LOWER MANHATTAN — Affordable housing is not so easy to come by in Lower Manhattan — and it may become even scarcer in the coming years.
According to a recent study by Community Board 1, there’s been a 20 percent decrease in the number of affordable rental apartments over the past four years — from 946 to 753 units in 2015.
And, the study shows, that number may continue to dwindle as the rent regulations associated with affordable housing subsidies given to developers — like tax abatements — continue to expire.
The map below charts the 16 buildings where Lower Manhattan’s affordable units still exist, and when they are set lose their affordable status and become market-rate apartments.
Over the next 15 years, more than 60 percent of the existing affordable housing is set to expire, including 250 units of low-income housing for elderly people at St. Margaret's House on Fulton Street, in 2021.
As soon as 2017, the neighborhood could lose an additional 14 affordable apartments from the Solaire, a luxury building in Battery Park City that was required to offer the units as part of its financing.
"As it is now, Manhattan is not an affordable place to live anymore," said Tom Goodkind, the editor-in-chief of the report.
While the numbers seem to keep moving downward, there are new housing developments currently planned, or under construction, that will add at least 122 new affordable apartments to the area in the next five years. High-rise 22 Thames, expected to open in 2017, will offer 88 units of affordable rentals.
There's also the possibility that the city can try to preserve the units whose rent regulations are expiring by offering new tax incentives to the building owner.
"It's a strange system, having the affordable units in these luxury towers," said Goodkind. "It would great to get an affordable housing tower built in Lower Manhattan."
To see the full CB1 report, click here.
