Trump’s HUD pick says localities should look at their zoning, but ultimately local leaders know best.
This month, senators joked around about Scott Turner’s football career, and asked how he hoped to steer the Department of Housing and Urban Development at a time when many Americans are struggling to find affordable housing.
There doesn’t seem to be too much crossover between being a cornerback and leading a federal housing agency, but Turner also recently worked for a Texas-based affordable housing developer. He also served in the previous Trump administration, heading a council focused on Opportunity Zones.
During his confirmation hearing, Turner agreed that restrictive zoning hinders development. The power to change zoning lies with localities.
“Permitting fees, inspection fees, zoning difficulties on a local level, every locality is unique in their needs, but these are some of the things that we see as developers and builders that are hindering developers from building affordable and workforce housing,” Turner said, in response to a question from Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota.
But he emphasized deregulation as a major avenue for cutting costs, mentioning a new Environmental Protection Agency regulation that phases out hydrofluorocarbons, a refrigerant used in HVAC.
Turner said he wants to encourage localities to look at their zoning, but does not want to “force or mandate” such introspection. It doesn’t seem that “encourage” includes ramping up funding to ease affordable housing construction, however.
When Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked Turner if he would support providing additional funding to a grant program available for states and localities to build affordable housing, Turner emphasized the need to get HUD’s “fiscal house in order” and maximize existing investments.
Turner mentioned the need to bring interest rates, inflation and the cost of building materials down. That last one might be difficult for at least some building materials, given Trump’s plans for tariffs.
The potential conflicts don’t end there. Last week, Trump issued an executive order directing all executive departments to pursue action that would “lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply.”
Changing local zoning to allow for more housing is a key way to expand housing supply. And of course, ramping up supply is a key way of bringing down pricing. Pro-housing groups have pointed out that incentives for building housing are not enough to build at scale — federal encouragement to lift restrictive zoning, without dangling dollars, likely wouldn’t do better.
Republicans are also looking for ways to pay for various tax cuts, and low income housing tax credits and a tax exemption for private activity bonds — critical sources of funding for affordable housing — may be on the chopping block.
What we’re thinking about: Are you working on a project that is taking advantage of changes that were made in the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment? Tell me about it at kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Writer Barbara Kingsolver began writing her Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Demon Copperhead,” in the old home of Charles Dickens, where he wrote much of “David Copperfield,” which is the inspiration for Kingsolver’s work. The home is now a bed-and-breakfast called Bleak House. Kingsolver told the Times that she communed with Dickens one night about how to tell the story of a young boy growing up in Southern Appalachia.
Elsewhere in New York…
— State Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against a Long Island developer for allegedly clearing 13,000 square feet of the Central Pine Barrens to build a manufacturing space for his custom cabinetry and millworking business. The lawsuit seeks to force Roberts Premier Development to remove the barn-like structure, and pay $75,000 in fines, plus $1,000 for every day that the structure remains.
— Mayor Eric Adams has canceled most of his public appearances this week because he “hasn’t been feeling his best,” and will be getting routine medical tests, a spokesperson said in a statement issued Sunday. The mayor doesn’t plan to do his weekly press conference and will not appear at a confidential hearing slated for his corruption case on Wednesday, the New York Daily News reports.
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices, including those in New York and New Jersey, now have arrest quotas, the Washington Post reports. The Trump administration told each office to make 75 arrests per day, and managers will be penalized for failing to meet the quota.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Monday was $22 million for a 3,100-square-foot condo unit at 760 Madison Avenue. The Giorgio Armani Residences Lenox Hill unit is new construction and listed by Douglas Elliman’s Madeline Hult Elghanayan and Sabrina Saltiel.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $15.8 million for two adjacent commercial buildings at 35-17 42nd Street and 42-08 35th Avenue in Long Island City. The two parcels, which are auto shops, span nearly 20,000 square feet.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $19.9 million for 400 West 12th Street. The condo unit at Superior Ink Condominiums is 4,100 square feet and was listed by The Corcoran Group’s Deborah Grubman, David Adler and Paul Albano.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 232,573-square-foot mixed-use building at 1850 Lafayette Avenue in the Bronx. The project is set to have more than 200-units across 12 stories. John Woelfling of Dattner Architects is the applicant of record.
— Joseph Jungermann