United Housing Foundation
Encyclopedia
The United Housing Foundation (UHF) is a real estate investment trust
in New York
that is best known for constructing Rochdale Village
.
formalizing the success of Abraham Kazan and his associates. By 1965 UHF and its predecessors had created some 23 cooperative housing projects in New York City
, ranging in size from the 124-unit Mutual Housing Association in the Bronx
to Rochdale Village
in Queens on Long Island
, with 5,860 apartments and also its own food stores, nursery schools, a credit union, and a multitude of civic and social organizations, to make it an integrated and well-rounded community. The primary architect who designed the buildings waith Kazan was Herman Jessor
.
The United Housing Foundation worked primarily in New York City and New York
State, using financing from savings bank
s, insurance companies union pension funds and other conventional sources and also direct mortgage loan
s from the State of New York. The UHF emphasis was on high-rise, large-scale projects to meet a mass need for lower priced housing
in New York.
Real estate investment trust
A real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
that is best known for constructing Rochdale Village
Rochdale, Queens
Rochdale is a neighborhood in the southeastern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 12, Rochdale, along with other neighborhood areas are grouped as part of Greater Jamaica, corresponding to the former Town of Jamaica...
.
Purpose
In 1951, the United Housing Foundation (UHF) was organized to provide broader sponsorship for cooperative housingHousing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
formalizing the success of Abraham Kazan and his associates. By 1965 UHF and its predecessors had created some 23 cooperative housing projects in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, ranging in size from the 124-unit Mutual Housing Association in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
to Rochdale Village
Rochdale, Queens
Rochdale is a neighborhood in the southeastern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 12, Rochdale, along with other neighborhood areas are grouped as part of Greater Jamaica, corresponding to the former Town of Jamaica...
in Queens on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, with 5,860 apartments and also its own food stores, nursery schools, a credit union, and a multitude of civic and social organizations, to make it an integrated and well-rounded community. The primary architect who designed the buildings waith Kazan was Herman Jessor
Herman Jessor
Herman J. Jessor was an American architect who helped build more than 40,000 units of cooperative housing in New York City. He, along with Abraham Kazan, was a driving force of the cooperative housing movement in the United States....
.
The United Housing Foundation worked primarily in New York City and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
State, using financing from savings bank
Savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits. It may also perform some other functions.In Europe, savings banks originated in the 19th or sometimes even the 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to...
s, insurance companies union pension funds and other conventional sources and also direct mortgage loan
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
s from the State of New York. The UHF emphasis was on high-rise, large-scale projects to meet a mass need for lower priced housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
in New York.
Largest Cooperative Effort
With the support of the Mayor of New York City and Governor of New York State, UHF developed Co-op City which now houses over 15,000 families, or about 40,000 people. UHF built schools for the project and turned them over to the Board of Education of New York City for operation. In addition, the community has three shopping centers with co-op supermarkets, branches of New York City banks and specialty shops and service stores necessary for service of this size community.Other Resources
Records relating to the United Housing Foundation are on deposit at the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation Center, Cornell University. For further information, see the Center's web site at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel/See also
- List of New York City housing cooperatives
- Cooperative VillageCooperative VillageCooperative Village is a community of housing cooperatives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The cooperatives are centered around Grand Street in an area south of the entrance ramp to the Williamsburg Bridge and west of FDR Drive...
- Amalgamated Clothing Workers of AmericaAmalgamated Clothing Workers of AmericaThe Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Industrial Organizations...
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' UnionInternational Ladies' Garment Workers' UnionThe International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s...
- Penn SouthPenn South__notoc__Penn South is the common name for the Mutual Redevelopment Houses, a limited-equity housing cooperative development located between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and East 23rd and 29th Streets, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...