NYC Launches First Affordable Housing Project Under Expedited Fast-Track Review

The first project to utilize a fast-track land use approval process, which was passed into New York City law with a ballot measure last year, has entered review. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced it plans to seek a rezoning for an eight-story multifamily building with more than 80 affordable rental units at 351 Powers Ave. in the Bronx. Approximately 30 of the apartments would be reserved for homeless New Yorkers. The Mott Haven site is currently a parking lot used by faculty of nearby schools, which the city is planning to replace. In addition to 66K SF of residential, the project would create 4K SF of community facility space for a theater and workforce development training center.

Under the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure, the project's rezoning is required to be voted on by the city council within 90 days. Previously, it would have gone through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which the city estimates would have taken roughly seven months. To move forward, the city must dispose of the land to a developer. In November, voters approved a handful of ballot measures put forward by a Charter Revision Commission appointed by former Mayor Eric Adams as a way to create more housing, faster. Development plans for 351 Powers Ave. were first announced in 2022, when the city released its request for proposals. In 2024, Bronx-based Lemle & Wolff Development Cos., nonprofit Help Development Corp. and True Development New York were selected for the project.

The November 2025 charter amendments created four interrelated affordable housing initiatives: a new fast-track process at the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) for certain affordable housing projects; the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP), a streamlined alternative to the traditional Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP); the Affordable Housing Appeals Board (AHAB), a new mechanism for reviewing certain City Council decisions affecting affordable housing applications; and the Affordable Housing Fast Track (AHFT), a program designed to encourage affordable housing production in community districts that historically have produced comparatively little affordable housing.

On May 26, the Mamdani Administration released its housing plan, "Block by Block." The goal is to build 200,000 new affordable homes and preserve another 200,000 existing homes over the next decade. The plan, titled "Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era," commits more than $22 billion over five years. It addresses tenant protections, code enforcement, public housing repairs, zoning reform, homeownership and homelessness prevention.

The plan's centerpiece targets roughly 8,000 new affordable homes per year, leveraging the HPD toolbox. Of those, 30% will serve extremely low-income households. Another 20% will target very low-income residents. Production scales from 14,000 homes in fiscal year 2027 to more than 21,000 annually by fiscal year 2031. The plan dedicates $5.6 billion in a five-year capital plan for the New York City Housing Authority, which serves more than 500,000 residents across 177,000 apartments in all five boroughs. Funds target heating systems, elevators, roofs and mold remediation.

On zoning, the plan pursues citywide transit-oriented development and an Affordable Housing Fast Track. Public review would be capped at 90 days, down from a typical seven months, in 12 underbuilt community districts. Building on the City Charter revisions approved by voters last year, the plan envisions utilizing the new Affordable Housing Fast Track for City-sponsored land use actions in the 12 Community Districts where such Fast Track will apply, the districts calculated as having produced the lowest percentage of affordable housing as a percentage of new housing in the last five years. The Fast Track bypasses the typical ULURP process requiring City Council approval, and thus the so-called "Councilmanic Veto."

On May 13, 2026, the Mamdani administration released the Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development, or "SPEED," report, outlining administrative reforms intended to cut development timelines for certain housing projects by approximately eight months, and by up to two years for projects requiring discretionary land use approvals. The report, created by the administration's SPEED Task Force, focuses on streamlining development of affordable housing, but contains proposals that would benefit market-rate housing as well. The Task Force identified seven initiatives to reduce delays and bureaucracy at four main stages of development. One initiative would reduce the pre-certification timeline for certain land use actions from two years to six months. Another would cut the median lease-up time for affordable housing units from 210 days to fewer than 100 days.

The plan builds on earlier policy changes. State lawmakers lifted restrictive floor-area ratio caps in 2024, scrapping 1960s-era density limits. Then-Mayor Eric Adams followed with City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a sweeping zoning amendment. The reforms reflected a growing consensus that New York City's existing land use approval processes were contributing to housing scarcity by making affordable housing projects too costly, time-consuming and uncertain to develop. As part of an executive order signed on the mayor's first day in office, the city's Land Inventory Fast Track Task Force is responsible for pinpointing city-owned sites capable of supporting at least 25,000 new homes by July 1.