{"id":3848,"date":"2025-10-15T19:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/3848\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T19:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:16:10","slug":"%e2%9c%b0premium-new-yorks-housing-crisis-and-a-real-estate-development-firm-looking-to-make-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/3848\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2730PREMIUM New York\u2019s housing crisis and a real estate development firm looking to make a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>FORT GREENE \u2014 The affordable housing crisis in New York\u00a0has been in existence\u00a0since the turn of the 20th\u00a0century, with\u00a0the\u00a0advent of\u00a0overcrowded and unsafe tenement housing in lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n

In\u00a01934, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) was created with the goal to build affordable housing, though it never met full demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, federal Urban Renewal programs tore down many older neighborhoods, displacing thousands of low-income families. In the 1970s, New York City\u2019s fiscal crisis slashed funding for housing and\u00a0maintenance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Will<\/a>Will Blodgett, CEO and founder of Tredway, addressing the audience. Photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman<\/p>\n

The 1990s faced the issue of rising demand and a loss of affordable units. Gentrification spread through neighborhoods like Williamsburg and the Lower East Side, displacing\u00a0longtime\u00a0residents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the 21st century, the 2008\u00a0financial crisis\u00a0caused foreclosures and slowed construction. Affordable housing could not keep up with population\u00a0growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In\u00a02025,\u00a0more\u00a0than half of New York renters are \u201crent burdened,\u201d with about 20% severely burdened, spending 50 % of\u00a0their\u00a0income on rent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A professional and personal goal<\/p>\n

William Blodgett is the CEO and founder of Tredway, a real estate development firm\u00a0that\u00a0acquires,\u00a0revitalizes\u00a0and preserves affordable, workforce and mixed-income housing. He told the Brooklyn Eagle that his professional and personal goal is to do something about the housing crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Octavio<\/a>Octavio Arias, 62, resident at 80 Greene Ave., likes what he sees as far as the building\u2019s renovations. Photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman<\/p>\n

Blodgett, who describes himself as an empathetic\u00a0and passionate entrepreneur focused on making a difference, grew up\u00a0in\u00a0Chicago.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was poor and only had a few friends, some of them older folks,\u201d said Blodgett. \u201cThey lived in the Chicago Housing Authority. Sadly, it ended up being torn down. What made it even worse was that it was housing for the elderly. That did not sit well with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Blodgett graduated from college, it was crystal clear what he wanted to do with his life. \u201cI went straight into the affordable housing business. I knew that I wanted to help people,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Victoria<\/a>Victoria Tran, vice president of Investments at Tredway. Photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman<\/p>\n

Blodgett\u2019s newest venture with Tredway is in Fort\u00a0Greene at\u00a080\u00a0Greene\u00a0Ave.<\/p>\n

As part of Tredway\u2019s acquisition of a\u00a0193-unit\u00a0portfolio in Fort\u00a0Greene, 97 homes\u00a0for seniors\u00a0were\u00a0recently\u00a0renovated in the\u00a0seven-story\u00a0Greene\u00a0Clermont Houses targeting low-income households earning 50% AMI and extending\u00a0the community\u2019s affordability for\u00a0the next\u00a040 years.\u00a0 On the morning of\u00a0Oct. 8, a ribbon-cutting commemorated the\u00a0overhaul.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis building was at risk of\u00a0losing its\u00a0affordability status and being turned into high-end condos,\u201d said Blodgett. \u201cWhen I found that out, we went to work about a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renovations \u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Blodgett, $12 million was spent on refurbishing the\u00a0building, including the apartments \u2014 all one-bedroom rentals at approximately 550 square feet \u2014 and the community areas. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/a>Kim Darga, Housing Preservation and Development deputy commissioner and officer of Development, speaks. Photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman<\/p>\n

Renovations to the apartments and\u00a0common areas\u00a0focused on transforming them into modern, energy-efficient\u00a0and comfortable spaces models with accessible design. Each kitchen is equipped with a\u00a0stainless steel\u00a0Energy Star refrigerator, range and microwave, custom shaker-style cabinets, subway tile backsplashes and quartz countertops.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the aging population at 80\u00a0Greene St., a design priority was to convert existing tubs into walk-in showers. Flooring was replaced with wide oak vinyl plank in living areas and porcelain tiles in kitchens and baths. Lighting fixtures were upgraded to be energy-efficient LED models with light dimmer switches.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The community room was renovated and enhanced to include a community kitchen, wellness room, nurse\u2019s station and resident services coordinator office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through a partnership with Jericho Project, a nonprofit organization that provides supportive housing and services for homeless and at-risk individuals and families, residents will\u00a0benefit\u00a0from social services and meaningful programming tied to the Jericho Community, Advocacy, Resources and Employment Services (CARES) initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A simple objective\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blodgett said that while much has been accomplished in 80 Greene St.\u2019s evolution, the work is not yet complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/a>Adam Sussi, partner at Tredway, alongside Will Blodgett, CEO and founder. Photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was only phase one,\u201d he said, adding that additional improvements, which will take place within the next year, will include renovated outdoor balconies with new benches and flowers, fully modernized elevators and a revamped roof.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blodgett also disclosed that Tredway has a deal\u00a0under contract in\u00a0Bedford-Stuyvesant, \u201ca very\u00a0similar\u00a0project to this one in terms of renovation and units.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do work all over New York City, actually all over America. My objective is simple: to make a difference in people\u2019s lives and make housing more livable and affordable,\u201d said Blodgett. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT GREENE \u2014 The affordable housing crisis in New York\u00a0has been in existence\u00a0since the turn of the 20th\u00a0century,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[433,4115,9,24,55,54,56,2578,2579,1491,4116],"class_list":["post-3848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-affordable-housing","tag-brooklyn-space","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-premium","tag-premium-content","tag-real-estate","tag-wayne-daren-schneiderman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}