The CoreNet NYC Public Policy Community hosted a panel discussion on affordable housing, public-private partnerships and workforce retention on Thursday, November 29, 2018. Subject matter experts broke down the challenges of providing affordable housing to meet the needs of City residents as well as employers seeking to retain an economically diverse workforce. The discussion was held at The Museum of the City of New York.
Industry Professionals Analyze NYC Affordable Housing
Moderators included Henry Flores, Global Real Estate Manager at WarnerMedia and Vice Chair of the CB11 Housing Committee, and Xavier Santiago, Vice Chair of CB11. Speakers included Matthew Gross, Managing Director and Partner at Urban Builders Collaborative and Executive Officer at Lettire Construction Corp, a successful NYC affordable housing developer; George M. Janes, Owner of George M. Janes & Associates, a specialty planning law firm with expertise in zoning, simulation and visualization and statistics and quantitative modeling and Jeremiah Schlotman, the Chair of CB11 Housing Committee and an attorney of The Legal Aid Society of NYC who advocates for tenant’s rights.
An Issue Impacting NYC and Beyond
Schlotman began the discussion with an overview of affordable housing, discussing who can afford it and the spectrum of existing affordable housing programs. Next, Gross dissected a case study on what it takes to build one of Urban Builders Collaborative’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or “LIHTC” deals. Finally, Janes helped attendees understand how zoning laws affect affordable housing projects.
“Rampant displacement is an issue that many New York City residents are facing every day,” explained Flores. “To address the housing crisis, City, State and the Federal governments have devised many programs to encourage private developers to own and manage affordable housing units in exchange for subsidies. While the waitlists for affordable housing apartments keep growing, the existing subsidies that support affordable apartments are set to expire. If these subsidies are not renewed, those apartments will convert to market-rate prices, leading to further displacement.”
“It is important to understand affordable housing’s impact on the City and its neighborhoods as they become increasingly gentrified,” said Tom O’Halloran, Vice President of Business Development at Structure Tone, Inc. and CoreNet NYC Communities Chair. “The event was a great opportunity to bring together an array of subject matter experts that provided insightful information on this complex topic. I am confident that attendees left the discussion with a greater understanding of this important topic impacting the City and its real estate sector.”
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