City Announces Plans to Build More than 250 Affordable Homes in Midtown Manhattan
February 13, 2019
City Announces Plans to Build More than 250 Affordable Homes in Midtown Manhattan
HPD selects two development teams to transform vacant City-owned land into affordable housing
Developers are partnering with nonprofits to bring an array of services to the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen community
NEW YORK, NY – The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer announced today the selection of development teams to build approximately 260 units of affordable housing on two City-owned sites in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen section of Midtown Manhattan, one located at 806 9th Avenue and another located at 705 10th Avenue. Both sites were identified through the City’s Western Rail Yard plan, today known as Hudson Yards, to be developed into affordable housing to support the future growth of the city as a place for residents of all economic levels. The Ninth Avenue Site will be developed by Housing Works and The Hudson Companies and the Tenth Avenue Site will be developed by Douglaston Development and The Actors Fund.
“As we continue to develop affordable housing across the city at record pace, we are delivering on our commitments to communities. In selecting these development proposals for these critical sites in Hell’s Kitchen, we aren’t just bringing more than 250 new affordable homes to Manhattan, we’re adding vital community space and providing critically needed services to some of our city’s most vulnerable residents to help them lead high quality, fulfilling lives,” said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer. “Good luck and congratulations are in order to all who labored many years to advance the good stewardship of these sites.”
“HDC is proud to support the redevelopment of these sites as a vibrant mix of affordable housing, retail, and community space,” said HDC President Eric Enderlin. “Congratulations to the selected development teams and all of our partners who will be collaborating to bring these visionary and transformative projects to fruition.”
“These 100% affordable housing developments in Hell’s Kitchen are a long time in the making, and we need them now more than ever. These two projects will create desperately needed affordable housing for a wide range of residents, from very low income to moderate income households. Given the severe homelessness and affordability crises we face as a City, these two projects are all the more essential,” said New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “I want to thank Commissioner Torres-Springer and the development teams for putting together these innovative projects and Community Board 4 for recognizing over a decade ago the opportunity to build affordable housing on these sites.”
“We need more affordable housing in neighborhoods across New York City,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “That’s why I’m happy HPD has selected teams to build 258 new affordable units on these two city-owned sites, as promised in the Hudson Yards Points of Agreement.”
“Housing and open space go hand-in-hand,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. "We are excited that this development will bring new open space for recreation to Midtown Manhattan, complemented by a public restroom and community center in the adjoining building. We’re grateful to HPD and DEP for their partnership to transform this vacant land into a livable space.”
Ninth Avenue site: located at 806 Ninth Avenue, this project will be developed through a partnership between Hudson Companies and Housing Works, Inc., a New York City-based nonprofit that provides supportive housing, healthcare, and a range of social services. The development will contain approximately 100 units of affordable and supportive housing for very low and low-income households, with units set aside for the formerly homeless. The building will feature approximately 11,000 square feet of retail space along Ninth Avenue, including a Housing Works thrift shop. The building will include office space for New York City Transit and below grade parking for emergency vehicles.
Tenth Avenue site: located at 705 Tenth Avenue, this project will be developed by a team led by Douglaston Development and The Actors Fund, a nonprofit that provides housing, as well as social services, health care and insurance counseling, and secondary employment and training services for all people in performing arts and entertainment. The development will contain approximately 160 affordable units that will serve a range of households, including very low, low, and moderate-income households, with units set aside for formerly homeless households. The ground floor of the new building will have an arts-oriented community space to be operated by Spaceworks, public restroom, and adjacent open space that is being developed by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.
“Housing Works is honored to co-develop this groundbreaking project for people living with HIV and low-income families in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. For nearly 30 years, we have demonstrated that housing equals healthcare when it comes to the long-term survival of those living with HIV, as those who have a safe and stable place to live are much more likely to achieve “undetectable” HIV status. Coupled with our new Hell’s Kitchen Community Healthcare Center slated to open in 2020, this project represents a significant investment in our efforts to bring critical services to the HIV community in Manhattan and serves as a powerful symbol of our commitment to ending the epidemic. On behalf of a generation of New Yorkers affected by the HIV crisis, we are grateful to the City of New York and our development partners at the Hudson Companies for helping us realize this important milestone in the fight against homelessness and HIV,” said Andrew Coamey, Senior Vice President for Housing and Capital Development at Housing Works.
“The Hudson Companies is proud to partner with the City of New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Housing Works to create much needed supportive housing for individuals living with HIV along with permanent affordable housing for low-income families in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. The AIDS epidemic is ongoing and the Hell’s Kitchen area maintains New York City’s highest rate of existing residents living with HIV as well as being one of the neighborhoods with the highest new infection rates. We look forward to working with our public and private partners and neighborhood stakeholders to deliver this important project, including a Housing Works flagship store and neighborhood retail within an attractive environmentally responsible building designed by CetraRuddy architects,” said Christopher Tepper of Hudson Companies.
