With a brand new commissioner on the helm of town’s Division of Housing Preservation and Improvement, the Mamdani administration has additionally changed senior leaders and, in some instances, stuffed long-vacant roles throughout the company.
Adam Phillips is the newly named first deputy commissioner and chief range officer at HPD, a task beforehand held by Ahmed Tigani earlier than he took over as acting commissioner of the company below then-Mayor Eric Adams in March 2025. (Tigani left HPD after Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed him head of the Division of Buildings.)
Phillips most not too long ago labored for Strada Ventures, an reasonably priced housing and growth consulting agency, and earlier than that labored at HPD as deputy director of the multifamily housing rehabilitation and inexperienced housing preservation mortgage applications.
Throughout an interview, Phillips famous that his work on the opposite aspect of the desk will inform the company’s work to shut offers with builders as rapidly as attainable.
Patrick Love, who most not too long ago labored on financing multifamily housing for the state’s Division of Properties and Neighborhood Renewal, is HPD’s deputy commissioner of growth. He changed Kim Darga, who began at HPD as a venture supervisor in 2007.
Builders of backed housing cope with Love’s workplace, which coordinates metropolis funding, tax exemptions and the way these funding sources work alongside federal tax credit and bonds. Love stated a part of his function with the state’s housing regulator was making the state’s priorities clear to builders, and he plans to do the identical on the metropolis stage. (A perennial criticism from builders is that HPD’s venture pipeline is opaque, and as initiatives rack up prices whereas ready to shut on financing, builders are unclear the place they’re within the queue.)
The company has additionally employed Celeste Hornbach, who beforehand served as assistant comptroller for housing coverage below metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander, as a senior advisor working throughout HPD’s totally different divisions.
As of February, the company has a emptiness price of 14.1 %, with 2,463 positions stuffed of two,867 budgeted for fiscal yr 2026, in keeping with a budget report by the Metropolis Council.
Many of the deputy commissioner positions are stuffed, however numerous assistant and affiliate commissioner positions stay vacant. In December, Alicka Ampry-Samuels joined HPD as deputy commissioner of asset and property administration, a place that had been vacant for 3 years. Ampry-Samuels, who final served as a regional administrator for the U.S. Division of Housing and City Improvement’s New York and New Jersey workplace, oversees town’s reasonably priced housing portfolio.
As a candidate, the mayor pledged to construct 200,000 housing items over the following decade. However he’s anticipated to launch his housing plan in Might, when (hopefully) housing manufacturing objectives will grow to be clearer.
What we’re fascinated with: Friday marks the mayor’s first 100 days in workplace. What are you expecting within the subsequent 100 days? Ship a word to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A factor we’ve discovered: The Nationwide Motion Community has new headquarters on the Faison Firehouse Theater on Hancock Place, according to the New York Times. The group left its longtime residence on 145th Road after landlord Bruce Teitelbaum threatened to evict the group.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Mayor Zohran Mamdani nominated Lisa Kersavage as chair of the Landmarks Preservation Fee. Kersavage has served as govt director of the Landmarks since 2019. Her predecessor, Sarah Carroll, retired in August after greater than three a long time with the company. Kersavage is following Carroll in one other means: Per the New York Times, Carroll was the primary chair to serve who had beforehand labored as a staffer at Landmarks. The mayor’s announcement comes precisely one yr after the Occasions reported Carroll was leaving.
— Vanessa Aronson faces a simple highway to Alex Bores’ open Meeting seat representing the Higher East Facet, City & State reports. Aronson doesn’t have any Democratic opponents, and any Republican opponents’ probabilities appear slim (the district voted overwhelmingly for Kamala Harris within the presidential election).
— ICYMI, the mayor will host a rally on Sunday to mark his first 100 days in workplace. Right here’s what these early days have meant for actual property.
Closing Time
Residential: The biggest residential sale Wednesday was $14.5 million for a 4,236-square-foot condominium at 215 Chrystie Road on the Decrease East Facet. The Hudson Advisory Staff at Compass had the listing. The unit final traded for $16 million in 2017.
Industrial: The biggest business sale was $38 million for a 64,650-square-foot, 43-unit residence constructing at 525 Union Avenue in North Williamsburg. An LLC tied to Witnick Actual Property Companions offered the property to an LLC tied to TAA Attire Inc.
New to the Market: The best value for a residential property hitting the market was $27 million for a 12,728-square-foot condominium at 90 Franklin Road in Tribeca. Emily Beare and Lexi Alper with CORE Advertising and marketing Group have the itemizing.
Breaking Floor: The biggest new constructing allow filed was for a proposed 26,059-square-foot, three-story venture with 18 items at 428 97th Road in Bay Ridge. Francisco Nunez filed the allow on behalf of Shiraz Sanjana of RNS Holdings.
— Matthew Elo
