M II A II R II K
Senior Member
Across the Hall, Diversity of Incomes
September 2, 2011
By MARC SANTORA
Page 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/r...hall-diversity-of-incomes.html?ref=realestate
.....
Ms. Hill, an orthodontic assistant, pays about $500 a month, even though the starting market-rate rent for a studio in her building is $2,950. For her, luxury housing is also affordable housing. In the past, when a developer of market-rate residential buildings included affordable housing in exchange for tax incentives, the affordable units were often put in another complex or even in another borough altogether. In 2008, however, a change in city regulations made it almost impossible for developers to sequester the affordable units away from luxury digs. And as apartment buildings become ever more extravagant, the diversity within the walls of a single structure can be striking.
- Ms. Hill’s building, the Emerald Green, at 320 West 38th Street, is one of dozens to go up under a program known as 80/20 in the last few years, in which people from both extremes of the income scale live across the hall from one another. These projects include Tribeca Green downtown, MiMA and Silver Towers on West 42nd Street, and the Legacy on the Upper East Side. Ingrid Gould Ellen, a director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University, said that although it was unusual to have someone making $30,000 a year next door to a person making $500,000, it reflected a significant change in thinking about how to approach affordable housing. “Over the past two decades,†she said, “there has been a movement around the country to have more income mix within neighborhoods.â€
- And in Manhattan, it is not just neighborhoods that are mixed, but the buildings themselves. In order to qualify for the program, developers must spread the affordable units throughout the building so as not to segregate low-income renters. To help ensure that the affordable units blend in, regulations cover everything from appliance sizes and access to common space, to an equitable distribution of views. Gary Jacob, an executive vice president of Glenwood Management, the developer behind Emerald Green and one of the largest builders in Manhattan, says the effect is to make it difficult to tell who is paying market rate and who is not.
- In addition to meeting very strict financial criteria, which usually means making about $20,000 to $40,000 a year, applicants often have to provide references and credit histories; they are even subject to home visits. The screening is often far more rigorous than the market-rate tenants undergo, and competition is fierce, with as many as 10,000 applications pouring in for every 100 available apartments, according to city officials. Some 60 percent of those applicants fail to qualify from the outset.
- Emerald Green was built under the auspices of 80/20 — through which 80 percent of the apartments are rented for market-rate prices and then are subject to rent stabilization guidelines, and 20 percent are reserved for those making less than 50 percent of the area’s median income, which varies by location and family size, but is in the ballpark of $80,000. More than 20,000 rental apartments have been built under this program over the years, 4,200 of them reserved for affordable housing.
- A dozen city, state and federal programs subsidize housing, and the 80/20 program accounts for only a fraction of all affordable housing. The Bloomberg administration set a goal of creating 165,000 affordable units across the city and so far has created about 125,000. However, in Manhattan, the 80/20 program plays a significant role in the overall rental market since developers say that without the incentives it affords, it would be all but impossible to build new large-scale rental buildings. “I do not believe you can build a 100 percent rental building in Manhattan where you do not do an 80/20,†Mr. Jacob said. To make these projects work, developers say, the market-rate rentals have to command top dollar from the day the doors open.
.....
The Silver Towers, a new luxury building on West 42nd Street, also houses affordable units.
MiMa, another new luxury building on West 42nd Street, that has affordable units.
The Emerald Green, at 320 West 38th Street, is chockablock with amenities, including this well-appointed lobby overlooking a courtyard.
September 2, 2011
By MARC SANTORA
Page 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/r...hall-diversity-of-incomes.html?ref=realestate
.....
Ms. Hill, an orthodontic assistant, pays about $500 a month, even though the starting market-rate rent for a studio in her building is $2,950. For her, luxury housing is also affordable housing. In the past, when a developer of market-rate residential buildings included affordable housing in exchange for tax incentives, the affordable units were often put in another complex or even in another borough altogether. In 2008, however, a change in city regulations made it almost impossible for developers to sequester the affordable units away from luxury digs. And as apartment buildings become ever more extravagant, the diversity within the walls of a single structure can be striking.
- Ms. Hill’s building, the Emerald Green, at 320 West 38th Street, is one of dozens to go up under a program known as 80/20 in the last few years, in which people from both extremes of the income scale live across the hall from one another. These projects include Tribeca Green downtown, MiMA and Silver Towers on West 42nd Street, and the Legacy on the Upper East Side. Ingrid Gould Ellen, a director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University, said that although it was unusual to have someone making $30,000 a year next door to a person making $500,000, it reflected a significant change in thinking about how to approach affordable housing. “Over the past two decades,†she said, “there has been a movement around the country to have more income mix within neighborhoods.â€
- And in Manhattan, it is not just neighborhoods that are mixed, but the buildings themselves. In order to qualify for the program, developers must spread the affordable units throughout the building so as not to segregate low-income renters. To help ensure that the affordable units blend in, regulations cover everything from appliance sizes and access to common space, to an equitable distribution of views. Gary Jacob, an executive vice president of Glenwood Management, the developer behind Emerald Green and one of the largest builders in Manhattan, says the effect is to make it difficult to tell who is paying market rate and who is not.
- In addition to meeting very strict financial criteria, which usually means making about $20,000 to $40,000 a year, applicants often have to provide references and credit histories; they are even subject to home visits. The screening is often far more rigorous than the market-rate tenants undergo, and competition is fierce, with as many as 10,000 applications pouring in for every 100 available apartments, according to city officials. Some 60 percent of those applicants fail to qualify from the outset.
- Emerald Green was built under the auspices of 80/20 — through which 80 percent of the apartments are rented for market-rate prices and then are subject to rent stabilization guidelines, and 20 percent are reserved for those making less than 50 percent of the area’s median income, which varies by location and family size, but is in the ballpark of $80,000. More than 20,000 rental apartments have been built under this program over the years, 4,200 of them reserved for affordable housing.
- A dozen city, state and federal programs subsidize housing, and the 80/20 program accounts for only a fraction of all affordable housing. The Bloomberg administration set a goal of creating 165,000 affordable units across the city and so far has created about 125,000. However, in Manhattan, the 80/20 program plays a significant role in the overall rental market since developers say that without the incentives it affords, it would be all but impossible to build new large-scale rental buildings. “I do not believe you can build a 100 percent rental building in Manhattan where you do not do an 80/20,†Mr. Jacob said. To make these projects work, developers say, the market-rate rentals have to command top dollar from the day the doors open.
.....
The Silver Towers, a new luxury building on West 42nd Street, also houses affordable units.
MiMa, another new luxury building on West 42nd Street, that has affordable units.
The Emerald Green, at 320 West 38th Street, is chockablock with amenities, including this well-appointed lobby overlooking a courtyard.