Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2017
CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov

NYCHA UNVEILS NEXTGEN NEIGHBORHOODS SITE AT COOPER PARK HOUSES TO PROVIDE OVERDUE REPAIRS FOR RESIDENTS AND NEW COMMUNITY FEATURES

NextGen Neighborhoods not only seeks development proposals that create much needed affordable housing in the City, but also to generate revenue as the Authority faces critical budget shortfalls.

The site at Cooper Park is currently a parking lot that will be relocated to ensure no impact to residents.

NYCHA is launching extensive resident engagement to not only make residents aware of the new building but to bring their concerns into the process, identify repair priorities, and inform the creation of a future Request for Proposals to develop the site.

Rendering of development site


NEW YORK –– Today, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced that the newest addition to the NextGeneration (NextGen) Neighborhoods program will be located at Cooper Park Houses in Brooklyn. NextGen Neighborhoods will activate this site to raise millions of dollars for repairs at Cooper Park and at other NYCHA developments across the City while allowing for the creation of new affordable housing.

Extensive resident engagement at Cooper Park Houses will now begin to inform the release of a future joint Request for Proposals (RFP) between NYCHA and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The future development will have 50% affordable and 50% market-rate housing. While NYCHA faces increasing financial uncertainty from the federal government, the Authority has committed to preserving its public housing stock and creating new affordable housing opportunities for the City’s low-income residents.

“The expansion of NextGen Neighborhoods is an important step forward, moving NYCHA closer to our goal of creating safe, clean, and connected communities for all residents,” said NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye. “NextGen Neighborhoods raises desperately needed money for NYCHA and creates affordable housing for the City. Residents at Cooper Park Houses will benefit from overdue repairs and new community resources to improve their quality of life.”

“NYCHA is a critical partner as we work towards addressing the City's housing crisis,” said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer. “Community engagement ensures this development will both serve existing residents as well as strengthen the neighborhood. We look forward to working together to expand housing opportunities at Cooper Park Houses while charting a more sustainable future for the Authority”

NYCHA has committed to continuing to provide affordable housing for future generations of New Yorkers and must look to new sources of revenue to ensure the longevity of the Authority. The Authority is facing $17 billion in infrastructure needs throughout its portfolio. At Cooper Park Houses, there is $59 million in capital needs alone. To tackle this ongoing funding crisis, the Authority launched NextGeneration NYCHA to secure the financial future of public housing in New York City and to reset the relationship with residents to better provide for the one in 14 New Yorkers who rely on NYCHA.

Part of NextGeneration NYCHA, the Authority’s 10-year strategic plan to repair and rebuild public housing to improve residents’ quality of life, is to create or preserve 10,000 affordable units. To achieve this goal, NextGen Neighborhoods builds mixed-income housing on underused NYCHA land. This will generate critical revenue for repairs and create more affordable housing.

No NYCHA funds will be used to build the development, and 50 percent of the revenue will be reinvested back into Cooper Park Houses for infrastructure repairs. The other 50 percent will be invested throughout NYCHA.

In connection with its development activities, NYCHA has created a model for community engagement that is unprecedented and will be employed at Cooper Park. Engagement is incorporated into the process from the very beginning. NYCHA will be knocking on resident doors, holding lobby meetings and general community meetings and making every effort possible to reach each resident to ensure NYCHA has their input. The Authority is also working with a new digital engagement website, CoUrbanize, for residents to ask questions, provide their thoughts and receive the most up to date information. This resident input will inform NYCHA’s agenda before the release of the Request for Proposals (RFP) in Spring 2018. Through this extensive community engagement process, resident input will inform the social services offered, community spaces included and general design visions.

NYCHA will retain ownership of the land through a long-term ground lease. Developers will be required to train and hire public housing and low-income residents and proactively engage NYCHA residents on a regular basis as the project moves forward. Rents will be stabilized in the completed properties, and NYCHA residents will have a preference for 25% percent of the affordable housing units.

The site at Cooper Park Houses helps achieve NYCHA’s goal to rebuild, expand and preserve public and affordable housing, but it also advances the goals of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Housing Plan to create and preserve 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. NYCHA has announced three previous NextGen Neighborhood sites, La Guardia Houses, Wyckoff Gardens and Holmes Towers.

Located between Debevoise Avenue and Morgan Avenue, the site is currently a parking lot and all NYCHA permit holders parking will be relocated elsewhere at Cooper Park Houses. No residents at Cooper Park will be moved from their homes or see changes in their rents. NYCHA is committed to minimizing any impacts to residents.

The education and engagement period is beginning and will run throughout the development process. The Authority will release an RFP in the Spring, and the selection of a developer is expected by the end of 2018.

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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

NYCHA’s mission is to increase opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers by providing safe, affordable housing and facilitating access to social and community services. More than 400,000 New Yorkers reside in NYCHA’s 328 public housing developments around the five boroughs, and another 235,000 receive subsidized rental assistance in private homes through the NYCHA-administered Section 8 Leased Housing Program. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nycha and for regular updates on NYCHA news and services, connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCHA and www.twitter.com/NYCHA.