City Deal Puts Homesteaders on the Road to Ownership
New Co-ops Will Preserve Affordability, Stabilize Community

For Immediate Release August 22nd
Contact: Marina Metalios, UHAB, 212-479-3300
Peoples Homesteading Coalition: Michael Shenker, 917-297-5594; Ellen Kessler, 646-644-0543

NEW YORK, NY, August 22nd: After more than fifteen years of doing self-financed sweat-equity rehab and repairs, and surviving repeated threats of eviction by the city, homesteading residents of 11 city-owned buildings in the Lower East Side can stay in their homes for good – as co-op owners. On Monday the Bloomberg administration sold the buildings to the not-for-profit Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) for $1 each, a common practice in the city’s drive to reduce its inventory of properties. UHAB, which has acted as an intermediary for three years in negotiations between the homesteaders and the city, will oversee renovations, after which the buildings will be converted to permanently affordable limited-equity co-ops. No taxpayer money will be used in the renovations.

“This means the long-term preservation of low-cost units through homeownership in a neighborhood where there have been so many lost opportunities,” says Andrew Reicher, UHAB’s executive director. “The homesteaders are our partners working to keep the units affordable.” “The residents are a diverse group of people, but what they have in common is a history of putting long hours of physical labor into reclaiming abandoned homes and making them livable,” adds UHAB Associate Director Joe Center, who worked closely with the homesteaders to negotiate this deal.

Limited-equity ownership comes with a number of restrictions on resale and sub-leasing that will ensure the buildings serve as permanent oases of affordable housing. Each of the 11 co-ops will sign a long-term regulatory agreement with UHAB to provide for both continuing assistance and enforcement of all resale, income, and other restrictions. They will also secure loans of several hundred thousands dollars per building to finance needed repairs. This will raise the monthly maintenance costs the residents have paid from the start, but still keep the cost decidedly lower than rents in surrounding buildings.

The landmark decision, which doesn’t cost the city a penny, will provide some stability to this booming neighborhood by allowing people with long-standing ties to the community to remain there. The 11 homesteading buildings, which reflect the distinctive character of the neighborhood, house 236 people, including 36 children. “The residents’ focused efforts have transformed abandoned buildings into 167 units of affordable housing,” says Marina Metalios, UHAB’s Project Director for Development. “The squatters’ purposeful action has resulted in a valuable community contribution.” From Shooting Gallery to Home for a profile of one of the buildings.]

UHAB has three decades of experience helping low-income renters learn how to run their buildings as co-ops, primarily through city programs such as the Tenant Interim Lease program, which allows renters in city-owned buildings to convert to cooperative ownership after renovations and a period of self-management. It was this working relationship with the city, along with its history of commitment to resident control and ownership, that allowed UHAB to play the role of negotiator in this sensitive situation.

The city was receptive and interested in coming up with a creative solution, says Metalios. The plan also received strong support from Councilwoman Margarita Lopez. UHAB has been working with the National Cooperative Bank Development Corporation to arrange financing, and the NCBDC is very excited about the project.