2025 Theses Master's

Change Starts Small: Implementation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) as an Agent for Affordable Housing, Circularity, and Neighborhood Revitalization in New York City, with Jamaica, Queens as Case Study

Te, Sherry Aine

The need to increase affordable housing stock has rarely been this urgent. New York City has been experiencing the worst affordability crisis over the last two decades. New York City faces significant housing affordability challenges, with low- and middle-income residents disproportionately affected by rising costs and housing shortages. ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) present a viable, underutilized strategy to increase the affordable housing supply efficiently by leveraging existing residential properties without requiring extensive new land development.

In line with the City of Yes’ recent approval on updating zoning laws to allow ADUs in New York City, the city must partner up Community Development Corporations (CDCs), organizations that have a strong relationship to the communities they serve to increase housing supplying through developing ADUs. In Jamaica, Queens, the paper’s neighbourhood case study, CDCs can leverage the foreclosed housing stock as primary sites for adding ADUs.

This paper proposes to utilize the ‘attached’ ADU building typology to create three new programmatic possibilities to house more residents in a single residential house lot, increasing occupants’ income options, decreasing the city’s foreclosed housing stock and providing more housing for residents. To match the City of Yes’ projected housing target of providing 80,000 units over the next 15 years, and with a current shortage of construction workers, pre-fabricated and modular construction is a recommended construction method for efficient and minimal disruptive neighbourhood development.

While slow to adopt new construction technology, some CDCs are inclined to use sustainable methods, based on interviews with CDC professionals. This approach addresses housing disparities while aligning with climate goals by promoting compact, energy-efficient development through density and upzoning. This research presents a policy-to-built solution for affordable housing with the potential to guide policy reforms in New York City and serve as a model for other global cities.