Joshua Muss, of Muss Development, Randy Lee, of the Leewoodgroup of companies, and William Carbine, with the city's Departmentof Housing Preservation and Development, spoke on the topic at apanel, "Will New York's Multifamily Market Continue to Flourish?Who will Develop Housing for the Middle Class?" moderated by StaceyCorso, editor of Real Estate New York.

Of those 65,000 units, Carbine explained that 46% will bededicated to low-income, 38% will be for moderate-income and 16%will be for middle-income residents. But while the plan isfeasible, it will not be without its problems. "Sixty-five thousandunits is good," Lee said. "But 165,000 would be better." Theproblem is where the city will put the units, and how fast can theybe developed, he added. "To start a project today could literallytake years. HPD is a wonderful agency, but it is not an agency thatreacts or works like the market—nor does the buildingdepartment."

But is the affordability picture as bad as it seems? "We doagree and understand there is an issue at every level of housing,"Carbine said. "But I don't think the picture is quite as bleak asit has been painted." He added that the HPD has $3 billion to spendon the administration's initiative and if more money is spent ondeveloping affordable housing for middle-income residents, thenless money will be spent on affordable housing for lower-incomeresidents. And to make things easier, Mayor Bloomberg has alsolaunched an extensive rezoning bid to make areas not zoned formultifamily—such as manufacturing areas—available for housing, orupzoning other areas to allow for more housing, he explained.