JPMorganChase is making housing more affordable and accessible for New Yorkers

Affordable housing is one of the top issues on New Yorkers’ minds — and it’s no wonder why. Study after study has shown that the city’s housing stock is unaffordable and inaccessible, and the cost to rent or purchase a home is only continuing to rise. Today, nearly 4 in 5 New Yorkers are housing burdened, spending more than one-third of their income on housing. Anyone who has searched for a home in New York City knows these pressures well.

JPMorganChase is committed to helping make housing more affordable for New Yorkers, from building new housing to preserving existing affordable units and helping New Yorkers buy their own home.

For decades, the firm has financed the creation and preservation of affordable housing, including extending $5 billion in lending to create and preserve 41,000 units of affordable housing in 2023 alone. Examples of projects currently under construction include the Fortune Society’s Castle III development in East Harlem, which broke ground in late June 2024 on an 82-unit building that will have 58 units set aside for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers facing homelessness, and Concern Housing’s development, Concern Logan, which is expected to open in 2025 with 24-hour supportive services and 65 units of affordable housing for homeless veterans and adults with psychiatric disabilities.

Helping residents stay housed

It’s hard to overstate the impact renting an affordable apartment at a development like these can have on New Yorkers. Earlier this year, leaders from JPMorganChase, Bronx Pro Group and Services for the UnderServed toured the Melrose North affordable housing development in the Bronx. Opened in 2023 thanks in part to a nearly $51 million letter of credit from JPMorganChase, Melrose North provides over 100 units of affordable housing for New Yorkers who have experienced homelessness.

One of the tenants said that the building “changed my life dramatically,” and that moving in “recovered my spirit.” JPMorganChase also continues to support Breaking Ground, a nonprofit that produces thousands of housing units and recently transformed a vacant hotel in Brooklyn into one of the nation’s largest supportive housing developments. Known as 90 Sands, the 491-unit building provides far more than an affordable roof over its residents’ heads — it helps them stay stably housed by offering supportive services ranging from employment readiness to primary medical care on site.

In addition, JPMorganChase works to help keep low-cost apartments in good condition and affordable for the long run. Since 2021, the firm has financed over $1 billion in upgrades for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) — the largest public housing agency in North America, which is home to 1 in 17 New Yorkers. Over the last three years, this financing has helped NYCHA renovate and modernize 6,500 affordable apartments, including upgrading bathrooms, kitchens and heating and cooling systems. This financing has also helped provide more reliable elevators, better security systems and new playgrounds.

Lowering rents and boosting the environment

Creating and preserving affordable housing, however, isn’t just about major projects that impact hundreds or thousands of New Yorkers at once.

JPMorganChase has supported the Pratt Institute to develop a model for retrofitting small multifamily homes with energy-efficient upgrades. These improvements reduce operating costs — helping keep rents low — and improve the environment at the same time. Earlier this year, the firm also supported nonprofit BronxWorks to help Bronxites who own small rental buildings work with prospective tenants who have housing vouchers. Enabling small landlords to accept housing vouchers is expected to unlock more affordable apartments for New Yorkers, while securing a stable income stream for property owners who are facing economic pressures themselves.

Helping New Yorkers afford a place to live isn’t just for renters, either. JPMorganChase has offered grants for customers purchasing homes in low-to-moderate income census tracts since 2018. Recently, the grant was increased to $7,500 in 15 markets across the country, including New York City. In 2023, over 700 New Yorkers received more than $3.6 million in grants from JPMorganChase toward their down payment, plus a dedicated online tool and help from home lending advisors to find other local, state and federal programs they might qualify for.

There isn’t a magic wand that will make housing in New York City affordable overnight, but this combination of strategies helps to make a real impact on New Yorkers’ lives.

JPMorganChase has been serving New York City for 225 years. To learn more about the firm’s efforts to address housing affordability and support its millions of customers in New York, visit jpmorganchase.com/NYC.