The "affordable housing crisis for seniors" and the vague plans for 225 senior units at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park
A new report on an "affordable housing crisis for seniors" has been issued by LiveOn NY, an advocacy and policy organization for New York’s community-based aging service providers. (See coverage in the New York Daily News.)
Though their study was conducted on the Upper West Side, in Manhattan Community Districts 7 and 9, the organization suggested the results are likely indicative of the entire city. They found nearly 20,000 seniors on wait lists for affordable housing, with an average wait time of 10.6 years. That means "a senior who signs up for affordable housing at the moment of eligibility—62 years old—will wait on average until he or she is 72.6 for affordable housing."
The study calls for New York to expand the amount of affordable senior housing with services, which allows seniors to age in place. More than 200,000 seniors citywide are on waitlists for affordable housing, according to an earlier study.
So how's the city doing? Last July, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced record milestones for affordable housing, the city press release said, "With 4,627 affordable senior apartments financed under HNY [Housing New York], the City is nearly a third of the way towards its goal of creating 15,000 homes for seniors, many of who are living on fixed incomes."
Another pending proposal, from outside advocates, is to build 15,000 units of senior housing on city-owned land, including the New York City Housing Authority. On 10/31/17, de Blasio declared progress, announcing a new program "Seniors First," "serving 30,000 senior households by 2026":
Though their study was conducted on the Upper West Side, in Manhattan Community Districts 7 and 9, the organization suggested the results are likely indicative of the entire city. They found nearly 20,000 seniors on wait lists for affordable housing, with an average wait time of 10.6 years. That means "a senior who signs up for affordable housing at the moment of eligibility—62 years old—will wait on average until he or she is 72.6 for affordable housing."
The study calls for New York to expand the amount of affordable senior housing with services, which allows seniors to age in place. More than 200,000 seniors citywide are on waitlists for affordable housing, according to an earlier study.
So how's the city doing? Last July, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced record milestones for affordable housing, the city press release said, "With 4,627 affordable senior apartments financed under HNY [Housing New York], the City is nearly a third of the way towards its goal of creating 15,000 homes for seniors, many of who are living on fixed incomes."
Another pending proposal, from outside advocates, is to build 15,000 units of senior housing on city-owned land, including the New York City Housing Authority. On 10/31/17, de Blasio declared progress, announcing a new program "Seniors First," "serving 30,000 senior households by 2026":
The number of seniors in New York is projected to grow 40 percent by 2040. To meet the housing needs of older New Yorkers on fixed incomes, the City will invest $150 million to make more homes accessible to seniors and people with disabilities; build new 100 percent affordable developments on underused NYCHA, and public and private sites; and preserve aging senior housing built as part of HUD’s 202 program.That involves:
- 15,000 Age-Friendly Homes, making them accessible to seniors so they can age in place
- 4,000 New Senior Apartments, with about 1,000 on underused NYCHA land
- 6,000 Senior Apartments Protected, with repairs and subsidies for privately-owned and -operated buildings
That's certainly progress, but dwarfed by the need.
What about Atlantic Yards?
Atlantic Yards was supposed to be part of the progress, too. The May 2005 Affordable Housing Memorandum of Understanding developer Forest City Ratner signed with the advocacy group ACORN did mention "including senior citizens" (see excerpt above), but didn't specify the number of units.
The mayoral press release at the time made a glancing mention:
The June 2005 Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that Forest City signed with eight community groups (including ACORN) stated:
No plan, no sanctions
So, what about those 225 senior units? There's been no announcement, or plan. The guiding document, the 2010 Development Agreement embedded below, on page 21 (p. 6 of the PDF) describes affordable housing requirements without mentioning seniors.
In the document, "Project site affordable housing" is defined as no less than 2,250 "affordable housing units," which are defined as units with income and rent restrictions set by city, state, or federal housing agencies.
So, will Atlantic Yards senior housing ever be built? Maybe, but it likely requires a specific suit of subsidies and some political muscle. It might, actually, be politically attractive to devote a building, or a piece of a building, to seniors.
But perhaps not until the project is closer to being finished, with less construction noise nearby, and more pieces of the "park" are available for use. And that could take a while.
What about Atlantic Yards?
The mayoral press release at the time made a glancing mention:
As with all City-sponsored housing, there will be a lottery for the affordable units. In the lottery, 50% of the units will be set aside for community residents. In this case, the developer is also considering setting aside 10% percent of the affordable rental units for income-eligible senior citizens.Considering? That left some wiggle room. But 10% would mean 225 apartments.
The Project Developer intends to provide for ten (10%) percent of rental units at the Project to be available to senior citizens. The Project Developer may elect to include these units in one or more buildings as it deems appropriate taking into consideration the special needs of such residents.That's a plausible strategy, to concentrate the units. But it probably depends on more subsidies. And intends to, as we know, leaves a lot of wiggle room.
No plan, no sanctions
So, what about those 225 senior units? There's been no announcement, or plan. The guiding document, the 2010 Development Agreement embedded below, on page 21 (p. 6 of the PDF) describes affordable housing requirements without mentioning seniors.
In the document, "Project site affordable housing" is defined as no less than 2,250 "affordable housing units," which are defined as units with income and rent restrictions set by city, state, or federal housing agencies.
So, will Atlantic Yards senior housing ever be built? Maybe, but it likely requires a specific suit of subsidies and some political muscle. It might, actually, be politically attractive to devote a building, or a piece of a building, to seniors.
But perhaps not until the project is closer to being finished, with less construction noise nearby, and more pieces of the "park" are available for use. And that could take a while.
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