21 public housing projects are currently on hold in New York City because of no funding from the New York City Housing Authority. The city officials state that the Authority has been losing money for years hence making the funding for renovations tougher. To get over this impasse city officials said that the city will sell these projects but to make sure that the property doesn’t fall into private hands the ownership of the land will remain with the Housing Authority.

Marc Jahr who is the president of NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) currently said that Citigroup with another partner had agreed to purchase 13 of the 21 projects. These 13 projects are considered the worst ones available. Citi will take $360 million of the debt and will sell the rest of the debt. It will also invest an additional 200 million dollars or more as equity capital into the 13 projects, which ensures that it will get $255 million of their tax bills.

Mayor Bloomberg while answering questions stated that no one had to fear about being displaced. The land that new developments are going to occupy will always be used for public housing.

The news about the renovation of the projects comes as good news to the city’s unemployed, which are now over 10 percent of the city population. The renovations number into hundreds and thus it will ensure that there will be jobs in the near future for a large number of workers.

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3 Responses to “Citigroup to help rebuild NYC’s Public Housing”

1. Suzie says:

   March 18, 2010 at 7:11 am

   Way to go NYC. All good news for Public Housing. Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg. You are an excellent example to follow. You are a millionaire who cares for his city.
2. Catie says:

   March 19, 2010 at 5:12 am

   Thanks for posting this news — it is the best news for public housing in general and the hundreds of thousands of residents who live in these developments. The federalization of these 21 complexes plugs a huge budget hole for NYCHA and makes these particular developments eligible for continuous federal support — which they never were before. One important correction, though: Marc Jahr is President of the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC), which is issuing the bonds to finance the deal. The Chairman of NYCHA is John Rhea.

   http://www.nychdc.com
3. tlink says:

   March 25, 2010 at 9:49 am

   [...] your first time commenting on Donklephant, it will be held in a moderation queue for approval. …Citigroup to help rebuild NYC's Public Housing | Manhattan Style21 public housing projects are currently on hold in New York City because of no funding from the New [...]