In 2025, NYCHA closed on the financing for repairs at 16 developments through the controversial PACT program, and moved ahead on renovation plans for two other public housing campuses funded through the newer Preservation Trust, officials said Tuesday.
NYCHA’s Hylan Houses in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was one of three developments this year where tenants were asked to vote on what funding model they want. (Adi Talwar/City Limits).
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) says it made progress this year in chipping away at its multibillionaire dollar repair backlog through two—at times, controversial—initiatives that convert properties to the federal Section 8 program as means to drum up new funds.
In 2025, NYCHA closed on the financing for repairs at 16 developments through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program, which leases public housing developments to private management companies, officials said in a year-end update Tuesday.
The deals will fund over $1.6 billion in renovations for approximately 7,300 residents at those campuses, according to NYCHA, which says PACT has raised a total of $8.6 billion in repairs already completed or in construction since the city launched the initiative almost a decade ago.
Overall, NYCHA is converting more than 39,000 apartments to PACT—with plans to add another 20,000 in the years ahead. Under the arrangement, private developers collect Section 8 funds for the units they now manage, and undertake major renovation projects through financing the housing authority can’t access on its own.
It’s one of two programs NYCHA has turned to in recent years to help maintain its aging buildings after decades of federal government disinvestment in Section 9, which funds traditional public housing. A 2023 assessment found that NYCHA needs an estimated $78 billion over the next two decades to keep its properties in a state of good repair.
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In October, a building at the Mitchel Houses in the Bronx partially collapsed, underscoring the precarious conditions at many NYCHA developments—the majority of which have similar or more significant repair needs than Mitchel Houses does, a City Limits investigation found.
Many tenants, however, remain deeply skeptical—and some adamantly opposed to—PACT and the involvement of private companies in public housing. PACT managers have filed for eviction at higher rates than NYCHA, stirring fears about displacement, while tenants have complained of unresponsive management teams and shoddily done repairs. Thousands of violations persist across privately-run NYCHA campuses, a recent investigation by news site The City found.
As an alternative to PACT, New York launched the NYC Public Housing Preservation Trust in 2022—another effort to unlock extra repair funds by converting NYCHA apartments to the more lucrative Section 8 federal subsidy. Unlike PACT, apartments in this scenario remain under NYCHA management while the Trust, a public entity, oversees and finances the repair work.
The Nostrand Houses, the first NYCHA development that joined the Preservation Trust. (Scott Heins)
In 2025, the Trust executed its first contracts for major repairs at two NYCHA developments: Nostrand Houses and Bronx River Addition, which will collectively see $493 million in upgrades in the comings years, officials said.
This year “paved the Trust’s pathway to delivery,” Trust President Vlada Kenniff said in a statement Tuesday, saying those plans will move to “measurable construction activity” in 2026.
Developments can only join the Trust if tenants there vote to do so. So far, NYCHA has carried out votes at seven different developments since the Trust launched in 2022, where residents were asked to choose whether to join the initiative, convert to PACT instead, or remain in the traditional Section 9 program.
In addition to Nostrand and Bronx River Addition, residents at the Hylan Houses in Bushwick and Unity Towers in Coney Island previously opted for the Trust. Tenants at Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue voted to convert to private management under PACT, while residents at two other campuses—Coney Island Houses and Throggs Neck Addition—voted to stay with Section 9.
NYCHA selected the Stanley M. Isaacs Houses in Manhattan as the next campus up for a vote, which will take place starting in February. The development, on the Upper East Side, is home to 1,131 residents in 633 units, and needs an estimated $248 million for repairs and maintenance over the next two decades, officials said.
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