City may demolish and rebuild two NYCHA buildings in Chelsea: report

The project, part of the Mayor's ten-year plan to resolve $24 billion in repairs, would bring profit to the embattled agency

The city's plans to partner with private organizations to fix NYCHA's problems appear to be underway. Back in November, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced public-private partnerships to repair 62,000 units of public housing; he followed that in December with a 10-year plan to resolve $24 billion in repairs.

Now, according to Politico, officials are considering demolishing two NYCHA buildings in Chelsea, with the intent of rebuilding them in partnership with private developers.

The plan, Politico has learned, includes demolishing the smallest buildings at Chelsea's Fulton Houses, and replacing them with one larger structure, as the value of the land will earn them enough profit to pay for the repairs at the complex (which are estimated to mount to $168 million in five years).

"This is an ambitious plan, and we will work with local elected officials and residents to discuss the different paths to achieve this," Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a spokesperson for the de Blasio administration, said in a statement.

As part of that plan, 70 percent of the new apartments would be market-rate, while the 30 percent remaining would be "affordable enough" for public housing residents.

A source told Curbed that the plan is still tentative and other options are still being considered to address NYCHA's capital needs. The source also said that families that currently live at Fulton Houses won't be relocated unless the plan moves forward.

The project would be part of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) federal program, which de Blasio's administration is currently partnering with to provide $400 million worth of upgrades on nearly 2,400 NYCHA apartments in Brooklyn and Manhattan.