LMDC Expands Incentive Plan for Residents, Helping Families

More money for more people Downtown. That’s the bottom line in the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s revised incentive plan, announced last month, to attract and retain Lower Manhattan residents.

The LMDC, the city-state agency in charge of downtown’s redevelopment, revised the plan after reviewing some 1,100 public comments. The new plan expands the eastern boundary of the "immediate impact zone" (Zone 1), from Broadway to Nassau and Broad streets. Residents in that zone, the area south of Chambers Street, including Battery Park City, are eligible for the highest benefits.

The revised plan also awards a one-time bonus to households with children "in recognition of the importance of families in stabilizing and strengthening Lower Manhattan’s residential communities," according to an LMDC statement. Families in Zone 1 will get an extra $1,500 and families in Zone 2, the area between Chambers and Canal streets, will receive $750.

The LMDC added a third zone, encompassing parts of the Lower East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown, where residents will get a one-time grant of $1,000 per apartment. The zone is between Lafayette Street and the East River, from Canal Street north to Delancey and Kenmare streets.

The heart of the program remains intact: Residents who renew or sign a two-year lease get a 30-percent rent subsidy for two years, up to $12,000 in Zone 1 or $6,000 in Zone 2. But in the revised plan, current residents who signed two-year leases as early as June 1, 2001, are eligible without having to renew. This means that no one will have to wait more than a year to begin receiving the subsidy.

Downtown residents who lived in any of the zones on Sept. 11 will get a $1,000 bonus even if they’ve changed apartments, without having to wait to sign a new lease.

To prevent landlords from raising rents in response to the grants, the LMDC also conditions eligibility on rental rates of no more than 90 percent of the pre-September 11 rent in Zone 1 and 95 percent of the pre-September 11 rent in zone 2—as opposed to 100 percent of old rates in the draft.

The LMDC will announce application procedures after the plan gets final approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The application process is expected to begin in July. For information, go to the www.renewnyc.com.