ANHD 2016 Building the Community Development Movement
In August 2011, Wokforce Housing Advisors foreclosed on five hazardous buildings along Kelly Street in the Bronx and then later bought them at auction. The buildings were in serious disrepair and tenants were forced to live in hazardous living conditions. According to the New York Daily News, “The buildings were named among the 200 worst in the city by HPD starting in 2007 and the agency spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on emergency repairs there.”
Now, five months later, Workforce Housing Advisors has successfully closed a $16 million public-private financing deal to bring the dilapidated buildings up to standard. Workforce is currently relocating tenants as they begin the renovation process. Once building renovations are complete, tenants who have long lived in some of the most distressed buildings in the city will return to their homes, while maintaining the same costs of rental as before. New tenants will receive low rental cost benefits. Once the buildings reopen for occupancy, Banana Kelly, a local community group will manage tenant services going forward.
We applaud the collaborative work done by Workforce Housing Authority, the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) and Banana Kelly to help revitalize Kelly Street.