Hochul Signs 3 Housing Bills Into Law, Including J-51 Tax Break Replacement

In a bit of cold comfort following a legislative session earlier this year that left her ambitious housing plans in tatters, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed three new pieces of housing legislation into law on Monday.

In the package of bills is the Affordable Housing Rehabilitation Program, which will replace the J-51 tax abatement, which lapsed last year. The new program allows the New York City government to provide tax abatement benefits for existing affordable multifamily projects, Hochul’s office said in a release announcing the program.

The program, which lawmakers agreed upon in the final moments of the summer session, applies to renovation work finished after June 29, 2022, which was when the previous program ran out, and June 30, 2026.

“In light of New York’s housing crisis, I am proud to sign this legislation, which will allow for the construction and preservation of more affordable, sustainable, and sorely needed housing in New York City,” Hochul said in a statement.

The other bills signed include laws that increase the bonding capacity of the New York City Housing Development Corp. to $19B and one that gives more flexibility for loans and grants to be provided to affordable housing projects.

“This is a big win for all New Yorkers, as we continue to fight the city’s shortage of affordable housing with every single resource and tool available,” New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. said in a statement.

Landlord groups said they endorse the new laws but are still more focused on their pressure campaign to try to undo the 2019 rent reforms that have capped how much landlords of unsubsidized rent-stabilized housing can spend on renovations and pass along via rent increases.

“All we have ever been asking for is for the state legislature to apply the same math and reasoning to private property owners as they do to nonprofits and public housing,” Community Housing Improvement Program Executive Director Jay Martin said in a statement following the new laws' signing. “Math is math. If it costs NYCHA and nonprofits more than $100,000 to renovate an apartment, it costs private property owners the same.”

Hochul had laid out an ambitious goal of creating 800,000 new housing units across the state in the next decade through a plan released in January called the New York Housing Compact. However, the legislative session ended in June without a deal with lawmakers, a major blow to developers, advocates and politicians alike.

In July, the governor used an executive order to launch a program to provide some multifamily developments in Gowanus with a tax incentive that would be similar to 421-a, a treasured tax break that also lapsed last year. 

The expiration of 421-a, inflation pressures and high interest rates have led the number of housing units under construction and in the pipeline to plummet, even as rent prices have soared.