Government briefs

Snapshots of government-related real estate news

Wyckoff Gardens
Wyckoff Gardens

Market-rate units coming to public housing

The New York City Housing Authority has picked the first two sites where developers will build market-rate housing on public land as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 10-year affordable housing plan. Wyckoff Gardens in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, and Holmes Towers on the Upper East Side will be the first projects to take part in the plan, dubbed “NextGen Neighborhoods” and spearheaded by NYCHA Chair Shola Olatoye, Politico New York reported. NYCHA’s solution for addressing its $17 billion in capital debt is to add new units on its land to generate cash. In all, plans call for 7,500 units — half affordable, half market rate — over 10 years. The first two sites, which together will get 1,000 units, were chosen because they are in bad shape, have swaths of underused land and are in fashionable neighborhoods that are attractive to developers but lacking affordable housing. NYCHA called both developments highly marketable and said they’re likely to pull in the maximum amount of revenue from developers.

Central Park

Central Park

New laws bar landlords from pushing tenants out

The mayor signed three bills into law last month that prohibit the harassment of tenants by landlords looking to get rid of them so they can charge higher rents. Starting in December, landlords may not threaten tenants, contact them at odd hours, give false information in relation to a buyout or make a buyout offer within 180 days of a tenant ‘s refusing an earlier offer, DNAInfo reported. Landlords must also let tenants know they have the right to remain in their apartment, consult an attorney, and refuse to be contacted about a buyout offer within 180 days of the last offer. Violations of the new rules may result in fines from $1,000 to $10,000. The practice of buying out rent-stabilized tenants is fairly common. This summer, de Blasio pushed unsuccessfully for an end to vacancy decontrol, which lets landlords remove an apartment from rent regulation once its monthly rent reaches $2,500.

Hudson-Yards-Subway-Extension

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New subway station opens at Hudson Yards

New York City got its first subway expansion in over 25 years with the opening of the 34th Street/Hudson Yards station, which now takes the 7 train into an area long-deprived of subway service. The city spent $2.4 billion extending the 7 line to 34th Street and 11th Avenue, steps from the High Line, the Javits Convention Center and Hudson River Park. It will also serve the largest private real estate development in U.S. history, Hudson Yards. The station includes a full-length mezzanine, diagonally moving elevators and a cooling system designed to keep temperatures below 78 degrees. The last time the subway system was expanded was 1989, when stations opened up on the Upper East Side, Roosevelt Island and in Long Island City, Crain’s reported.

Waldorf-Astoria-NYC

Waldorf Astoria

Chinese-owned Waldorf shunned by U.S. officials

The U.S. government will no longer house top officials at the Waldorf-Astoria, following the sale of the hotel to a Chinese firm by Hilton Worldwide. Fears of espionage appear to be the primary reason for the policy, although the White House said space, costs and security were also concerns, Crain’s reported. Top American officials have stayed at the landmark for decades. But they’ll now be sleeping and holding meetings at the New York Palace Hotel. The State Department is also considering whether or not the Waldorf should continue to serve as the home of the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., which it has done since 1947. U.S. officials are particularly wary of “a major renovation” of the building that’s been planned by the Chinese owners, Anbang Insurance Group.