The City of New York acting by and through its Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track, which aims to speed up the development process on City-Owned land. The program aims to pre-qualify affordable housing developers for the program, which may then shorten the process for developing 100% affordable housing on City-owned land, as the sites designated through this program will qualify for the City’s Expedited Land Use Review Procedure.
Qualified applicants
To apply for the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track program at this stage, applicants must be either an eligible New York not-for-profit corporation or an M/WBE-owned business. RFQ selection may result in qualified developers being invited to a subsequent competitive process in which the qualified developers may partner with other companies, provided that the joint venture includes a qualified developer with at least a 51% managing member interest.
Further qualification requirements are:
- have at least one principal who has completed new construction or substantial rehabilitation of at least one affordable housing development of 50 units or more within the past seven years
- experience with ECG, LEED, or Passive House certification within the past seven years is preferred
- have a history of cost-effectiveness of past developments and a demonstrated ability to stay within a budget and on a schedule
Note that meeting the above qualifications does not guarantee admission to the program, as adverse legal findings or a history of employment issues may be disqualifying.
RFQ submission requirements
Interested participants can access the application here. A complete application will contain five sections as highlighted below and will require a qualified applicant to provide detailed information about (i) the applicant itself, (ii) their experience developing and managing affordable housing, and (iii) evidence of previous financial support from lenders and/or investors with whom the applicant has worked in the past.
- Section A: RFQ Completeness Checklist and Applicant’s Letter
- Section B: Applicant Description & Reference Forms
- Section C: Residential Development Experience
- Section D: Property Ownership and Management
- Section E: Financial Letters of Support
Key dates for responding to HPD’s RFQ
- Deadline to register for pre-submission conference: April 8, 2026
- Pre-submission conference: April 9, 2026
- RFQ submission deadline: May 8, 2026
If selected, HPD may commence negotiations with an applicant regarding a potential site. Qualified applicants will then be expected to apply for funding through a number of HPD programs, and pre-qualification does not guarantee that a developer will be designated a site for development.
For more information on the content of this alert, please contact your Nixon Peabody attorney or the authors of this alert.