(Bloomberg) -- The New York City Council has approved a plan to allocate $500 million and rezone parts of the Bronx to facilitate construction of thousands of new homes as the city struggles to address a gaping housing shortage.
The decision will allow for approximately 7,000 new units across dozens of blocks around new Metro-North rail stations coming to the East Bronx, including 1,700 that will have income limits in place to keep them permanently affordable, according to a statement Thursday. Parts of the area was zoned exclusively for activities like manufacturing.
The city will invest $500 million to improve the neighborhoods by renovating parks and playgrounds and upgrading schools.
New York City is facing its worst affordable housing shortage in more than half a century, with rental vacancies at 1.4% as of last year, while the cheapest housing has an even lower vacancy rate of 0.4%, according to a city survey. Mayor Eric Adams is pushing for passage of rezoning programs to incentivize more residential construction as part of his “City of Yes” campaign.
“Today, the Bronx bought a ticket to the future, creating thousands of new jobs and affordable homes while embracing mass transit,” Adams said in a statement.
The new neighborhood plan will accompany four new Metro-North stations at Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, Hunts Point and Co-op City planned for 2027.
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