It may have taken a long time to get here, but it is encouraging to see city council members who traditionally have opposed large-scale housing developments beginning to approve them as the housing crisis in New York is at a fever pitch. The single most important thing we can do to keep the New York area economically competitive is to build housing, and collaboration among politicians, developers, and residents is necessary to move forward. While it will take more than the approval of a few projects to move the needle on housing in New York, the changing dialogue among stakeholders is a promising signal that more housing may finally be coming.
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Signs of Moving to Yes on Housing Development in NY?
Many housing advocates and more moderate Democrats, including President Biden and Mayor Adams, have called for a broad effort to build more housing as people nationwide struggle with homelessness and affording decent homes. Leaders in other parts of the country, like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, have more aggressively put in place policies to encourage the construction of housing and overcome resistance from local officials and activists. The openness to more development among some in left-leaning circles in New York may signify that the political momentum behind the pro-housing movement is growing and may foreshadow significant changes to the city’s landscape. There is a shortage of homes available to a wide range of income levels, though the problem is most acute for lower-income New Yorkers. The New York metropolitan area needed more than 340,000 additional homes in 2019.
As lenders and borrowers try to get creative in working through ongoing distress in the real estate market, especially in certain asset...