“Douglaston Development is grateful for the opportunity to work with our partner, The Actors Fund, the City of New York, and Spaceworks to realize a plan for 705 Tenth Avenue. The site poses both engineering complexities and a unique design opportunity. To respond to these we have assembled a first-rate team to provide a contextual design that will integrate the new building with the future park. We look forward to continuing our deep roots in Hell’s Kitchen and deliver a project that provides much needed assets to the local community – mixed income housing and a community space that adds to the already robust and vibrant network of arts and culture offerings in Hell’s Kitchen,” said Jeff Levine, Chairman, Douglaston Development.
“One of the challenges we face in our communities, and citywide, is the displacement of working artists and the loss of affordable artist workspace,” said The Actors Fund President & CEO Joseph P. Benincasa. “Through the thoughtful integration of affordable housing and arts and community programming, this building will help to anchor the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen community and build upon its rich cultural history. The Actors Fund is excited for the opportunity to work closely with Douglaston, Spaceworks, the City, the local community and other stakeholder groups to ensure that this project serves as a long-term resource in the neighborhood.”
"Spaceworks is excited to serve the Hell's Kitchen community by developing rehearsal and studio space for artists at all career levels to cultivate their creative practices. We are pleased to partner with the City of New York, Douglaston Development, and The Actors Fund to build a space that will support the existing cultural ecosystem in Hell's Kitchen," said Risa Shoup, Executive Director of Spaceworks.
The Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen RFP sought proposals for two mixed-use, affordable housing developments in the heart of a busy mixed-use area of New York City, surrounded by a commercial corridor, parks, transit, and cultural institutions.
The developments will be part of the City’s Housing New York 2.0 plan to finance 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. The City has financed almost 122,000 affordable apartments since 2014. To achieve these goals, HPD has accelerated the RFP pipeline, advancing the remaining sites within its dwindling inventory of vacant land suitable for residential development, as well as other public sites identified for affordable housing development. As a result, since January 2014, the City has already issued RFPs for 72 projects across 206 public sites that will generate more than 11,000 affordable homes.
###
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. HPD is tasked with fulfilling Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York Plan which was recently expanded and accelerated through Housing New York 2.0 to complete the initial goal of 200,000 homes two years ahead of schedule—by 2022, and achieve an additional 100,000 homes over the following four years, for a total of 300,000 homes by 2026. For full details visit www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.
Housing Works is a New York-based non-profit organization that provides life-saving services, innovative programing, and relentless advocacy for low-income and homeless members of our community living with HIV and other chronic illnesses. Founded in 1990 in response to the AIDS crisis, Housing Works now operates over 600 units of supportive housing, four federally-qualified health centers offering primary and behavioral healthcare to all who need care, and is nationally recognized for its advocacy to advance social justice and end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York and beyond. Housing Works recently merged with Bailey House, another trailblazing non-profit, to expand its housing and healthcare portfolio. The organization also operates a network of popular thrift stores and the bookstore café, with all proceeds sustaining its mission.
The Hudson Companies Incorporated is a private real estate development company started in 1986 that has grown into a leading developer of new housing for all market segments in the New York metropolitan area. Hudson’s principals and staff have a hands-on approach to managing the details of the development process from property acquisition, project finance and design, through construction and marketing. The firm is experienced in both new construction and rehabilitation, and is active across the affordable, institutional, and market-rate housing markets. To date, Hudson has completed 43 developments totaling $1.5 billion in costs.
Douglaston Development is a New York City-based real estate development company, specializing in a wide range of projects from mixed-use developments, high-rise multi-family rentals and condominiums, affordable housing, hospitality, senior communities and commercial spaces. Working in close collaboration with its affiliated construction and management companies, Levine Builders and Clinton Management, Douglaston Development has the advantage of being one of the few owner-builder-managers in the industry with expertise in successful acquisition, construction and management of properties post-development. Over the past 40 years, the company has expanded its portfolio to include properties located in New York, Arizona, Seattle, Washington and London. The firm’s most notable projects to date are The Edge Community Apartments, 1N4th Place, and LEVEL at 2 North 6th Place in North Williamsburg; Crossroads Plaza in the Bronx; Seaview Senior Housing in Staten Island; and 555 West 23rd Street and The Ohm in West Chelsea. For more information, please visit: http://www.douglastondevelopment.com/
The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that fosters stability and resiliency, and provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan. Through offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, The Fund serves everyone in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance with programs including social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and secondary employment and training services. Visit actorsfund.org.
Founded in 2011, Spaceworks is a nonprofit organization that builds and operates subsidized creative workspace across New York City. Spaceworks currently operates 5 sites in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx uniquely modeled and run to support the needs of local artists and cultural workers. Spaceworks has multiple new projects in development throughout the five boroughs, and our growing membership network includes 7,000+ artists and creative entrepreneurs. Learn more at spaceworksnyc.org