§ 1282. Housing our neighbors with dignity program. 1. Establishment. Subject to amounts available by appropriation therefor, the corporation shall develop a housing our neighbors with dignity program (hereinafter referred to as "the program"), which shall provide a mechanism for the state to finance the acquisition and/or conversion of distressed hotels and commercial office properties by appropriate nonprofit organizations for the purpose of maintaining or increasing affordable housing. All affordable housing properties produced through this program shall remain permanently affordable, and all converted properties in a city with a population of one million or more, with the exception of small converted properties and exempt supportive housing, shall be required to pay building service employees the applicable prevailing wage pursuant to subdivision one-a of this section. Permanent affordability restrictions shall require a regulatory agreement with the corporation or local housing agency or other affordability restrictions in recorded documents not specifically listed in this subdivision, provided the corporation or local housing agency determines that such restrictions are enforceable and likely to be enforced. Such enforcement measures shall include but not be limited to the ability to cancel or transfer the regulatory agreement or property to another entity for violating the terms of such regulatory agreement, such as failure to meet the minimum obligations set forth in this article when such failure is not cured. 1-a. In a city with a population of one million or more, all building service employees employed by an appropriate nonprofit organization at a converted property or otherwise employed at a converted property that is not a small converted property or exempt supportive housing shall receive at least the applicable prevailing wage in such city for craft, trade, or occupation of such building service employee. The fiscal officer shall have the power to enforce such provisions in the same manner as provided under subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (g) of subdivision seventeen of section four hundred twenty-one-a of the real property tax law. In addition, the fiscal officer shall have the power to conduct an investigation and hearing and file a determination as to the payment of wages owed by a lessee, owner, successor, or any employer of building service employees, as provided under subdivisions one, four, five, six, eight and nine of section two hundred thirty-five of the labor law. 2. Purpose. The program shall seek to:(a) Finance the acquisition of distressed hotels and commercial office properties by appropriate nonprofit organizations for the purpose of stabilizing communities and the housing market;
(b) Finance the conversion and rehabilitation of the physical condition of acquired property by appropriate nonprofit organizations in order to improve the condition of such property for future occupants, such as habitability and environmental sustainability; and
(c) Provide an appropriate, expedient and efficient manner for owners of such distressed properties to transfer ownership to an appropriate nonprofit organization so as to promote the state's interest in the conversion of such properties to new supportive and affordable permanent housing units. 3. Powers. The state may finance the purchase, acquisition, conversion and/or holding by appropriate nonprofit organizations of distressed hotel or commercial office properties in any part of the state for the purpose of maintaining or increasing the stock of affordable, stable, quality housing; provided that in the case of a property at which any hotel workers are represented by a collective bargaining representative, prior to the proposed acquisition, the collective bargaining representative shall be notified in writing of the proposed acquisition, and the property owner shall certify prior to the state initiating such acquisition through financing that the collective bargaining representative has mutually agreed in a separate writing with the property owner to take the specific acquisition described in the written notice. 4. Converted properties. All properties converted to affordable housing pursuant to this section shall meet the minimum standards of habitability, safety and quality of life for all established housing. Additional operating expenses shall be met through any combination of subsidies, vouchers, commercial rents, or other sources of income available to the housing provider under the model the non-profit chooses to pursue. All units shall be rent stabilized as defined in this article in localities that have adopted or opted in to the rent stabilization law. At least fifty percent of all converted units shall be set aside for individuals and families who were experiencing homelessness immediately prior to entering such converted affordable housing. Each unit must contain, at a minimum, a living/sleeping space, private bathroom with bath or shower, and either a full kitchen or a kitchenette with at least a 7-cubic feet capacity refrigerator, sink, cooktop, microwave oven and outlets for countertop appliances. 5. Restrictions. The state shall not, in any case, facilitate the sale or transfer of property unless the state has entered into an agreement with the appropriate nonprofit organization to ensure that any actions necessary to bring the property into compliance with applicable building, safety, health and habitability codes and requirements will be taken before such property is occupied. 6. Tenant protections. Tenants residing in properties converted to affordable housing pursuant to this section shall have full tenancy rights, including all the tenant protections pursuant to rent stabilization as defined in this article in localities that have adopted or opted in to the rent stabilization laws. Tenancy in such affordable housing shall not be restricted on the basis of sexual identity or orientation, gender identity or expression, conviction or arrest record, credit history, credit score, or immigration status.
