The New York Housing Compact proposes several key measures to achieve this goal including:

• Statewide Housing Targets: To ensure every community in the state is doing its fair share, the New York Housing Compact will require all cities, towns, and villages to reach production targets on a three-year cycle. Downstate municipalities served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) including New York City, will have a three percent target over three years. Upstate, the new homes target will be one percent over three years.
• Facilitate Housing Approval When Targets Are Unmet: After 3 years, localities that do not meet growth targets or do not take steps to implement Preferred Actions, proposed housing developments that meet particular affordability criteria, but may not conform to existing zoning, may take advantage of a fast-track housing approval process if the locality denies the permit. The appeal can be made to a new State Housing Approval Board or through the courts. Appealed projects will be approved unless a locality can demonstrate a valid health or safety reason for denying the application.
• Transit-Oriented Development: The New York Housing Compact will require that localities with rail stations run by the MTA undertake a local rezoning or higher density multifamily development within half a mile of the station unless they already meet the density level.
• Remove Obstacles to Housing Approvals: To expedite rezoning and development of new homes, specific relief from environmental review will be included in the New Homes Targets and Transit Oriented Development proposals. The State will continue to exercise crucial safeguards that prevent environmental harm and ensure that public health remains a top priority.
• Infrastructure and Planning Funds: The New York Housing Compact will make available a $250 million Infrastructure Fund and $20 million Planning Fund to support new housing production statewide.
• Major Capital Repairs: Governor Hochul will propose an updated tax exemption to support property owners who need support for undertaking major capital repairs.

It is worth mentioning that the Compact also includes a provision that relates to the 421a tax abatement program. With the Governor stating "The reality is that we can’t meet the demand for housing without an incentive program like 421a in New York City. Without it, developers will only build condominiums or build elsewhere, which isn’t the outcome we need. To meet our housing goals, we will work with the Legislature on a replacement for this critical piece of the puzzle.”

The Governor also announced that she will propose New York City-specific legislation to reverse an antiquated state law that restricts maximum density of residential floor area, which will help to increase the supply of affordable housing.

Recent Land Transaction:

Queens - Development Site Advisors® on February 1, 2023 Sold “The Titan Assemblage”, A 4-Lot, 16,277 sq. ft. block-through assemblage at 25-56 31st Street & 26-37 30th Street in Astoria, Queens NY for $10.5Million. The sale equates to roughly $215/ZFA and $160/Max ZFA. NO approved plans in place. The buyer was a local builder. The sellers owned the properties for over 50 years. Due to our targeted marketing process, along with our Due Diligence Accelerator Package® we were able to create great interest in the assemblage and ultimately achieve 50 written offers with the end result of two simultaneous contracts out. The ultimate buyer closed in a 30-day, as-is, true all-cash transaction.

421-a 2026 Deadline Chaos + Solution

REBNY (The Real Estate Board of New York) surveyed its members and industry peers to better understand the state of the housing development pipeline in New York City. The survey revealed many projects vested under the 421-a program are struggling to move forward.

Projects vested under 421-a must be built by June 2026 in order to receive the 421-a benefits that facilitate rental housing construction. This means projects unable to be built by that time will likely never be built at all, which would result in the loss of thousands of planned apartments amid a housing supply crisis and the loss of many planned construction and building service jobs as the City continues to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.

Problem:
Approximately 33,000 units across 72 projects are in jeopardy of not being built or completed in time because of the existing June 2026 421-a deadline.

Solution:

From the 2024 NYS Budget: Extend the Completion Deadline for Vested 421-a Projects. Legislation submitted with the budget seeks to encourage completion of affordable housing units in New York City that are vested in the 421-a program. Under current law, in order for a vested project to be eligible for a 421-a tax abatement, it must be completed by June 15, 2026. As the pandemic impacted construction schedules, this bill extends the completion deadline by four years to June 15, 2030.

Key Housing Mentions in the 2024 NYS Budget:

Provide New York City with Tools to Increase Housing. The Budget puts forth several housing proposals specific to New York City to address the outsized impact of the housing crisis in the five boroughs.

This includes legislation to reverse an antiquated state law that restricts maximum density of residential floor area, providing New York City with the ability to allow for denser residential development where officials deem appropriate.

The Budget includes legislation to expand the universe of commercial buildings eligible for conversion to residential use and provide necessary regulatory relief, making an estimated additional 130 million square feet newly eligible for conversion.

To encourage the creation of new affordable housing units in such conversions that would otherwise not be economically feasible, the Budget proposes a new tax incentive.

Office Conversion Tax Exemption Proposal:

A proposal dubbed Affordable Housing from Commercial Conversions, or AHCC, would require 20 percent of converted units to be rent-stabilized and affordable to households earning 70 percent of the area median income, on average. In exchange, developers could nab a 19-year tax break.