For the first time since announcing plans to lease chunks of its land to private developers, NYCHA has posted more information on its website, including a detailed breakdown of where the sites are and what could be built there (h/t LoDown). The details come just over a month before the city is expected to issue a Request for Proposals for the eight properties, which NYCHA wants to lease to generate revenue to repair public housing. Three of the sites are located on the east side of Lower Manhattan, two in East Harlem, and one on the Upper West Side. All new developments would follow the 80/20 affordable housing split, and the Local reports that NYCHA will also be asking developers to "propose security and energy upgrades for the affected complexes."
NYCHA tenants and affordable housing advocates have opposed the plan from the beginning. Community Board 3, which has jurisdiction over all five sites in Lower Manhattan, was supposed to hear from the authority's Executive Vice President for Development last night, but he rescheduled for April 17. As that's only 10 days before the RFP goes out, board members said this makes it seem like the authority will move forward with the plans, regardless of community input. Tenants of the Smith Houses feel the same way. A press person working with the Urban Justice Center sent word that NYCHA only gave tenants five days notice of a meeting to discuss the plans. She also says that more than 350 tenants have sought legal counsel in the matter, noting that NYCHA might face a much tougher fight.
Here's a brief breakdown of what NYCHA seeks from developers, with pictures of the sites. Click through to NYCHA's site for more info:
Campos Plaza: A 97-unit, 90,000-square-foot building could rise on a 26,122-square-foot site that currently hosts basketball courts, a parking lot, and a compactor yard.
LaGuardia Houses: A 9,000-square-foot parking lot on Madison Street could see a 135,000-square-foot building, and a 7,500-square-foot parking lot on Rutgers Street could host a 120,000-square-foot building. According to a letter from Mayor Bloomberg posted by the LoDown, these buildings would have a total of 276 new apartments.
Meltzer Tower: A landscaped plaza may give way to a mixed used building with 18,500-square-feet of commercial space and 121,500-square-feet of residential with 97 units.
Baruch Houses: A 350,000-square-foot building with 405 apartments could replace a 54-spot parking lot on East Houston.
Smith Houses: The biggest parcel in the plan, these two sites could see a total of 1,151 apartments. The buildings would replace a baseball field, basketball courts, parking spaces, and a garbage compactor yard.
Carver Houses: Two parking lots may be turned into 742,000-square-feet of residential with 262 apartments.
Washington Houses: A parking lot, community center, health care facility, and landscaped plaza would be replaced by 919 apartments in 850,000-square-feet.
Douglass Houses: Interestingly, this is the only site that does not have detailed plans on NYCHA's website. The letter from Bloomberg says that three parking lots would give way to 794 apartments.
· Housing Authority Reveals More About Plan to Lease Land to Developers [The Local]
· NYCHA Property Plan: 2,026 New Apartments on the Lower East Side [LoDown]
· NYCHA Land Leasing [official]
· NYCHA Wants Luxury Apartments On Parking Lots, Playgrounds [Curbed]
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