A 2021 state law aimed at promoting hotel conversions has had a rocky start, only now yielding its first completed project.
A former hotel in Queens will be the first successful project in the city’s slow-to-start hotel-to-housing conversion program, reports Patrick Spauster in City Limits.
The 2021 Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA) finances office conversions, but the complicated nature of the process have discouraged developers. According to project architect Ariel Aufgang, the Baisley Pond Park developers “cobbled together an innovative financing package from public and private sources” to make the project pencil out.
Because housing is legally required to have light, ventilation, bathrooms, stoves, and other amenities, hotels often require significant upgrades. The Baisley Pond Park building’s architectural features, such as the location of the bathrooms, made it a perfect candidate for conversion. “But developers, architects, and nonprofit operators hope that both the financing and the design and construction can be an example for future conversions.”
Read the full story: ‘We Cracked The Code’: First Hotel-to-Housing Conversion Using State Program To Open in Queens
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