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Real Estate Development Initiatives
NYCHA’s Real Estate Development Department is working to expand housing opportunities for NYCHA residents. The Authority is exploring innovative city, state, and federal tools to renovate and stabilize existing housing, construct new housing, and help residents move into new, modern, healthy, and safe buildings, while unlocking additional housing for more low-income New Yorkers.
Transfer of Assistance
Transfer of Assistance (TOA) gives eligible NYCHA residents a chance to move into non-NYCHA buildings, often brand-new buildings, while maintaining their basic resident rights. TOA is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) tool made available through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
Through TOA, NYCHA and its development partners reserve apartments in non-NYCHA buildings for residents of specific NYCHA buildings. This means NYCHA residents can benefit from new development in their neighborhoods or beyond.
Residents who apply, are selected, and move into an apartment in the non-NYCHA building transfer from the Section 9 federal housing assistance program to the Project-Based Section 8 federal housing assistance program. Residents in the Project-Based Section 8 program have the same rent calculation as in the Section 9 program and retain their basic rights and protections.
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Transfer of Assistance: Expanding housing opportunities for NYCHA residents Learn more details about the Transfer of Assistance by clicking the cover page or links below. English | Español | 中文 (繁體/简体) | Русский |
Infill New Construction
NYCHA owns undeveloped or under-developed land all around the city, and the Authority is working to put that land to use for projects that benefit NYCHA residents and the surrounding communities. NYCHA is currently collaborating with other city agencies and private and nonprofit development partners on several 100% affordable housing developments on or around NYCHA land. NYCHA can use new construction to create units for NYCHA residents, like with the Transfer of Assistance tool outlined above. New construction on NYCHA land can also add affordable housing to the broader community and city while providing benefits to NYCHA residents through public space upgrades and amenities.
Transfer of Development Rights
In some cases, NYCHA can transfer or sell its development rights, allowing private or non-profit organizations to build new housing on or adjacent to NYCHA land. NYCHA can then use the profit from these transactions to invest in existing NYCHA buildings.
Build First Redevelopment
By leveraging its land and partnerships, NYCHA can add more housing for NYCHA residents and other low-income New Yorkers through “Build First” redevelopment projects. NYCHA can construct new buildings to serve as homes for existing NYCHA residents, ensure that everyone has a home to move into, then thoughtfully redevelop existing buildings. This build-first model applies lessons learned from failed past programs, like HOPE VI, by minimizing displacement, while replacing existing NYCHA apartments one-for-one and adding new housing. (See Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era.)
Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT)
Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) is one of NYCHA’s most successful tools for modernizing its aging housing stock and providing a better quality of life for NYCHA residents. The program allows NYCHA to unlock funding to complete comprehensive repairs or build new, modern homes at NYCHA properties. PACT ensures that homes remain permanently affordable and resident rights are fully preserved. Learn more about PACT.
Public Housing Preservation Trust
The Public Housing Preservation Trust is a new State-created public entity working toward the overdue repair, rehabilitation, and modernization of 25,000 apartments under control of NYCHA. The Trust will keep rents capped at 30% of income, preserve all resident rights and protections, fix residents’ homes through capital repairs, and maintain a public workforce. Resident voices are a critical part of the Trust – from resident representation on the publicly appointed nine-member board to resident partnership during renovation projects. Learn more about the Trust.
New Construction and Other Real Estate Projects
In Development
Senior Infill (Kingsborough Houses and Kingsborough Houses Extension)[SK8.1]
• NYCHA is working towards the financial closing for a new 244-unit senior affordable housing development on Bergen Street. In the new building, 85 units will be set aside for Kingsborough Houses seniors through Transfer of Assistance.
• The building will provide a supportive services office, a fitness center, a library, a game room, a computer room, and landscaped roof terraces for residents of the building. The building will also provide a teaching kitchen which will be used primarily by residents of the building and will also host certain public events. Additionally, the building will provide a proposed food pantry, a health center, and an economic development center open to the public.
Affordable New Construction (Oceanside Apartments)
• NYCHA is working towards the financial closing for a new 104-unit senior affordable housing development on Beach Channel Drive. The new building will replace a blighted and vacant retail structure. 8 units will be set aside for NYCHA residents through Transfer of Assistance.
• The building will provide a laundry room, bike storage, a large plaza at the entrance of the development, and a rear yard patio space for resident gatherings. Additionally, the building will include a 3,000 square-foot ground floor retail space facing Beach 53rd Street and a new community facility space for Ocean Bay Community Development Corporation.
1678 Park Avenue
• NYCHA intends to build a 100% affordable housing for NYCHA residents on a private site on Park Avenue. The proposal will build a total of 221 residential units and is anticipated to provide retail and commercial spaces, a gym, community space for residents, parking, and outdoor amenities. Through Transfer of Assistance, eligible households from the following nearby developments will have the opportunity to apply for a unit in the new building: Mitchel, Drew-Hamilton, and Lincoln.
Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea
• NYCHA, its residents, and external partners are currently working on a first-of-its-kind, full-scale redevelopment of Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea Houses in Chelsea. The project will see all 2,056 existing NYCHA apartments replaced with new, permanently affordable apartments for the NYCHA residents currently on site. The apartments will feature modern amenities like dishwashers and in-unit washer/dryers, and the campuses will also include healthcare facilities, community centers, and outdoor recreational spaces.
• The project will benefit New York City and other low-income New Yorkers, too: Approximately 3,500 new homes, including approximately 1,000 permanently affordable apartments, will be built on the site after the NYCHA replacement apartments are completed. More information on the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea redevelopment can be found on the project page.
FHA Homes
• NYCHA owns single- to three-family homes around the city. These homes are challenging for NYCHA property management to steward. NYCHA is working with residents and other stakeholders on ways to improve quality of life in the buildings, including potential pathways to home ownership for residents.
New Construction and Other Real Estate Projects
Sol on Park (Morris I & II Houses)
• In 2026, NYCHA closed on the financing for the development of Sol on Park, a 229-unit senior affordable housing development on Park Avenue. In the new building, 80 units will be set aside for Morris Houses seniors through Transfer of Assistance.
• The building will also provide approximately 8,000 square feet of community facility space, including dedicated spaces for a community health center, an urban agriculture and nutrition education facility, and the Morris Houses Tenant Association.
• Selfhelp Community Services will provide on-site social services, including a social worker in each building, assistance for residents seeking benefits, educational and recreational programming, health and wellness programming, and more.
Lebechi East (Howard Houses)
• In 2025, NYCHA closed on the financing for the development of Lebechi East, a 95-unit senior affordable housing development on East New York Avenue. In the new building, 8 units will be set aside for Howard Houses residents through Transfer of Assistance. The building will also include a 5,000-square-foot community health facility.
• Press Release: December 19, 2025 - NYCHA Closes on Transfer of Development Rights for Lebechi East Building at 1546 East New York Avenue in Brownsville, and For First Time Leverages Transfer of Assistance Tool to Create Housing Opportunities for Existing NYCHA Residents
Examples of Completed Projects
Linden Grove (Bushwick II)
• In 2026, construction was completed on Linden Grove, a 152-unit, 100% affordable senior building on Linden Street. 27 units were made available to NYCHA residents.
• Press Release: April 21, 2026 - Gilbane Development, Blue Sea Development Company, and JASA Celebrate Ribbon Cutting for 100% Affordable Linden Grove Senior Residences in Bushwick, Brooklyn | Gilbane
Melrose North (Morrisania Air Rights)
• NYCHA, HPD, and private partners collaborated on a 171-unit building on NYCHA’s Morrisania Air Rights campus. The building includes 103 supportive housing units for formerly homeless individuals and families.
• Press Release: October 28, 2024 - 171 New 100% Affordable Homes Arrive in the South Bronx
Betances Family Apartments (Betances VI)
• NYCHA, HPD, and private partners collaborated on a 101-unit affordable housing building on NYCHA’s Betances campus. The development provides 101 units of deeply affordable housing, including 70 homes for extremely low-, low-, and moderate-income New Yorkers, 30 apartments set aside for New Yorkers who had previously experienced homelessness, and 18 units reserved for NYCHA residents to receive priority housing.
• Press Release: July 15, 2024 - 101 New Affordable Homes Open in Mott Haven—HPD, NYCHA + Partners Celebrate the Completion of Betances Family Apartments
Casa Celina (Sotomayor Houses)
• NYCHA, HPD, and private partners collaborated on a 204-unit affordable housing building on NYCHA’s Sotomayor campus. The building is fully affordable, and NYCHA residents were given preference for 35 of the apartments.
• Press Release: June 12, 2024 - HPD, NYCHA, HDC, and Partners Celebrate Over 200 New Affordable Homes in Soundview
The Atrium at Sumner (Sumner Houses)
• In 2024, construction was completed on The Atrium at Sumner. The 11-story development – built on underutilized land on Marcus Garvey Boulevard at Sumner Houses – features 132 apartments available to senior households earning 50 percent or less of the Area Median Income (AMI), 57 apartments reserved for older adults who formerly experienced homelessness, and one apartment for a live-in superintendent. NYCHA residents received preference for 33 apartments.
• Press Release: May 23, 2024 - NYCHA, HPD, and HDC Celebrate Completion of Construction of $132 Million Atrium at Sumner Affordable Housing Project with Ribbon-Cutting Event
Have Questions? Contact us!
Email: development@nycha.nyc.gov