Jeff Levine accepting his award from CHPC.New York, NY The Citizens Housing Planning Council (CHPC) has awarded Douglaston Development’s CEO, Jeff Levine, with the Impact Award for Housing. Levine, who was honored at the 57th Annual Luncheon at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Sq., was among some of the city’s most dedicated public servants recognized for their work on behalf of affordable housing.
Since 1937, CHPC has been dedicated to developing and advancing practical public policies to support the government and the housing industry to ensure that housing continues to meet the needs of all the city’s residents. The luncheon celebrated the work and collaboration of professionals who are focused on the improvement and expansion of housing for the city.
“I’m incredibly proud to receive this award. Affordable housing has long been an issue I am committed to,” said Levine. “It is an issue facing many New Yorkers and affordable housing is needed more than ever now. We want to help people find a place to live and be able to support themselves and their families. It is an honor to be able to work with people who are dedicated to creating housing for every New Yorker.”
In his work on affordable housing, Levine has helped create the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, a trade organization for the state’s affordable housing industry, and currently serves as a board member. He is also a founder of Self Help (formerly known as the Kimmel Foundation), a not-for-profit group dedicated to providing housing for the aged, handicapped and special needs populations.
“I’ve had the honor of working with Jeff for many years and he has been extremely valuable to adding accessible housing to the City,” says Richard Roberts, Chairman of CHPC. “Jeff has devoted himself to bettering the City’s neighborhoods and creating more channels of access to housing for everyone, especially those that need it most. His work has brought an incredible number of affordable units and we are beyond thrilled to present this award to him.”
Douglaston Development has developed various other affordable housing projects in various boroughs. Most recently, Douglaston completed 347 affordable units at a six-building development site on the Williamsburg water front totaling 2,000 apartments. Douglaston Development has also worked with Vornado Realty Trust on 171 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan to provide 41 apartments to low-income senior citizens. Other projects include Apex Senior Housing in New Cassel, NY, the first low-income, shared housing facility for seniors and Evelyn Burns Homes at Ocean Hill North in Brooklyn, NY, which offers development services for 45 new, two-family homes built as row houses. Douglaston Development is currently working on the Crossroads development which is mixed use 570,000 square feet affordable housing development with 426 mixed middle income residential units in Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Crossroads will also have 22,000 square feet of landscaped public plaza and 40,000 square feet of green roof accessible to building residents.
In addition to recognizing industry leaders at this week’s event, the CHPC also celebrated James Rubin, New York State Commissioner of Homes and Community Renewal, who received the Roger Starr Public Service Award, and Mariadele Priest, Senior Vice President of Community Investment Banking for Capital One, received the Impact Award for Community Investment. Click here to see the Jeff Levine award video.