After an apartment building failed to sell its units at market rate, it was sold to a nonprofit that rents the units exclusively to housing voucher recipients.
A New York city luxury apartment building is now available to housing voucher recipients as a result of low demand for its units at market rate.
As Patrick Spauster explains in City Limits, “In 2024, the Jay Group listed one-bedroom apartments in the building for $2,500 to $3,000 a month, and as much as $4,000 for three-bedroom units. But after the developers realized their luxury building didn’t have the demand they expected, they sold it to a nonprofit.”
The project is part of a new program from the Department of Social Services (DSS) called Affordable Housing Services that underwrites affordable housing 100 percent dedicated to people coming out of the shelter system. “Over 60,000 households, comprising 136,000 people, are currently leased up with a CityFHEPS voucher; they typically pay a third of their income on rent, with the subsidy covering the rest. From July 2024 to June 2025, 37,500 New Yorkers entered the program, more than any year on record, according to DSS.”
City officials hope the program will make it easier for voucher recipients to find housing, which can take roughly 10 months on average, by setting aside units specifically for them. The program will acquire new buildings as well as restore distressed buildings. “It has yet to be used to finance construction itself—to build for the explicit purpose for housing voucher holders. But officials wouldn’t rule it out as they try to grow the program.”
FULL STORY: This Building Was Supposed to be Luxury Apartments. Now It Will House 183 Families From Homeless Shelters
NYC expands housing vouchers by $175M in new budget
Mayor Mamdani agreed to drop an Adams-era lawsuit that attempted to block the expansion of the voucher program.
Federal cuts to voucher program put 9,000 New Yorkers at risk of homelessness
The Emergency Housing Voucher program is ending years ahead of schedule, forcing housing agencies to find new ways to support roughly 70,000 households nationwide.
New York City Issues Nearly All Its Housing Vouchers
After a slow start to the program, the city has distributed 91 percent of the housing vouchers issued through the American Rescue Act. Now housing agencies must help recipients actually find housing.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association