Creates Program to Advance Projects in the Gowanus Rezoning Area Halted by the Expiration of 421-A, Unlocking Thousands of Units of Housing, Including Affordable Housing
Signs Executive Order Establishing Preference for Certified Pro-Housing Communities in Accessing $650 Million in Discretionary Funding
Establishes Requirement That All State Entities Review State-Owned Sites for Potential Housing; Announces Open Requests for Proposals at Two State-Owned Sites That Could Potentially Yield Hundreds of Housing Units
Highlights Initiatives Aimed at Addressing Regulatory Hurdles to Housing Production
Launches Beta Version of Housing Data Dashboard to Share Currently Available Housing Data, Help State and Local Governments Identify Challenges and Track Progress on Housing Growth – Available Here
Builds on FY 2024 Budget Investments in Housing and Governor’s Ongoing Commitment to Making New York More Affordable
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced several executive actions to promote housing growth as part of her ongoing commitment to addressing New York’s housing crisis, largely driven by a severe housing shortage. The actions include a program to advance residential projects halted by the expiration of 421-A that include affordable housing in the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn; an executive order establishing preference in certain discretionary funding programs for localities across the state that comply with a new “Pro-Housing Community” certification process; a new requirement that all State entities identify the potential for their state-owned lands to support housing; recent and forthcoming regulatory initiatives to identify opportunities for greater efficiencies to promote housing growth; and the launch of the beta version of a new, interactive portal to collect and share community-level housing and zoning data and information on an ongoing basis.
The Governor remains committed to developing creative solutions in partnership with the Legislature to help New Yorkers find and keep a decent home that they can afford. These actions build on investments secured by Governor Hochul in the FY 2024 Budget to make the state more livable and affordable for all New Yorkers.
"New York's housing crisis isn't going away, and I'm committed to doing everything in my power to make New York more affordable and livable for all," Governor Hochul said. "These executive actions are an important first step to expand our housing supply and promote housing growth. But make no mistake: to fully address the scope of this crisis, we need action from the legislature — and I'm committed to continuing our work on housing in the coming months."
Facilitating Development of Housing, Including Affordable Housing, Through Gowanus Program
The Governor announced a program aimed at targeting specific benefits and housing obligations in line with the former 421-a(16) program for development proposals currently vested in the expired program in the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn. Proposals would respond to a request for applications administered by Empire State Development. For eligible proposals, Empire State Development would purchase the privately owned properties for a nominal fee, lease the property back to the original owners for a long-term lease term that would parallel the 421-a(16) benefit period, and deed the property back to the original owner at the conclusion of the benefit period. In exchange, the property owner would make payments equivalent to the reduced taxes the property would have paid if it were to complete construction prior to the expired 421-a(16) program completion deadline of June 15, 2026.
Proposals would need to comply with affordability, labor, and other requirements similar to those of the 421-a(16) program and meet certain eligibility criteria, including but not limited to:
- Located in the Gowanus rezoning area;
- Currently vested in expired 421-a(16) program;
- Building capacity of at least 50 housing units;
- Contains affordable housing in compliance with 421-a(16), however participation will require affordable housing units to remain permanently affordable;
- Full entitlement under City zoning and applicable regulatory codes; and
- Ability to comply with Empire State Development’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises contracting requirements.
This program will be presented for approval to the Empire State Development Directors later this week. Each proposal would be subject to a public review process that would include Empire State Development board and Public Authorities Control Board approvals.
In 2021, the New York City Council passed an expansive rezoning covering 82 blocks in Gowanus to build the neighborhood’s capacity to accommodate housing growth. This program represents an important first step to saving housing at risk following the expiration of 421-a by allowing several existing residential proposals in Gowanus that are currently vested in 421-a(16) to move forward, unlocking thousands of units of housing, including affordable housing.
Prioritizing Pro-Housing Communities for Certain Discretionary Funds
The Governor also signed an executive order designating certain discretionary funds as “Pro-Housing Community Programs” to recognize and reward municipalities that actively seek to participate in unlocking their housing potential. The programs will prioritize funding based on a new certification process that will be developed and overseen by Homes and Community Renewal and will be based on factors assessing localities’ success in and commitment to identifying impediments to and promoting housing growth. These factors will include whether localities have committed to taking important steps to support housing, such as streamlining permitting and adopting pro-housing policies, and whether they have submitted critical housing and zoning data to the state to help identify challenges to and track progress on housing growth. Communities that additionally meet annual housing growth targets of one percent downstate and one-third of a percent upstate will receive top prioritization.
To support communities that receive this certification, the Governor’s executive order requires the prioritization of those municipalities who have been certified as Pro-Housing over those that have not in applications for specific discretionary funding programs. Per the order, the following state funding initiatives, totaling more than $650 million, will give special consideration to Pro-Housing Communities by giving their applications additional weight:
- Downtown Revitalization Initiative, administered by the Department of State;
- NY Forward, administered by the Department of State;
- Regional Council Capital Fund, administrated by Empire State Development;
- New York Main Street, administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal;
- Market New York capital grants, administered by Empire State Development;
- Long Island Investment Fund, administered by Empire State Development;
- Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund, administered by Empire State Development; and
- Public Transportation Modernization Enhancement Program, administrated by the Department of Transportation
In addition, the executive order directs New York State agencies, public authorities, public benefit corporations, and related State entities to take into account the goal of creating additional housing in all policy and programmatic decisions.
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