Though “only” a borough, Brooklyn boosters like to point out that it is, from a population standpoint, America’s third largest city, with more than 2.7 million residents and growing.
So, it should come as no surprise that Brooklyn, like big cities across the state and nation, is on the front lines of the affordable housing shortage. Borough-wide, it has just about 1 million available units and 320,000 rent-burdened households are feeling the pressure of the housing crunch.
The best and most obvious approach to solving the acute shortage of affordable housing is to build more housing. Following a presidential election that is certain to change federal housing and tax policies, it is critical that we redouble our efforts at the state level to incentivize development and remove obstacles that currently make New York one of the most expensive places to build.
This must be a collaborative effort that includes all stakeholders in the public and private sectors. Affordable housing developers across the city are doing their part, finding creative ways to repurpose existing structures, converting offices, hospitals, and churches into residential spaces. These adaptive developments are proof that – with a little imagination – we can create new housing opportunities even in spaces once thought to be beyond the reach of housing developers.
Across New York City – including right here in Brooklyn – there are long-vacant industrial sites that offer an untapped market to address both the housing and economic needs of our communities. Many of these formerly industrial buildings are sitting idle, just waiting to be repurposed into housing and mixed-use developments that can again contribute to the local economy.
For an example of how this can work, look no further than the Bridge Rockaway project. Co-developed by The Bridge and Mega Development in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the $118 million project reimagined an old chocolate syrup factory into a groundbreaking mixed-use facility that combines 174 affordable housing units with 39,000 square feet of light industrial space.
Above the industrial workspaces, which house light manufacturing businesses, rise two residential towers for low- and moderate-income residents, including 87 units set aside for veterans, seniors, and formerly homeless individuals.
This type of mixed-use development represents the kind of forward-thinking solutions to the affordable housing crisis that we will need more of in the coming year – particularly at a time when Brooklyn’s median asking rent has risen three times higher than the citywide average.
The Bridge Rockaway development was recently recognized as The Downstate Project of the Year by the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH). The organization annually honors the top advocates, partners, and developers dedicated to catalyzing innovative solutions to expand housing affordability.
The type of innovation displayed by the Bridge Rockaway project is a model we should look to replicate in all five boroughs. New York City is ripe for this kind of development. Recent reports indicate that the city has 95 million square feet of vacant office space – enough to fill 30 Empire State Buildings – while the amount of industrial real estate inventory in the New York metropolitan area has increased to a staggering 887 million square feet, with vacancy rates growing every year.
Reimagining that space to drive the creation of affordable housing where possible can help solve multiple of our communities’ problems at once—creating affordable homes and jobs, while breathing new life into once-neglected areas. City zoning rules and regulations and state policies need to be updated with this in mind.
As we continue to search for solutions to New York’s housing crisis, we should look to the success of Bridge Rockaway—proving to all of us that with the right vision, we can continue to create sustainable communities where affordable housing and local economic growth go hand in hand.
Jolie Milstein is president and CEO of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.
