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Obama Named New York Housing Commissioner to Head HUD

by A. Tran | December 13, 2008 at 09:50 am

433 views | 41 Recommendations | 10 comments

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said that he has picked New York housing official Shaun Donovan as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, calling the job essential to restoring the economy.

Mr. Obama praised Mr. Donovan's record in New York, where he managed a $7.5 billion plan with a goal of putting a half-million New Yorkers in affordable housing.

As chief of New York’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Mr. Donovan is in charge of the Bloomberg administration’s $7.5 billion New Housing Marketplace Plan to build or preserve 165,000 units for to low- and moderate-income families, housing up to 500,000 residents, by 2013

The Harvard-educated architect has also kept foreclosures to a minimum in the city's low- and moderate-income home ownership plan, with just five out of 17,000 participating homes.

Mr. Donovan has experience in all facets of the affordable housing market, having worked in both the nonprofit and private sectors and in academia as a scholar of housing policy. He has even worked as an architect in New York and Italy.
With permission this year from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who hired him in March 2004, Mr. Donovan took a leave of absence to campaign for and advise Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign. Mr. Obama named Mr. Donovan to the housing post on Saturday, in his weekly national radio address.

Mr. Donovan is highly knowledgeable about the housing policies and affordable housing structures given his successful works in a densely populated city like New York.

Under Mr. Donovan, the Bloomberg administration has promoted “inclusionary zoning” that allows developers to build multifamily structures of more density — that is, more units for the space — in return for setting aside a portion of their projects for lower-income residents.

He helped to create a $200 million fund with contributions from the city, seven major foundations and financial institutions, to help nonprofit housing groups and small developers compete for private land sales. Working more closely with HUD than local officials have in the past, he has encouraged the department to help nonprofit groups or tenants take over HUD-assisted apartment buildings that are in foreclosure; typically, the federal government put such properties up for bids.

Senator Charles Schumer (D) of New York is thrilled that Mr. Donovan, a fellow Brooklynite, is named to one of the Obama's Cabinet posts.

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josiemitchell

at 10:33 on December 13th, 2008

Affordable housing? What's that?

Fairbanks

at 10:37 on December 13th, 2008

Dept of HUD has more money sloshing around than anybody

A. Tran

at 15:55 on December 13th, 2008

Josie, I don't know about other places around the US, but in NYC, affordable housing means that a person, or a couple, or a family whose income is below a set of tiered annual salaries can apply to move into these apartment buildings.

For years, NYC also has other complicated rent guidelines that have enabled many middle-income individuals and families to live in the some of the poshest buildings and neighborhood. These people are also entitled to belong to the tenant association, which has had successes in helping these tenants to remain in their homes through legal measures. That is not to say that the landlords haven't tried to remove or at least to modify these guidelines on an annual basis.

Thanks for the recommendation.

rumana husain

at 12:07 on December 13th, 2008

he looks quite young, but like you say he is knowledgeable and therefore hopefully he will make some mature decisions for a better, more affordable housing policy for nyc. good luck!

Amy Judd

at 13:31 on December 13th, 2008

Well I hope he's going to make a difference, as the US could use some more affordable housing.

A. Tran

at 19:50 on December 13th, 2008

Thanks Amy for your recommendation. It's understandable that there are skeptics about the concept of affordable housing in large urban cities. Hopefully, Mr. Donovan will also use his architectural training to create affordable housing that is attractive and environmentally sound.

josiemitchell

at 13:42 on December 13th, 2008

Hey Pythiian1 thanks for the details. I'm grew up in San Diego where there is very little affordable housing- very little. It would be great if that could change in San Diego and across the country. I might be able to buy a house some time in my lifetime!

Strannik45

at 16:46 on December 13th, 2008

In Chicago, "affordable housing" takes many forms. In government-owned affordable housing, the rents are fixed at no more then a third of the local community area's average income. The private affordable housing buildings have other arrangements.

Strannik45 has contributed a photo to this story.