Executive Agency Counsel

About the Agency:

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners.

Your Team:

Within HPD’s Office of Legal Affairs (OLA’s), the Contracts and Real Estate Division (CRED) handles, among other things, all of HPD’s legal work related to real estate development, land-use planning, and asset management. The division’s primary responsibility is to provide legal services to the agency’s affordable housing development programs, including by advising on real estate financings, sales and leases of City-owned property, and affordable housing regulatory agreements, and by closing the agency’s real estate transactions. The division is also responsible for advising on planning, pre-development, and asset management matters and affordable housing development policy and program design and implementation

Your Impact:

You will be part of a team of talented attorneys and support staff who provide critical legal services to the agency as it executes the City’s ambitious affordable housing plan.

Your Role:

Your role will be to provide legal services to the agency’s affordable housing development programs and associated offices on related matters. This position will primarily provide legal services for the Universal Affordability Preference program, created by the recent City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning text amendments, as well as the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Voluntary Inclusionary Housing programs. The position may also involve providing legal services to the agency’s planning and predevelopment division regarding land use and zoning matters.

Your Responsibilities:

• Support the agency’s development programs by providing legal services to the agency’s affordable housing development programs.
• Perform closings of construction and permanent financings, dispositions of City-owned property, and affordable housing regulatory agreements.
• Prepare and review complex legal documents related to real estate transactions and governmental approvals.
• Analyze federal, state, and local statutes and regulations.
• Handle other complex legal issues pertaining to the implementation of affordable housing programs.
• Negotiate difficult and complex issues, transactions, and documents.
• Work collaboratively with agency colleagues and partners.

Preferred skills

• Experience in a transactional real estate practice
• Experience with New York City zoning and land use
• Familiarity with State and City laws and rules relating to affordable housing creation and preservation, including, for example, statutory loan authorities under the Private Housing Finance Law and General Municipal Law, rent stabilization and the Rent Stabilization Code, and New York City zoning and land use laws and regulations
• Familiarity with federal, state, and local affordable housing subsidy programs and policy
• Excellent writing, legal research, and analytical skills
• Experience managing and supervising attorneys and other professionals
• Ability to draft legislation and rules
• Ability to review and analyze proposed legislation and rules
• Ability to liaise with litigation counsel to protect agency programs and processes
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

EXECUTIVE AGENCY COUNSEL - 95005