New York City Department of Housing, Preservation and Development

Rehabilitation and Disposal of City-Owned Buildings

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development rehabilitates deteriorated and abandoned buildings that are obtained through tax foreclosures, and sells these buildings to not-for-profit organizations and other entities for use as rental housing. We examined the effectiveness of this process and found that a number of improvements could be made. For example, many of the buildings are not returned to private owners for ten or more years, during which time they must be maintained at City expense. We also found that contractors for rehabilitation work could be selected in a more competitive manner, the qualifications of certain buyers could be evaluated more effectively, and the status of the buildings in rehabilitation could be monitored more closely. We make several recommendations for improving the building rehabilitation process.

For a complete copy of Report 99-N-5 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.