$366 Million in Investments Coming to Four NYCHA Developments in Chelsea
On December 1, NYCHA and resident leaders for Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton Houses announced the selection of Essence Development and The Related Companies as the development team that will deliver comprehensive building and apartment upgrades for nearly 4,500 residents living in more than 2,054 apartments at four NYCHA campuses: Chelsea, Chelsea Addition, Elliott, and Fulton Houses in Manhattan. The development team’s proposal achieves the recommendations of the Chelsea NYCHA Working Group and was evaluated by members of a Resident Review Committee, which was created to review developer proposals, interview candidates, and work with NYCHA to select the finalist team. With the development team now in place, NYCHA will continue to work closely with residents, resident association leaders, and partners to create detailed rehabilitation, property management, and social services plans, as well as promote job opportunities and enhance resident amenities and programs.
“PACT is a critical component of the City’s strategy for fundamentally improving the quality of life for public housing residents,” said New York City Deputy Mayor Vicki Been. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of an innovative and extensive collaborative process of working together with residents and other stakeholders to craft a plan to achieve beautifully renovated homes in a safe and welcoming development, and to address residents’ concerns about the changes necessary to both secure these renovations and ensure that their homes are permanently affordable, and well managed and maintained.”
“Today’s selection is the latest milestone in delivering meaningful, quality-of-life apartment upgrades and public space improvements to residents of these developments,” said NYCHA Chair & CEO Greg Russ. “This work is only beginning, and we look forward to continuing to engage with the many stakeholders involved in this process.”
“I am incredibly proud of the Chelsea Working Group for our collaboration and determination to identify a partner that will most effectively meet our communities’ needs and improve our lives,” said Darlene Waters, President of the Elliott-Chelsea Houses Tenant Association. “Our voices have guided the conversation throughout the entire recommendations and RFP [request for proposals] processes. Bringing NYCHA residents to the table to make decisions gives us dignity, the power of choice, and autonomy over our homes.”
“Residents should remain central to every decision that NYCHA makes for its properties, and today we are honored to be part of a group that drove each step of the decision-making process to make a substantial, lasting impact on our communities,” said Fulton Houses Tenant Association President Miguel Acevedo. “We look forward to partnering with Essence and Related Companies to address urgent concerns, long overdue repairs, and critical infrastructure upgrades for our homes.”
“The Authority is continually looking for ways to incorporate the input and feedback of public housing residents when it comes to the changes they would like to see on their campuses and in their communities,” said NYCHA’s Executive Vice President of Real Estate Development Jonathan Gouveia. “The selection of these partners fully meets the thoughtful recommendations provided by the Chelsea Working Group and will allow us to significantly address the full gamut of capital and community needs at these sites.”
“Through the NYCHA PACT program, we are committed to protecting New York City’s public housing residents by providing comprehensive repairs, in addition to guaranteed affordability and tenant protections. This latest undertaking will bring critical improvements to more than 2,000 homes across 18 public housing buildings in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, in addition to much-needed supportive services and job opportunities,” said NYC Housing Development Corporation President Eric Enderlin. “I applaud NYCHA, the Chelsea Working Group, and the development teams for their dedication to ensuring a better quality of life for the residents of Fulton,
In October 2019, Mayor de Blasio, NYCHA leadership, and several elected officials announced the formation of the Chelsea NYCHA Working Group – a body comprised of residents, legislators, community representatives, and housing and legal organizations – to study different options available for modernizing the Fulton, Chelsea Addition, and Elliott-Chelsea developments. In February 2021, the Working Group published a set of recommendations to fund comprehensive repairs, while continuing to ensure that resident rights are protected, and residents remain deeply engaged in the planning process.
Among other strategies to raise revenue for repairs, the Working Group recommended that the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea developments be included in NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together Program, or PACT, and identified appropriate locations and design guidelines for mixed-use redevelopment. NYCHA issued a request for proposals (RFP) in April 2021 to identify qualified developers, general contractors, and property managers who will partner with NYCHA and resident leaders to plan for and implement the improvements. Construction is expected to begin in 2023.
The Citizens Housing and Planning Council, a non-profit research and education organization, served as facilitator of the Resident Review Committee, which consisted of 10 resident leaders from across the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea campuses who reviewed and interviewed prospective development teams about the proposed building upgrades, management practices, sustainability and design features, and plans to enhance social services.
Essence Development, a minority-owned business enterprise (MBE), will serve as the lead on this project and is an equal partner with Related as co-developer. Related will also serve as the general contractor and property manager. Their proposal will result in the comprehensive modernization of the Chelsea NYCHA developments, including:
- Rehabilitating all apartments by providing new kitchens, bathrooms, floors, and windows;
- Upgrading all buildings, including façades, roofs, expanded lobbies, hallways, and stairwells;
- Replacing or upgrading all building systems, including boilers and domestic hot water heaters, plumbing, ventilation, and elevators;
- Improving all public spaces, including landscaped areas, playgrounds and plazas, lighting, and community centers; and
- Enhancing security and integrated pest management.
Per the Working Group recommendations, the development team will replace the aging district steam heating system, which is prone to frequent outages, with new hydronic boilers in each of the properties’ 18 residential buildings. New emergency back-up generators will also be installed on all rooftops, and buildings will be dry flood-proofed.
The development team also proposes to build a new mixed-use residential building on the site of the existing Hudson Guild Elliott Center. In keeping with the Working Group recommendations, this component of the project will create a new, state-of-the-art facility for Hudson Guild of equal size and with the same types of spaces as the existing facility, as well as approximately 110 new apartments – half of which will be permanently affordable. The new facilities will also house a 14,000-square-foot community health center at Elliott Houses, and new retail space and a satellite primary care center will also be created at Fulton Houses.
Consistent with the Working Group recommendations, no new construction will begin until the full rehabilitation of all existing buildings is completed.
The selected team will work with NYCHA and resident leaders to identify a non-profit social services provider who will deliver enhanced social services and programs for residents of Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton Houses, with funding provided through the PACT program. These services will complement the programs that will continue to be offered by Hudson Guild at the community centers.
The selected PACT team will use the Rental Assistance Demonstration program to transition operating subsidy to the Project-Based Section 8 program and finance the 20-year capital needs at each development. NYCHA will continue to own the land and buildings, administer the Section 8 subsidy, set rents, manage the waitlist for vacant apartments, and monitor conditions at the development. The New York City Housing Development Corporation, New York City’s municipal housing finance agency, is the financing partner for PACT.
The PACT program has generated more than $1.7 billion in comprehensive apartment renovations and building infrastructure improvements to date for more than 9,500 households, with $1.2 billion in major upgrades underway and approximately $579 million in renovations that have already been completed. An additional 21,900 households are part of active development projects in the process of resident engagement or pre-development. In sum, NYCHA has more than 32,000 units completed, in-construction, or in a stage of resident engagement or pre-development.
For more information about upcoming PACT meetings, residents can call NYCHA at (212) 306-4036 or email pact@nycha.nyc.gov.
