The folks who complain about the lack of affordable housing, or about rents for “affordable” units being too high for many New Yorkers, are unaware of what it costs to build.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani would certainly be proud to cut the ribbon for the 34 affordable homes being built on four Harlem lots that have been vacant for decades: 313 West 112th Street, 109 West 126th Street, 142 West 129th Street and 136 West 137th Street.
To build this infill housing, LISC NY, Lemor Development Group and Iris Community Development just closed on a $6.6 million construction loan, which will eventually be expanded to $17.5 million, property records show.
But the total project cost is $30.9 million, according to the development team. That’s $909,000 per unit, or 82 percent more than the target in Mamdani’s mayoral campaign platform.
If you’re thinking the $909,000-per-unit cost would be lower if the developers were all nonprofits and didn’t have to pay for the land, think again. LISC is a nonprofit and the four lots were city-owned and were sold by HPD for $1 apiece. Had they been free, the per-unit cost would only be reduced by 12 cents.
Would Mamdani have been able to save money by abandoning his campaign promise to use union labor? If this project is any indication, that promise has already been abandoned: The 34 HPD-subsidized units in Harlem are being built nonunion. Pretty much all small projects are.
It would have been nice if they could have been built sooner, but the city prioritized larger, easier-to-develop sites, which makes sense.
Still, it’s taken a while. Records show the city seized the four Harlem sites for unpaid taxes in 1970. The earliest Google Maps photos are from 2009. All four sites were vacant then, and probably well before.
The Mamdani administration (like all previous administrations) says it is exploring ways to reduce costs for developers and housing operators. Until then, these projects cost what they cost. Along with operating expenses, that is why the housing supply is what it is and the rents are what they are.
What we’re thinking about: Is it truly “critical” (as Council member Shahana Hanif’s newsletter claims) to have a 45-day comment period to “ensure” the proposed Draft Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) for cleanup of a Gowanus affordable housing site “fully protects public health, supports safe development, and delivers the benefits promised to the community”? Or is this an example of needless processes delaying affordable housing? And … RAWP? Must there be an acronym for everything? Send thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: City budget gurus, as they check under the couch cushions for money to help close the $5.4 billion deficit, just mailed letters to recipients of the condo and co-op tax abatement demanding proof of residency.
In 21 years as a condo association treasurer, I have never heard of the city making such a request of people who get this extremely common tax break. It’s pretty easy to comply — assuming you can figure out how to upload something to a clunky website. Among the documents accepted as proof are a current driver’s license or voter registration card. But the process alone will result in some owners losing their tax break.
Elsewhere…
I’m sure sales of electric vehicles will improve because of the jump in gas prices. But this framing by Newsday was misleading:
“Soaring oil prices due to the war in the Middle East have one distinct winner — the EV. After a slump in sales for electric vehicles on Long Island and nationwide, demand for secondhand models is up almost 20 percent so far in 2026, according to a report from Cox Automotive.”
The Cox report cited a January year-over-year increase of 21 percent in used EV sales. The war with Iran began Feb. 28.
Moreover, new EV sales in January were down 30 percent from a year earlier. Used EV sales were up because there were more used EVs for sale, so many folks bought them instead of new ones. This had nothing to do with gas prices, which started rising in March.
Closing time
Residential: The largest residential sale Tuesday was $11.6 million for a 4,613-square-foot condominium unit at 520 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill. The previous owner paid $16.9 million in 2018. The Hudson Advisory Team at Compass had the $13.5 million listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale was $32 million for a 16-unit multifamily building at 45 White Street in Tribeca. Benchmark Real Estate Group sold the property to Slate Property Group.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $26 million for a 7,062-square-foot condominium unit at 100 Barclay Street in Tribeca. Tara King-Brown and Richard Hottinger of the Corcoran Group have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 40,131-square-foot, 27-unit project at 50-14 Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City. Alexander Zhitnik of Z Architecture filed the permit on behalf of an LLC tied to Rajeev Dwivedi.
— Matthew Elo