovation projects and homes in responsible hands while they are out of town, and foreign buyers can adjust seamlessly and stress-free into their new Manhattan apartments,” the statement says. TRD