Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy

Last updated
Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy
Founded1995 (1995)
Website furmancenter.org

The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy is a joint center at New York University School of Law and the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. The Furman Center was established in 1995 to create a place where people interested in affordable housing and land use issues could turn to for factual, objective research and information. [1] Since that time, the Furman Center has become an authority on such matters in New York City. [2] The Furman Center has a three-part mission, including providing objective academic research about land use, real estate, housing and urban affairs, with a particular focus on New York City, promoting intense debate and productive discussion among elected, academic, and industry leaders, [3] and presenting essential data and analysis about the state of New York City's housing and neighborhoods. [4]

Contents

History

Michael H. Schill founded the center in 1995. Jay Furman endowed the center in 2000 and the center is renamed in his honor. [5]

Research

The Furman Center is constantly updating its collection of original research on four core issues, including affordable housing, housing finance and foreclosures, land use regulation and neighborhood change.

Affordable housing

The Furman Center produces a report every year called State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods. [6]

Land use

The Furman Center also developed a website called, CoreData.nyc which is an exhaustive planning and real estate resource that contains a database of affordable housing developments across the New York City, along with indicators from the US Census Bureau and other sources to help promote evidence and data-based conversation about housing and land-use issues. [7]

Data services

NYCHANIS

New York City Housing and Neighborhood Information System or NYCHANIS is a database for community development organizations, housing organizations, and the general public. It provides Geographical Information Systems information about housing, neighborhood, and demographic conditions in New York City.

SHIP

Subsidized Housing Information Project or SHIP is a database with extensive information on nearly 235,000 units of privately owned subsidized rental housing in New York City. [8] SHIP was launched on September 8, 2011.

The database details the four types of subsidies for rental units in New York City, including HUD Financing and Insurance, HUD Project-based Rental Assistance, the Mitchell-Lama program and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. [9] The database shows approximately 11,000 affordable-housing units which could possibly expire in the next few years without renewal because they are part of programs that no longer exist. [10] The database is user-friendly, providing subsidy information to both policy makers and the public, especially New York tenants who reside in subsidized housing units. [11]

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) engaged in an ongoing, multi-year partnership with the Furman Center to develop SHIP. [12] The database was launched on September 8, 2011.

Impact and recognition

The Furman Center and the Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) received one of nine grants provided through the MacArthur Foundation's $25 million initiative, How Housing Matters to Families and Communities. [13]

Related Research Articles

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Cabinet-level department of the U.S. federal government in charge of housing policy

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a Cabinet department in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.

SoHo, Manhattan Neighborhood in Manhattan, New York

SoHo, sometimes written Soho, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Since the 20th century it has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variety of shops ranging from trendy upscale boutiques to national and international chain store outlets. The area's history is an archetypal example of inner-city regeneration and gentrification, encompassing socioeconomic, cultural, political, and architectural developments.

Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937, often called Section 8, as repeatedly amended, authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of low-income households in the United States. Fort Lauderdale, Florida Housing Authority Director William H. Lindsey, upon the advice of Housing Authority attorney J. Richard Smith, initially developed 11(b) financing in the early 1970s to accommodate a local savings and loan interested in assisting with urban renewal projects Lindsey eventually brought to fruition. This was the initial impetus for the subsequent development of the now well known Section 8 Program. Of the 5.2 million American Households that received rental assistance in 2018, approximately 2.2 million of those households received a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. 68% of total rental assistance in the United States goes to seniors, children, and those with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development manages Section 8 programs.

Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing." Forms of subsidies include direct housing subsidies, non-profit housing, public housing, rent supplements/vouchers, and some forms of co-operative and private sector housing. According to some sources, increasing access to housing may contribute to lower poverty rates.

New York City Housing Authority Public development corporation responsible for New York Citys public and leased housing

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1935 as the first agency of its kind in the United States, it aims to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments. NYCHA developments include single and double family houses, apartment units, singular floors, and shared small building units, and commonly have large income disparities with their respective surrounding neighborhood or community. These developments, particularly those including large-scale apartment buildings, are often referred to in popular culture as "projects."

Affordable housing Housing affordable to those with a median household income

Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency homeless shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental, to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership.

Mixed-use development Type of urban development strategy

Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some degree physically and functionally integrated, and that provides pedestrian connections. Mixed-use development may be applied to a single building, a block or neighborhood, or in zoning policy across an entire city or other administrative unit. These projects may be completed by a private developer, (quasi-) governmental agency, or a combination thereof. A mixed-use development may be a new construction, reuse of an existing building or brownfield site, or a combination.

Brian D. Montgomery

Brian Darrell Montgomery is an American government official who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2020 to 2021. Montgomery previously served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner from 2005 to 2009 and from 2018 to 2020. Montgomery is the only individual to serve as FHA Commissioner twice and under three U.S. Presidents.

Housing discrimination refers to patterns of discrimination that affect a person's ability to rent or buy housing. This disparate treatment of a person on the housing market can be based on group characteristics or on the place where a person lives.

