The State Division of Housing and Community Renewal is moving its Bronx borough office from Halsey Street to 1 Fordham Plaza, 4th floor, on September 1st. September 1st is also the date when new RA-79 forms will be required for Major Capitol Improvement rent increase applications.
A new Midtown East rezoning plan was issued Monday, continuing a push begun by former Mayor Bloomberg to preserve, update and expand the office area. Under the proposal, according to the Planning Department, projected development in the 78 block area over the next 20 years would change from 163 apartments and 6.8 million square feet of office space to 119 apartments and 13.4 million square feet of office space.
An analysis of benchmarking reports for 2010-2013, released Wednesday, showed a 5 percent reduction in multifamily energy use vs. 11 percent for commercial buildings…not adjusting for reductions in use due to Hurricane Sandy. As noted in prior studies, older multifamily buildings, thru the 1930s, used less energy and buildings from the 1970s were the worst energy hogs.
Governor Cuomo, Monday, designated 12 new Brownfield Opportunity Areas around the State, including 462 acres in the Cypress Hills/East New York area of Brooklyn, where there will be incentives for housing development.
In a move with implications for local neighborhood preferences in affordable housing in New York, HUD has rejected local preferences under a San Franciso city ordinance. The theory is that local preferences benefit whatever race is prevalent in the neighborhood already, and discourage integration.