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Affordable housing at 5 World Trade Center approved by state board
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Jul 27, 2023
Modified Jul 27, 2023
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Rendering/Silverstein Properties
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Jul 27, 2023
Modified Jul 27, 2023
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Nearly 400 units of a housing development planned at 5 World Trade Center will be available below market rate after the proposal was approved by state authorities, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday.
A third of the 1,200 homes planned for 5 World Trade Center — the first housing built on the site since the 9/11 will be reserved for moderate- to low-income residents, Hochul said at a press conference in Lower Manhattan. The state owns a vacant parcel of land at the skyscraper complex, which is poised for development next year. Final approval from the state Public Authorities Control Board, which signs off on project financing for a slate of public authorities, came on Thursday morning.
Twenty percent of the affordable units will be designated with a preference for survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks who lived or worked in the area — including first responders and people who assisted with cleanup in its aftermath.
“A family of three — a single mom who’s a new teacher, someone who’s starting out as a firefighter, a police officer. Those starting salaries make them eligible to be able to live in the community that they protect,” Hochul said.
A coalition of housing advocates, some of whom lived in the area during the attacks, pushed for 100% of new units to be earmarked for low- to middle-income residents. They expressed disappointment this spring when other state authorities approved far fewer affordable residences — with 30% of units designated affordable, up from 25% proposed by developers.
Some criticism around it not being a fully affordable proposal lingered Thursday.
The site will be developed and funded with $60 million from the state and $5 million from the Battery Park City Authority, Hochul said.
“I say that 1,200 units, one-third of them affordable, is far better than no outcome at all,” Hochul said on Thursday. “We figured out the formula because we didn’t walk away. We walked toward each other.”
The proposal allows for more affordable units overall, increasing the share from 25% of units being income-restricted to 33%. An earlier plan had a lower income eligibility — 40% to 80% of the area median income. The approved plan expands that range to between 40% and 120% of AMI. That means a single person earning between $39,560 and $118,680 will be eligible — for a family of three, the range is $50,840 and $152,520, according to the federal government’s calculations of average incomes for New York City.
Interest in affordable housing at that location emerged as a surprise political test for candidates vying for a competitive House seat in the 10th Congressional District, with several major contenders at the time — including then-candidate Dan Goldman, who now represents the district — expressing support.
Hochul has made housing affordability central to her administration’s agenda this year, though her efforts, including a since-defeated bid to mandate the creation of more affordable housing in the suburbs, have seen major setbacks.
This story has been updated to correct the percentage of units that will be income-restricted as well as the income ranges that define eligibility.
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Michelle Bocanegra
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