RFPs go out for city's last 248 vacant lots.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan announced that the city is releasing RFPs for new homes to be built on 248 of the last remaining vacant lots in HPD's portfolio and that preference will be given to developers who commit to building more affordable housing than the required minimum. In addition, for the first time, HPD will give first priority to development plans that incorporate environmentally-friendly design in the construction of multi-family homes. HPD is requesting proposals from developers to build more than 3,200 units citywide.

"As housing costs continues to rise and family budgets are stretched thin, it is important that we find long-term solutions to make the dream of homeownership a reality for more working New Yorkers; that we ease the anxiety of seniors who are living on fix incomes and lend a hand to tenants receiving Section 8 assistance," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Giving priority to developers who commit to building affordable housing is a common sense, practical and long-term solution to our City's housing crunch."

The city now owns just over 2,000 units which are currently being redeveloped by HPD programs and 248 developable lots. These vacant lots will become sites of affordable homes in every borough under HPD's cornerstone program, a multi-family construction initiative, the agency's New Foundation Homeownership Program and site-specific RFPs. For a nominal price, most of the remaining lots will become available to developers participating in the RFP process.

Through the cornerstone program, developers may now present proposals to HPD to build apartments on 21 clusters of vacant City-owned lots, including eight clusters in East and Central Harlem, nine in Brooklyn and four in the Bronx. A minimum of 20% of the apartments built must be for low-income New Yorkers.

Under the New Foundations program, HPD is seeking proposals to build one- to four-family homes and cooperative/condominium apartments on 99 sites in 37 clusters of City-owned vacant land in Brooklyn and the Bronx. The new homes will be for New Yorkers with a range of incomes. At least one third of the units developed must be for low-income purchasers. HPD will give preference to proposals that include apartments and homes for moderate- and middle-income New Yorkers. New Foundations proposals will be reviewed jointly by HPD and the non-profit Housing Partnership Development Corporation.

HPD also is accepting proposals to build Arverne East, an 81-acre site bounded by Beach 56th Place to Beach 32nd Street between Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Rockaway Freeway, Seagirt Boulevard and the Boardwalk in Far Rockaway, Queens. The development will include about 1,500 mixed-income homes and cooperative/condominium units, as well as approximately 600,000 s/f of commercial and retail space to be built on a 47-acre development site between Beach 44th Street and Beach 32nd Street. Public amenities will include a 2.5-acre active recreational facility on the eastern side of Beach 32nd Street, as well as a 35-acre nature preserve to be developed between Beach 44th and Beach 56th Place and an approximately 15-acre barrier dune preserve to be developed between the Boardwalk and the development site.

On the north shore of Staten Island, HPD, in collaboration with the New York City Housing Authority, seeks proposals to redevelop existing NYCHA housing at Markham Gardens. The housing currently on the site is obsolete. At least 370 new units of housing will be built, and about 200 current and former residents will have the right to return to the new development. The new development will include rental apartments for low-income senior citizens; rental apartments for existing low-income tenants who would receive Section 8 housing vouchers and mixed-income rental units. In the new Markham Gardens, there will also be homeownership opportunities in 25 or more owner-occupied two-family houses. The City Council has committed $2 million to help make 20 of the homes affordable to existing NYCHA residents.