City kicks off drive to breathe new life into rundown homes.

The city this week unveiled a new drive to develop dilapidated and vacant Housing Authority properties into low-income housing.

Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan and New York City Housing Authority Chairman Tino Hernandez announced the citywide initiative that implements a key component of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's housing plan to fund the rehabilitation and construction of apartments and homes for 200,000 New Yorkers.

"To address New York City's housing shortage, we are looking at all available land and buildings in both our own portfolio and the holdings of other public sector partners like the NYC Housing Authority," said HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan. "Transforming this inventory of currently dilapidated buildings and empty lots into much needed affordable housing will help us realize the Mayor's ambitious housing plan."

By tapping underutilized sites in the portfolios of other landholding public agencies, the city expects to create significant additional affordable rental and ownership opportunities.

The occasion for the announcement was the start of a $27 million development in the University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, where a combination of rehabilitation and new construction will create 210 rental apartments.

The development is being largely funded by a third NYC housing entity, the Housing Development Corporation. Thirty-five percent of the University Macombs Apartments will be reserved for homeless families and NYCHA tenants. Tenants for the remaining 65% will be selected through an HPD-supervised lottery.