Politics
NYC Council Mandates 20% Affordable Units in DUMBO Residential Projects
DUMBO property owners planning new residential projects must now reserve 20 percent of units at below-market rates under the ordinance passed July 7, matching rules already in place in several peer cities.
How we reported this
The New York City Council voted 35 to 12 on July 7 to expand the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program to additional Brooklyn waterfront districts that include DUMBO. The change applies to any new residential building containing 10 or more units that receives a zoning change or public subsidy.
The vote follows release of the Department of City Planning 2026 annual report, which documented 12,400 new housing starts citywide in 2025 yet noted persistent shortfalls in Brooklyn Community District 2. Council members tied the expansion to the Housing New York 2.0 framework adopted in 2022.
DUMBO residents looking to rent will see the 20 percent affordable set-aside apply to projects such as the 180-unit building proposed at 1 Main Street. Households earning up to 60 percent of area median income gain access to those units, while market-rate tenants in the same building face rents calculated to cover the remaining construction costs.
Comparison to Other Jurisdictions
New York City now requires the same 20 percent set-aside that San Francisco applies under its 2017 inclusionary ordinance. Boston mandates 20 percent on projects over 10 units, while Chicago requires only 10 percent in designated zones and Seattle uses a sliding scale from 5 to 15 percent depending on the neighborhood.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development 2025 production summary recorded 31,800 affordable units delivered under the prior Mandatory Inclusionary Housing rules since 2016. City budget documents allocate $485 million in capital funds for 2026 to support infrastructure tied to these projects.
Developers must file affordability plans with the Department of City Planning by December 31, 2026, ahead of the January 1, 2027 effective date. The agency is scheduled to publish implementation guidelines in September that will detail income verification and marketing procedures for DUMBO sites.