Mayor Adams reveals examples of renovations made at nine NYCHA developments across Brooklyn. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
The project was possible through a conversion to a federally funded Project-Based Section 8 program. On May 20, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator Alicka Ampry-Samuel, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chair Greg Russ and NUCHA resident association leaders to announce the completion of renovations and restorations to nine NYCHA developments across Brooklyn.
Collectively referred to as the Brooklyn Bundle II, the nine public housing developments included are: Armstrong I (371 units), Armstrong II (248 units), Berry Street – South 9th Street (150 units), Independence Towers (744 units), Marcy Avenue – Greene Avenue Site A (48 units), Marcy Avenue – Greene Avenue Site B (30 units), 572 Warren Street (200 units), Weeksville Gardens (257 units), and Williams Plaza (577 units). Combined, the renovations occurred in 2,625 units across 37 buildings and impacted approximately 6,000 NYCHA residents.
New roofs, windows, doors, elevators, plumbing fixtures, and trash removal systems were installed. Apartment renovations included replacements of apartment electrical panels, kitchens and bathrooms and new floors for living rooms and hallways. Each development received new boiler and heating equipment. Solar panels were installed on the rooftops of four of the developments.
The renovations were done through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program, which converts public housing developments to the federally funded Project-Based Section 8 program. The conversion unlocks funding for NYCHA to use for comprehensive repairs and renovations while protecting affordability and maintaining the same rights for residents that they would have in the public housing program. PACT relies on private and non-development partners, who are chosen with resident input. After the conversion, NYCHA leases the developments to the partners, who make repairs and serve as the new property manager while providing community programs and enhanced social services. It is currently estimated that NYCHA would need $40 billion in funding to fully restore and renovate all NYCHA buildings, but only a fraction of that in federal funding, so programs like PACT bridge that gap and help make more renovations possible.
The Brooklyn Bundle II is the fourth major project completed through PACT. The project overall cost $434 million. The PACT program has generated over $3.4 billion in capital funding for over 15,000 households since 2016. Approximately $579 million in renovations have been completed, and $2.8 billion in projects are currently underway or will begin this year.
The PACT partner team for the Brooklyn Bundle II includes the Arker Companies, Omni New York LLC, Dabar Development Partners, and the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.
Mayor Adams stated, “All New Yorkers have the same right to public safety and quality of life, no matter where they live, and today we take one major step closer to realizing those rights for 6,000 New Yorkers. This process only works with residents, front and center, throughout the process, and I want to thank the resident association leaders across these sites for their partnership from beginning to end. Even as this project has delivered the much-needed comprehensive improvements that New Yorkers deserve, it is clearer than ever that we need every tool available to do the same across the city. That’s why the PACT program is essential and why I will continue working closely with my partners in Albany and in public housing, across all five boroughs, to pass the NYCHA Public Housing Preservation Trust and make the improvements that have been promised for years but never materialized.”
NYCHA Chair and CEO Greg Russ stated, “Housing affordability and stability are critical to ensuring equitable communities, and the array of amenities delivered to these developments ensures that more than 6,000 NYCHA residents will have improved living conditions for generations to come. The Brooklyn Bundle II project demonstrates what is possible under the PACT program when multiple stakeholders are aligned for change.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)