Reopening Empty Homesfor New Yorkers

57,421

rent stabilized apartmentssitting empty in New York City

NYC Comptroller

30,955

children sleeping inthe city shelter system

NYS Comptroller, May 2026

Every apartment we reopenis a family that gets housed

Join the movement

New York is not only short of housing. It is sitting on housing nobody can afford to open.

The city's rental market is the tightest it has been since 1968, and its shelter system is the fullest it has ever been. At the same time, tens of thousands of rent stabilized apartments sit vacant. Many have been empty for years, not because there is no demand, but because restoring a unit costs more than its regulated rent can justify. So the door stays shut, the owner earns nothing, and a family stays in a shelter.

That is the gap Padlest was built to close. The housing already exists. What is missing is the capital and the coordination to reopen it.

194,531people used the city shelter system in FY2025, the most in its historyNYS Comptroller

1.4%rental vacancy rate, tightest since 1968NYC HPD Housing and Vacancy Survey

433,838estimated unit gap remainingMcKinsey and Regional Plan Association

Four steps from an empty apartment to a family's front door

Padlest is the operator standing between an empty apartment and a family with nowhere to live. We carry the renovation, the paperwork, and the tenancy, so the family moves in and stays.

Identify

We find long vacant rent stabilized units through public registration data, and owners come to us directly through our property owner program.

Renovate

Padlest funds and manages a complete renovation. Built to last, because a family is going to live in it, not built to pass an inspection.

House

A family moves into the restored apartment, placed in coordination with city housing programs.

Sustain

Padlest manages the unit and supports the tenancy for the long term, so the family stays housed and the owner has one accountable partner.

What it costs to open one door

A city grant covers a small portion of the renovation cost. Padlest, its donors and partners cover the rest!

$50,000The NYC Unlocking Doors grant, the cap per unit

$157,000Padlest, its donors and partners

$207,000all in, to move one family into one apartment and keep them there

Padlest cost model for a 900 square foot Brooklyn unit, on a hard cost per square foot basis with soft costs on top, July 2026. Of the $207,000, $157,000 is what Padlest, its donors and partners cover, because the grant is capped. The grant figure is the Unlocking Doors per unit cap and is subject to HPD approval and eligibility.

The fastest way to get a family off a shelter cot is a door that already exists

2025 was the city's strongest year for new apartment delivery in six decades. Even at that pace, closing the housing gap by construction alone would take roughly a decade. A family in a shelter tonight cannot wait a decade.

~$700KEstimated total development cost of one new affordable apartment in New York City.

$207KAll in cost of restoring an existing rent stabilized apartment, renovation and soft costs together. Under a third of the price, and $157,000 of it is what Padlest, its donors and partners cover.

~6 yearsFrom the decision to build one new apartment in New York to the day somebody can move into it. Only about two of those years are construction. The rest is approvals, design, and financing.

1 to 6 monthsWhat restoring an existing apartment takes, because the building is already standing. A family waits months for a door, not years for a building.

And a family shelter placement costs the city about $68,600 a year. The same family in a voucher backed home costs about $26,300.

Nightly shelter and voucher rates via WIN, reported by Crain's New York Business, annualized. The six year timeline and the eighteen to twenty four month construction window inside it are as described by a senior development executive at the NRP Group, reported by Spectrum News 1 in October 2025, for a typical affordable project. It does not include lease up, which NYC data puts at a further 210 days on average. The one to six month window is Padlest's operating target for a unit from intake to move in day.

Social Impact

Fund a renovation and move a family out of the shelter system. Tell us you'd like to give and we'll follow up personally.

Free renovations

If you hold vacant rent stabilized units, Padlest restores them at no cost to you and places a family in them. Sign up and we will get back to you personally.

Partner with us

Mission aligned funding, city coordination, and press interest are what turn this from a proposal into reopened homes.