General Category > Hackensack Discussion

Affordable Housing funds

(1/3) > >>

just watching:
I see there was an article about Gov. Christie getting the OK to seize unused affordable housing funds held by municipalities. I was wondering if Hackensack lost any money ?  I was hoping that the city would use affordable housing funds to renovate some tired old apartment buildings, not necessarily new construction.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Christie_gets_OK_to_seize_140M_that_NJ_towns_set_aside_for_affordable_housing_projects.html

just watching:
Christie's move to take $166 million from various cities and towns was blocked by an Appellate Court judge.  That's the last I read.

I would still like to know how much Hackensack is sitting on, how much is in the pot.  There are some older apartment buildings in the city that could be renovated.  It would be a good use of such funds.  These buildings already house people of low income, low socioeconomic status. Fixing up the building would improve the quality of life for the tenants. And if the units could be sold off as owner-occupied affordable housing, even better. Some of the tenants could buy and become owners, and for the rest of the units, other tenants living elsewhere in the city could be given first crack at the units.

In fact, if I were running for the City Council, I would run on a platform of selling off all the family units in the city's two public housing projects, both Newman St/Railroad Ave, and Central Ave.  These are all big units, I've been in a few over the years.  They would make excellent condominiums.  Hackensack has done its share over the last 60 years in providing rental housing that doesn't pay a dime in taxes. Now is the time to advocate home-ownership for low and mid-income people.

itsmetoo:
What would you suggest for the rest of the tenants who are unable to purchase the units?  While they don't pay real estate taxes, they do pay federal taxes from their employment.  Those taxes fund HUD.

just watching:
I personally don't need to suggest anything for the tenants who don't want to buy their units, or cannot afford to do so.

Apartment buildings are converted into affordable housing all around New Jersey, and this is considered to be progress by affordable housing advocates.  Some of the more conservative people are often opposed to the very concept of affordable housing.

My understanding is that the entity in charge of the renovations is required by the State of New Jersey to relocate tenants, and to pay for their relocation expenses.  This is what has been done in other cities.  This is not "my" suggestion, I am just answering your question as to what happens to the other tenants.

Editor:
COAH’s Attempt to Adopt New Rules for Affordable Housing Goes Nowhere Fast
Colleen O'Dea | October 21, 2014
Council deadlocks on vote despite state Supreme Court order that it must come to a decision today

The New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing's inability yesterday to adopt new rules governing the construction of units for low- and moderate-income people has left all sides involved scratching their heads and asking what's next.

COAH was expected to give final approval to controversial regulations -- now 15 years overdue. The council is under a state Supreme Court order to adopt by tomorrow rules governing where and how much affordable housing municipalities need to build to fulfill their obligations to provide a fair share for the low- and moderate-income families and individuals under the court's Mount Laurel decisions.

Housing advocates have been arguing that the rules, proposed last April, are deeply flawed. They call for the construction of about 53,000 new units statewide -- more than half of which should have been built as long ago as 1987 -- and the refurbishment of some 63,000 existing units.

Read more: http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/10/21/coah-s-attempt-to-adopt-new-rules-for-affordable-housing-goes-nowhere-fast/

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page