Ask Comptroller Brad Lander about housing, and it is only a matter of time before he brings up the Gowanus rezoning.
That’s because he sees the 2021 rezoning as a model for other neighborhoods to create more housing while ensuring buy-in from community members. The rezoning opened the door for more than 8,500 new housing units, 3,000 of which will go to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. The rezoning also came with a $200 million investment for public housing upgrades at Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens, as well as $174 million in sewer upgrades.
As part of his campaign for mayor, Lander released a plan that calls for the construction of 500,000 housing units over the next 10 years. The units would be built, in part, by declaring a housing emergency that would allow certain projects to go through an expedited land-use review process. A committee of “randomly selected” New Yorkers who “reflect New York City’s rich diversity” would determine what projects qualify for speedier approval.
The plan also calls for building housing on four city-run golf courses (though the plan would require state approval, and doesn’t specify which four would be developed).
Lander is among the mayoral candidates who have called for a rent freeze this year. The NYS Tenant Bloc has endorsed Lander as its number two choice for mayor, following top pick, Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (who has pledged to freeze rents for stabilized apartments if elected).
I am posing the same five questions to all mayoral contenders, as part of a question-and-answer series that will run in this newsletter. The first featured Sen. Zellnor Myrie.
The five questions in this series are meant to be a vibe check, of sorts, on how candidates think about the real estate industry and its place in the political ecosystem of New York.
What is your most innovative housing idea?
I’ll create 50,000 homes in vibrant, new family-friendly neighborhoods on four of the 12 city-owned golf courses. That’s not a gimmick, that’s a very real proposal. It’ll take building a big coalition, but I know there is one. I want to build 500,000 homes. There are many other things. We need more housing in every neighborhood. We need to streamline the Ulurp process. We need more housing near transit, on a whole range of sites.
What do you think is missing from your opponents’ plans for housing?
Experience, track record. I dedicated my whole career to affordable housing and community development in New York City; between my work at the Fifth Avenue Committee and the Pratt Center, in the Council and as comptroller, I have led the creation or preservation of over 50,000 units of housing. I led the Gowanus rezoning when it was not politically easy. I issued the city’s first-ever social bonds, $2 billion to finance over 12,000 new units of low-income housing. My favorite pension fund transaction was buying the mortgages on the 35,000 rent-stabilized units that were put at risk when Signature Bank failed. I have a long track record and real experience getting affordable housing built and preserved, more than any of my opponents.
How would you describe the real estate industry’s role in shaping policy in New York?
We need to build and preserve an enormous amount of housing, and of course, the people who build and preserve housing have to be at the table shaping policy to do it. There are, of course, other stakeholders at that table as well, and the job of elected officials is to focus on the public interest, work with and listen to all stakeholders and drive the best possible bargain from the point of view of the public interest.
What’s your policy about accepting donations from the real estate industry, and why? .
I want to see a ton of housing get built, and that means working closely with the people who build it. But I also want New Yorkers to know that the goal is defeating the housing crisis. I don’t accept donations from the principals of for-profit real estate development companies who do business in New York City. That doesn’t mean I don’t work with them. The danger of corruption at City Hall is plain for everyone to see. This has been a wildly corrupt administration that not only sold out New York City, but then sold us out to Donald Trump as well. The corruption that got Eric Adams in the most trouble was on a real estate development project. It’s in everyone’s interest, absolutely in the interest of the real estate industry, to get rid of corruption at City Hall. They might think that Cuomo will be in their pockets, but Andrew Cuomo sold them out before. He does whatever is best for him. He is not trustworthy to anyone. He’ll sell out developers, or he’ll sell out tenants, whenever it’s convenient.
Why should folks in the industry vote for you?
They should look at Gowanus. Take a walking tour. Talk to the developers who are building there, talk to the folks who negotiated that rezoning, talk to the planners who designed it. It’s going to be a great neighborhood. It’s also one of the few large-scale rezonings to have the support of its local community board. I’ve got a track record of working together collaboratively to build and preserve affordable housing, and that’s exactly what New York City needs right now.
What we’re thinking about: What will the reboot of the Pacific Park project look like? Will it have more deeply affordable units? Will it actually get finished? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: New Jersey Assembly member Sterley Stanley has introduced a bill that would make hazelnuts the official nuts of the Garden State, per Politico. This isn’t coming out of nowhere. A Rutgers University program has been working on blight-resistant hazelnut trees, with the first batch of cultivators released to growers in Somerset, Monmouth and Hunterdon counties in 2020. Last year, Ferrero Group (responsible for Nutella and the parent company of Kinder, maker of my personal favorite, Happy Hippo) provided the university with a $170,000 grant to help with the research. Because I am also a New Jersey-bred nut, I hope all of this means that more grocery stores carry Happy Hippo candies.
Elsewhere in New York…
— The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Thursday broke ground on its new $10 billion Midtown bus terminal, Gothamist reports. Officials estimate that the project will be completed in 2032 and will ultimately be able to handle 1,000 buses per hour (the current building manages 600).
— The city’s Campaign Finance Board spent $6.85 million to send out voter information guides riddled with errors, Politico New York reports. The board sent out more than 3.5 million guides, which incorrectly described Mayor Eric Adams as running in the Democratic primary (he’s running in the general election as an independent). It also listed several candidates running in a Republican primary, even though Curtis Sliwa is running unopposed.
— In a twist, the Working Families Party may not release its preferred ranking of the four mayoral candidates it has endorsed, City & State reports. The third-party released a survey to its members asking if it should rank its slate of four candidates and, if so, who should be number one. “We only get one shot at ranking, so if we must rank, it must be a well-informed and strategic decision that helps us achieve our goal to defeat Andrew Cuomo,” the survey states.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Thursday was $40.3 million for a 5,761-square-foot condominium unit at 555 West 22nd Street in Chelsea. Shaun Osher of CORE had the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $22.5 million for a 21,530-square-foot office building at 30 West 56th Street in the Plaza District.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $22.5 million for a 3,545-square-foot townhouse at 408 West 58th Street in Midtown West. The Lebel Team at NestSeekers International has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 26,455-square-foot, 37-unit residential building at 2115 Matthews Avenue in Bronxdale. John Backos of GRID Drafting and Consulting filed the permit on behalf of Edmond Haxhari.
— Matthew Elo
