Successful strategies for the private development of workforce housing in New York City

Abstract

A lack of quality housing affordable to the average worker near employment centers has long been an issue in American cities where the private production of housing for middle income families is restricted by market forces, zoning or physical boundaries. There are approximately 2.3 million middle income households in New York who earn between 80% and 150% of the Median Family Income who are priced out of market rate housing. These households are forced to relocate elsewhere or spend a daunting percentage of their time and income on housing and/or transportation. The high cost of land, labor and materials are further exacerbated by zoning regulations and entitlement review processes to result in a prohibitively high cost of housing production. Governments across the US and in New York have developed various types of policy strategies aimed at subsidizing development and increasing the affordability of housing. This thesis provides a summary discussion and perspective on the factors that increase the cost of housing production. It then reviews the different strategies utilized in reducing these costs, both nationally and locally in New York. Next it tests each strategy's effectiveness using a case study of a proposed development project in Brooklyn, NY. Finally it discusses the effectiveness of these strategies and proposes additional ideas that could also be effective in reducing the overall cost of housing, aiding in the effort to make housing more affordable to the average worker.