Executive Agency Counsel

About the Agency:

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city's housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love.

- We maintain building and resident safety and health
- We create opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability
- We engage New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity



HPD is entrusted with fulfilling these objectives through the goals and strategies of Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness, Mayor Adams’ comprehensive housing framework. To support this important work, the administration has committed $5 billion in new capital funding, bringing the 10-year planned investment in housing to $22 billion the largest in the city’s history. This investment, coupled with a commitment to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers, is a multi-pronged strategy to tackle New York City’s complex housing crisis, by addressing homelessness and housing instability, promoting economic stability and mobility, increasing homeownership opportunities, improving health and safety, and increasing opportunities for equitable growth.


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 blueprint.


Your Role:


Your role will be to provide legal services to the agency’s affordable housing development programs and associated offices on related matters.


Your Responsibilities:


- Support the agency’s capital 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.

- 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