Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Earlier this year, I  looked at MHANY, aka Mutual Housing Association of New York (formerly ACORN Housing), and its marketing of middle-income affordable housing at B4 (Brooklyn Crossing) and B15 (Plank Road), for which the housing group, aimed at those struggling for decent housing, must echo corporate marketing-speak.  Even more dramatic is the less-than-affordable, income-targeted middle-income housing at The Willoughby, which also involves MHANY . I took a further look at MHANY's web site. Coupled with articles and a video, that further confirms the awkward fit MHANY has with much (but not all) of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, where a disproportionate percent of the below-market units are aimed at middle-income households. I'm not privy to MHANY's organizational decisions; it's surely not well-resourced, and it probably can't sit out potential contracts and collaborations involving units not aimed at its core constituency of the underserved.  As Borough Presiden...

The  mission  of MHANY (Mutual Housing Association of New York), the ACORN successor contracted to manage intake for the affordable housing for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, is to: Increase affordable housing opportunities by identifying and implementing creative housing development initiatives, with a focus on preservation and  deep affordability ; Improve the way affordable housing for  low and moderate income people  is developed and operated (Emphases added) When ACORN signed the Atlantic Yards Affordable Housing Memorandum of Understanding in 2005, soon incorporated into the much-hyped Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), the developer's non-binding commitment was that 40% of the income-linked housing would go to low-income households, and 20% would go to moderate-income ones. That's not how it's worked out, thanks to the state's long leash , allowing an expansive definition of affordable housing; changes in subsidy programs; and the developers' commitment t...

The affordable housing lottery for 196 Willoughby, aka The Willoughby , launched 1/20/22. It's on Willoughby Street west of Ashland Place, on the Long Island University campus, and developed by RXR Realty. The Willoughby Among 476 apartments are 143 (30%) affordable to middle-income households earning up to 130% of Area Median Income, or AMI. I decided to compare The Willoughby with two Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park buildings similarly geared to middle-income households, Plank Road (662 Pacific St.) and Brooklyn Crossing (18 Sixth Ave.), since the affordable units at all three buildings are being marketed in partnership with MHANY, Mutual Housing Association of New York, formerly ACORN. Some significant variations something stood out. Here's the lineup of rents: studio: Plank Road, $1,547; Brooklyn Crossing, $1,905; The Willoughby, $2,523 ; guideline: $2,263) 1-BR: Plank Road, $2,273; Brooklyn Crossing, $2,390; The Willoughby, $2,700 ; guideline: $2,838) 2-BR: Plank Road, $3...

In my recent report on the BrooklynSpeaks session on affordable housing, I noted that presenter Michelle de la Uz, executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), sounded low-key--neither enthusiastic nor critical-- about Gov. Kathy Hochul's  proposed replacement  for the 421-a tax break, which would deliver more lower-income units than currently, but has been denounced by some advocacy groups as a giveaway. After all, as de la Uz acknowledged, that proposal could mean that future Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park units do meet BrooklynSpeaks' request to focus on lower-income households. I wasn't sure whether her neutral response was because the proposal was new, or because some advocacy groups for the poor had already criticized it. As of then, the key umbrella group for nonprofit housing groups like FAC, the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD), had not weighed in.  Well, on 1/31/22, ANHD, of which FAC is a member organization, criticized Hoc...

As I recently reported , applicants for affordable housing face anxiety and uncertainty as they go through the lottery process, unsure how long it will take, even putting job or relocation decisions on hold as they await word. And there's no solution just yet. City officials have produced a report, Improving Access to Affordable Housing Opportunities , which focuses on issues like financial preparedness and education about the lottery process, not the uncertainty faced by applicants. The report does note, as I pointed out , that applicants expressed confusion regarding the wait: The overall leasing process can be lengthy, in some instances taking more than a year. Updates about the status of one’s application are not always available, and applicants expressed worry that they were somehow forgotten or were missing emails, voicemails, and/or letters. A separate document,  After You Apply for Affordable Housing , focuses on ensuring that applicants prepare the proper in...

People have been waiting a long time for the affordable housing at the Atlantic Yards project, which was announced in December 2003, approved in 2006, and re-approved in 2009. The first affordable tower, had the project proceeded as promised in 2009, would have opened four years ago, in 2012. Now, it's been so long that residents will move into buildings branded not Atlantic Yards but Pacific Park Brooklyn. Not only has the first building, the modular 461 Dean, taken more than four years to complete rather than two since in launched in 2012, the process to rent the below-market, income-linked units also seems to have dragged. The lottery for those apartments  began on 4/27/16, and is part of a process that typically leads to occupancy in six months, according to a handbook produced by the New York City Housing Development Corporation. (See graphic below.) If so, occupancy should've started by the end of October. But relatively few apartments are now occupied. (The...

From Bushwick Daily yesterday,  How Local Advocates Want to Address Bushwick's Race, Class & Affordable Housing Issues : Victories for affordable housing are too few and far between, but the panelists made a point of identifying successful affordable housing initiatives and discussing their strengths and weaknesses. Atlantic Yards (at 461 Dean Street) recently closed its housing lottery for places in the 363 unit building (half which are affordable) - a reality that has been 15 years in the making, said [Ismene] Speliotis [Executive Director of the Mutual Housing Association of New York]. “There were over 83,000 online applications,” she said, “and seven bags of applications the size of me in the mail...the mayor needs to listen to the data. It’s empirical evidence of a huge problem.” My comment: I wasn't there, but this report by no means makes it clear that 461 Dean Street at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Brooklyn [aka B2] is a "successful" initiative. The fa...

Truth be told, there was little illuminating about Forest City's presentation to Community Board 2 last night regarding the upcoming 181 units of affordable housing at 461 Dean Street, the modular tower also known as B2. (They similarly presented at CB 6 .) And presumably the presentation tonight to Community Board 8 will be similar: no details about the units but rather a reminder that information will be available this month, with online applications via NYC Housing Connect and paper applications via Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY). Applicants must choose one only. MHANY is a successor to ACORN as a signatory of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement and Housing Memorandum of Understanding. MHANY's Ismene Speliotis and Forest City Ratner's Elizabeth Canela said they would be back at a future meeting with more specifics, including affordability. (I outlined the range, as detailed in 2012, in my article .) But even a brief visit to the CB 2...