Dive Brief:
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State legislators have outlawed separate entrances for low-income tenants of New York multifamily buildings that contain both affordable and full-price units.
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Some developers who received a break on their property taxes in exchange for designating 30% of an apartment or condominium building’s units as affordable were building so-called “poor doors” for those tenants and grander entrances for market-rate residents.
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Building owners also must stop constructing separate common areas for higher-end tenants that are off-limits to their lower-income neighbors, according to the new law.
Dive Insight:
Legislators also defeated a “mansion tax” of 1%-plus on residential sales of $1.75 million or more in the new state bill. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had proposed the tax to help pay for the construction of more affordable housing in the city.
Without the tax, the plan’s budget faces an estimated $2 billion shortfall.