Steps Forward for City Affordable and NYCHA Housing

By Brian J Pape, AIA, LEED-AP

Scott has lived in his parents’ apartment since he was a little boy–soon after Chelsea Houses were built in the 1960s. Scott is “cautiously optimistic” about their move into a new NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) apartment, even though they will downsize from the current family home.

The city’s public housing in Chelsea is in the process of a $1.5 billion revitalization plan for the Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton House campuses. Their Hudson Guild Gallery is exhibiting a show called “Unhomeless NYC” to examine ideas about the housing crisis. It runs until April 3. The housing crisis, a vexing issue for decades, is getting worse with increasing homelessness. These two NYCHA campuses have about 3,000 residents, although there is no accurate count since NYCHA does not know how many infants, children, or ‘friends’ reside there.

NYCHA is the city’s biggest landlord in all five boroughs with 400,000 people who call NYCHA home. Nearly 275,000 families were on the waiting list for a NYCHA apartment this year. They have backlogs of repairs that have grown to $60 billion. Lead paint, asbestos, bugs, and heating breakdowns are persistent problems.

Architects and politicians are seeking the expansion of social housing (public or publicly funded housing) and prioritizing projects that mass produce substantial, properly sized homes. Former NYCHA General Manager Gregory Russ emphasized, “There’s consistent underfunding by a whole chain of administrations. I think it’s particularly egregious that in former President Trump’s proposed budget, they zeroed out the capital for public housing.” He added, “RAD (the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program) brings needed private investment and private capital.”

“More good architects should get involved in social housing,” NY-based architect Daniel Libeskind declared in a Dezeen Social Housing Revival interview. “We need creativity to overcome the social housing stigma and we need architects who can invent new ways to create housing that is decent, has dignity, is beautiful, and sustainable within the budgets allowed.”

Many of the existing housing projects were built as experiments with the “tower in the park” urban plan–but with poor quality standards and buildings disconnected from the surrounding city, meaning they succumb to class and racial segregation. Libeskind continued, “The New York City public-housing authority (NYCHA) is beginning to think about a new generation of social housing that would be something beautiful for people.”

“The character of the street, safety, and sense of belonging in the neighborhood – it’s a synergy of all these dimensions that comes together when one really thinks of investing in social housing.” He added, “By creating high-quality housing that people can afford, you can address not just one of the hundreds of people that you’re building the building for, but the entire neighborhood will change.”

Plans for such a change have been presented at public forums, at NYCHA facilities, schools around the city, and at the Center for Architecture on LaGuardia Place. In late 2021 NYCHA teamed with a development group that will offer the first ever combination of new mixed income buildings on NYCHA land with NYCHA buildings, under a program called PACT=Permanent Affordable Commitment Together.

Change can be very hard, so NYCHA and the developers, Essence Development and the giant Related Companies, are first ensuring that no resident will lose their rights or neighborhood in the move. Jonathan Gouveia, NYCHA executive vice president for real estate development, notified all residents that they will retain all their rights as public housing residents, pay rent limited to 30% of their income. Ninety four percent will remain in their buildings until new apartments are complete, while 6% will be temporarily relocated to vacant apartments on campus.

While rezoning and Uniform Land Use Review Procedure applications are in process, there is a “Meanwhile Plan.” Jamar Adams, principal of Essence, noted, “Even while the plans are being developed, Essence is already adding to the residents’ quality of life by providing private security guards on campus, hiring pest control firms, making entry door fixes, and completing numerous in-unit repairs.” Adams explained the process, “A single building will be vacated by moving residents (at developer’s expense) to other campus units. This will allow a new as-of-right building to be constructed, large enough for community facilities on the lower levels, then senior housing units, and other apartments for all who would need to move in from other NYCHA buildings. Once this new facility is settled in, further replacement of other buildings can continue, until 100% of current NYCHA residents are resettled there.” Then, more mixed use and mixed income apartment buildings can be constructed to complete the neighborhood.

The developer’s design team is made up of some of the city’s leading practitioners: PAU-Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, ILA- Ismael Leyva Architects, CookFox Architects, and Determine By Design Interiors.

The new NYCHA buildings will differ widely from existing projects. Manish Chadha, principal at ILA said, “All buildings will have full-time lobby attendants (e.g. ‘doormen’) and secure mailrooms. Kitchens will be larger with dishwashers and washer-dryers in each apartment. Heating and cooling systems will comply with all-electric carbon reduction standards while the units get high-performance insulation and windows.”

Chadha continued, “Buildings will be planned for ADA (Americans with Disability Act)-compliant elevators, more than one for each floor so disabled residents aren’t stranded if one fails. The size and quantity of ADA-compliant bathrooms will be greatly increased. There will even be roof terraces on many buildings.”

The new campus will have more social services and community activity programming, according to Ruchika Modi, principal at PAU. “Buildings will be sited along the sidewalks to better connect residents to the surrounding neighborhoods by using ground floor activation with local grocers, clinics, or other services. There will be open space improvements, with programming and cultural displays. Resiliency will be built in to landscaping and utilities.” 

We know mixed-use buildings and mixed-income neighborhoods produce better health, education, and economic outcomes for residents. That is the goal of this administration and civic-minded New Yorkers, and that is the goal of this Chelsea redevelopment. Nevertheless, it will take a successful completion to convince many that our government is capable of providing caring communities of social housing.