The Powerhouse Apartments project will go through the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (Elurp), which will take 90 days instead of the usual 200-plus days required under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
Developers Lemle & Wolff Companies, HELPDevCo and True Development New York plan to add 84 affordable housing units to the 351 Powers Avenue site, which is currently used as a parking lot for the city’s Department of Education.
Voters approved Elurp in November as part of a package of ballot measures aimed at speeding up housing approvals. The other changes include the creation of an appeals committee that can overturn the City Council’s rejection of projects that add affordable housing in one borough and a “fast track” approval process for projects proposed in 12 community districts that have added the least amount of affordable housing. The government recently proposed rules for identifying those districts. The fast track is expected to be available in January.
Under another “fast track” path, the Board of Standards and Appeals could instead approve certain federally funded housing projects.
The Bronx project, planned in a medium-density residential neighborhood, would not require a zoning change but would have to go through the full Ulurp process under previous rules as a disposition of city-owned land.
Under Elurp, the local community board and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson will have 60 days to review the application, which will run concurrently.
Because the project seeks an Article XI tax exemption, review ends with the City Council, which has 30 days to consider the proposal. Other Elurp applications that don’t seek that type of tax exemption could instead receive final approval from the City Planning Commission.
Projects seeking zoning changes may also qualify for Elurp, as long as they increase residential capacity by no more than 30 percent (if located in a medium- or high-density neighborhood) or, if in a low-density neighborhood, do not exceed 45 feet in height and have a maximum floor area ratio of two.
The Powers Avenue project underscores the challenges that even a small, 100 percent affordable housing project on city-owned land must endure, even without zoning changes, ballot measures and other recent changes. For example, the project could avoid environmental assessment via the city’s “green fast track” because it has fewer than 250 units and will be all-electric.
Environmental assessment can sometimes add years to a project timeline, on top of the seven-month Ulurp process. As part of her executive budget, Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed exempting more projects from environmental review.
The project has been in the works for a few years. The Adams administration selected the development team in 2024 after issuing a request for proposals in 2022.
The project also includes 30,000 square feet of community facility space, the PS 65 Mother Hale Academy public school, nearly 4,000 square feet of community theater space and 30 parking spaces to replace existing staff parking.
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