James Whelan

James Whelan isn’t discouraged that New York’s state legislature didn’t renew a tax incentive that encourages developers to build below-market rate units. The real estate trade association leader pressed Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers to extend the abatement, and Hochul even proposed a substitute until some legislators opposed slipping the tax break into the state budget. So Hochul scrapped the measure.

But the need for affordable housing continues to outpace supply. Whelan called on Hochul to enable the construction of 560,000 affordable units by the end of the decade and knows private developers can build that amount of housing quickly.

“There is not one single answer,” Whelan said. “The feds aren’t playing that type of role, in terms of the amount of money coming … and public subsidy dollars don’t go as far in terms of creating new units of below-market rate housing.”

Whelan has navigated a choppy period as the city continues to emerge from the pandemic. Manhattan’s office vacancy rates have crested near 20 percent, as some tenants have begun to shrink their footprints in Midtown and Downtown.

At the same time, Whelan has advocated for legislation making it easier to transform vacant hotels into affordable housing that would benefit the homeless. And he continues to garner support from city and state officials to convert Midtown’s underutilized office space  to housing.

“Pretty much every data point indicates that we need to be producing more and more housing, and that was true before the pandemic,” Whelan said. “And there needs to be a much more aggressive use of vouchers to help those most in need and keep them in their apartments.”

In addition, market-rate rents have soared, and the Rent Guidelines Board moved to boost rents on one- and two-year rent-stabilized leases (Whelan supports an increase). Crime has surged, too, during the first few months of Mayor Adams’ tenure.

“In fairness, the guy has been in four months,” Whelan said. “Let’s give him a little more time and see if the strategies work.”