Fall 2005 - Spring 2006 Land Use and Housing Breakfast Series
First breakfast March 9, 2006 
Our Spring 2006 breakfast series began with New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan. Commissioner Donovan spoke about his agency’s efforts to deal with the “expiring use” problem. Numerous federally- and state-subsidized housing developments in New York City and around the country are now at risk of converting to market rate housing as the long-term subsidies and agreements that have guaranteed affordability expire.
Second breakfast April 6, 2006 - Strategies to Preserve the Affordability of Expiring HUD-Assisted and Mitchell Lama Housing
- Marc Jahr, Vice President, Citibank Community Development Bank
- John Kelly, Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
- Deborah VanAmerongen, Director, Multifamily Housing Division, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Emily Youssouf, President, New York City Housing Development Corporation
Third breakfast May 4, 2006 - Alternative Strategies to Preserve the Affordability of Low Income Housing Tax Credit Developments
- Naomi Bayer, Director, New York Partnership Office, Fannie Mae
- Bill Frey, Executive Vice President and Eastern Regional Director, Enterprise Foundation (invited)
- Bill Traylor, President, Richman Housing Resources
- Adam Weinstein, President and CEO, Phipps Houses Group
In fall 2005 our breakfasts focused on the growing tension between opposition to higher density in neighborhoods and concerns about the affordability of housing. Communities across the city and the country often vehemently oppose developments that are built at higher densities than existing uses, voicing concerns about traffic, strains on infrastructure, and community character. Yet others contend that such higher densities represent “smarter growth” and are essential for increasing housing supply and thereby reducing pressure on housing prices.
Second breakfast: Friday, December 9
The Furman Center's housing and land use policy breakfast series continued on December 9. Our panelists discussed the major proposals for resolving the tension between opposition to density on the one hand and affordable housing on the other. These proposals include rezoning of non-residential land such as manufacturing zones; upzoning of underused residential land; and reuse of obsolete facilities.
The breakfast featured three speakers:
- Julia Vitullo-Martin, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Director of the Center for Rethinking Development
- Kathleen Dunn, Executive Vice President for Development, Community Preservation Corporation
- R. Randy Lee, Principal of Leewood Real Estate Group
First breakfast: Friday, November 18
In our first breakfast, our panelists considered the extent and nature of the tension between the goal of preserving neighborhood character and the need to make housing affordable. Three speakers discussed their particular experiences with this tension:
- Don Capoccia, of BFC Partners, who has used higher density to support affordable housing in the Madison Park, Madison Plaza and Madison Court developments in Harlem and the Schaefer’s Landing development on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint waterfront in Brooklyn;
- Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who has led efforts to downzone parts of the West Village;
- Chris Kui, Executive Director, Asian Americans for Equality, and member of the New York City Planning Commission.
Pictured, from left: Don Capoccia, Andrew Berman, Chris Kui.