Subsidized housing in the United States Administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide subsidized rental assistance for low-income households

Subsidized housing in the United States is administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide subsidized rental assistance for low-income households. Public housing is priced much below the market rate, allowing people to live in more convenient locations rather than move away from the city in search of lower rents. In most federally-funded rental assistance programs, the tenants' monthly rent is set at 30% of their household income. Now increasingly provided in a variety of settings and formats, originally public housing in the U.S. consisted primarily of one or more concentrated blocks of low-rise and/or high-rise apartment buildings. These complexes are operated by state and local housing authorities which are authorized and funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 2020, there were 1.0 million public housing units.

The Coalition for Economic Survival, or CES is a grassroots, non-profit community organization. CES works in the greater Los Angeles area in working to influence policy makers to improve the lives of low and moderate income people.

Women in Housing and Finance (WHF) is a membership organization of professionals in the area of housing and finance located in the greater metropolitan area of New York City. Founded in 1981, WHF promotes and supports the professional growth of women in housing, finance and development and provides a vehicle through which members share knowledge and experience.

Housing discrimination in the United States refers to the historical and current barriers, policies, and biases that prevent equitable access to housing. Housing discrimination became more pronounced after the abolition of slavery, typically as part of Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation. The federal government began to take action against these laws in 1917, when the Supreme Court struck down ordinances prohibiting blacks from occupying or owning buildings in majority-white neighborhoods in Buchanan v. Warley. However, the federal government as well as local governments continued to be directly responsible for housing discrimination through redlining and race-restricted covenants until the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Housing trust fund

Housing trust funds are established sources of funding for affordable housing construction and other related purposes created by governments in the United States (U.S.). Housing Trust Funds (HTF) began as a way of funding affordable housing in the late 1970s. Since then, elected government officials from all levels of government in the U.S. have established housing trust funds to support the construction, acquisition, and preservation of affordable housing and related services to meet the housing needs of low-income households. Ideally, HTFs are funded through dedicated revenues like real estate transfer taxes or document recording fees to ensure a steady stream of funding rather than being dependent on regular budget processes. As of 2016, 400 state, local and county trust funds existed across the U.S.

Non-profit housing developers build affordable housing for individuals under-served by the private market. The non-profit housing sector is composed of community development corporations (CDC) and national and regional non-profit housing organizations whose mission is to provide for the needy, the elderly, working households, and others that the private housing market does not adequately serve. Of the total 4.6 million units in the social housing sector, non-profit developers have produced approximately 1.547 million units, or roughly one-third of the total stock. Since non-profit developers seldom have the financial resources or access to capital that for-profit entities do, they often use multiple layers of financing, usually from a variety of sources for both development and operation of these affordable housing units.

McCormack Baron Salazar

McCormack Baron Salazar is a U.S. real estate development firm specializing in economically integrated urban neighborhoods with more than $4.23 billion invested in affordable and mixed-income housing projects. McCormack Baron Salazar provides development as well as ongoing property management services, development financing and tax credit services, and asset management services. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, McCormack Baron Salazar was ranked by Affordable Finance Magazine in 2011 among the top five affordable housing owners in the country.

Vicki L. Been is an American lawyer, public servant, and professor. She is the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Housing and Economic Development and a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She is a law professor at the New York University School of Law and has served as director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

National Equity Fund, Inc.

National Equity Fund, Inc (NEF) is a national non-profit syndicator of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Created in 1987 as an affiliate of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and headquartered in Chicago, NEF is one of the largest non-profit LIHTC syndicators in the United States of America.

Affordable housing by country

Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a median household income as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. A general rule is no more than 30% of gross monthly should be spent on housing, to be considered affordable. for The challenges of promoting affordable housing varies by location.

Open New York Pro-housing advocacy organization in New York City

Open New York (ONY) is a New York-based non-profit advocacy organization focused on addressing metropolitan New York's housing shortage by increasing the rate of housing production in the city and region. Part of the broader "YIMBY" movement, the group advocates for the lifting of exclusionary zoning restrictions and reforms to zoning regulations to enable more residential homebuilding in what it terms "high-opportunity" areas near job centers and transit with high incomes.

References

  1. http://furmancenter.org/about/ About Furman Center
  2. Weiss, Lois (March 27, 2008). "Inclusionary Housing Doesn't Always Help". CityFeet.com. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  3. "NNIP Partner Spotlight". National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership. Archived from the original on 2008-03-16. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  4. "About the Furman Center". The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.
  5. "15 Years of Research, Analysis and Insight" (PDF). furmancenter.org. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  6. State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2005
  7. "CoreData.nyc".
  8. "Press Release: NYU's Furman Center Launches Comprehensive Database of NYC Subsidized Rental Housing: Subsidized Housing Information Project" (PDF). Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  9. "State of New York City's Subsidized Housing: 2011" (PDF). Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.
  10. Kusisto, Laura (8 September 2011). "Database Tracks 'Affordable' Units". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  11. Polsky, Sara. "Cool Map Thing Charts City's Affordable Housing". Curbed. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  12. "NYU's Furman Center Launches Comprehensive Database of NYC Subsidized Rental Housing: Subsidized Housing Information Project". Real Estate Rama. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  13. "NYU's Furman Center and IESP Receive MacArthur Foundation Housing Matters Grant" (PDF). Furman Center Winter Newsletter 2010. Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

Coordinates: 40°43′51″N74°00′00″W / 40.730922°N 73.999868°W / 40.730922; -73.999868