Social Housing Supporters Revive Push to Boost Nonprofit & Community Ownership

The five social housing proposals known together as the Society Land Act are the latest attempt to create affordable housing by removing real estate from the speculative field Advocates held a Social Housing Festival Speak-Out at Foley Square in Downtown Manhattan Tuesday ahead of a City Hall hearing on the bills Photo by Adi Talwar Social housing advocates rallied in Foley Square on Tuesday ahead of a City Council hearing on a package of bills aiming to de-privatize residential properties across the five boroughs The bills would among other things give qualifying nonprofits priority to buy privately held residential real estate that comes up for sale and receive grants to develop affordable housing on executive land They would also establish a land bank through which the city could acquire distressed properties for community benefit The package known as the District Land Act represents the latest attempt to create affordable housing by removing real estate from the speculative arena The New York City Region Land Initiative Coalition says this is vital to ensure the improvement of low-income housing that rent stabilized apartments are properly maintained and that tenants control their communities When you own the land you decide how and what s developed on the land and how it s dispersed out into the group disclosed Debra Ack special projects coordinator at the East New York Public Land Trust a nonprofit that bought a dilapidated rent-stabilized building at Arlington Ave last year and is converting it to co-ops Developers say they re building units but out of those units maybe percent of them will go to very low income people And that s not fair That s total displacement in our neighborhood If distressed properties or city land were in the hands of population groups rather than private developers they would be used for the benefit of the district advocates say The first bill discussed at the hearing was the Community Land for Inhabitants Good Act which was introduced by District Councilmember Lincoln Restler It would require the city to prioritize nonprofits when searching for outside parties to develop affordable housing on masses land When campaigning for the bill Restler mentioned his constituents are generally shocked that there wouldn t already be an incredibly high threshold that ensures that we are demonstrably achieving a populace good every time general property is redeveloped City Councilmember Lincoln Restler speaking at Tuesday s rally He s the sponsor of the Masses Land for Citizens Good Act which would prioritize nonprofit developers to build on city-owned land Photo by Adi Talwar The New York Department of Housing Preservation and Improvement HPD opposes the bill saying the measure would add barricades to an already bureaucratic process and that for-profit developers are not necessarily worse for tenants if there are clear restrictions on how they use the land But advocates cite studies showing that nonprofit developers are almost twice as effective at creating deeply affordable housing as for-profit developers I feel like we keep having the same conversation but we don t seem to be making progress Restler vented in response to HPD s opposition Another proposal introduced by District Councilmember Carlina Rivera is the Neighborhood Opportunity to Purchase Act COPA which would require property owners to review plans to sell residential buildings to HPD before listing them publicly Qualifying non-profits would then have the opportunity to purchase the sites before private developers got a shot The proposal is based on ordinance enacted in San Francisco designed to ensure land is used for general benefit when doable as nonprofits must demonstrate a commitment to affordable housing and public representation as well as ability to pay in order to qualify While the bill has the backing of the majority of councilmembers Council Speaker Adrienne Adams who has the authority to bring it up for a vote is not among its co-sponsors this year though she was in previous legislative sessions Her office announced this is no indication of her level of sponsorship for the measure though The creation and preservation of affordable homeownership and housing continue to be Council priorities a spokesperson for the speaker commented in a report The New York Apartment Association a transaction group representing property owners argues that the bill s time requirements would be overly burdensome and throw the sphere into chaos As written property owners would have to offer buildings to qualifying nonprofits for days before listing them to private developers and would have to give nonprofits days to match any private offers after that If the goal is to help nonprofits buy apartment buildings then let s create a bill that literally helps nonprofits revealed CEO Kenny Burgos in a declaration The other major proposal of the day Int came from District Councilmember Gale Brewer and would create a land bank a establishment corporation that could buy and warehouse land as over municipalities across the state have created It was first proposed over a decade ago and if passed in conjunction with the Population Land for Constituents Good Act would allow the city to more seamlessly funnel properties to nonprofit developers This would also create an alternative to the city s controversial lien sale which took place the same day as the hearing for the first time since the COVID- pandemic Without the land bank liens placed on properties with outstanding debt are sold to the highest bidder who then proceeds with foreclosure rather than managed by the city which could ve helped the owner avoid foreclosure or developed the site for inhabitants benefit Legislators also say a land bank would have enabled the city to purchase properties during the price crash of the COVID- pandemic When you own the land you decide how and what s developed on the land and how it s dispersed out into the society reported Debra Ack special projects coordinator at the East New York Region Land Trust Photo by Adi Talwar If we re able to pass the land bank bill and set it up in a way that it could take the liens that are delinquent and find a way to work with the homeowners to get them right or if necessary transition them to society control or permanently affordable housing then that would be a good outcome stated Will Spisak senior guidelines strategist at the New Market Project a nonprofit leading the campaign Much of the change needed to put housing in the hands of tenants is beyond the jurisdiction of the City Council so lawmakers introduced two resolutions that call on the state to take action too One introduced by Population Advocate Jumaane Williams advocates for passage of a state bill that would require landlords to sell buildings to tenants before third parties The other introduced by District Councilmember Christopher Marte calls for the state to establish a residents authority that could definitely build social housing directly rather than depend on outside developers Every politician talks about Mitchell Lama but we won t get there unless we have the authority to literally build that type of housing and build new community housing announced Marte We are putting the building blocks together through these bills and resolutions To reach the reporter behind this story contact Tareq citylimits org The reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint strategy here The post Social Housing Supporters Revive Push to Boost Nonprofit Group Ownership appeared first on City Limits