The UNHP Building Indicator Project (BIP)

The Building Indicator Project (BIP) is a weighted database that was developed by University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP) to identify multifamily properties in physical and financial distress.  The database originally included only the properties in the Bronx, but now includes the 62,241 buildings (5 units or more) in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.*

The BIP uses a formula that draws on violations records, city liens, and other building information to create a scoring system that is an indicator of distress.  UNHP worked with financial institutions, appraisers, and research organizations to develop the scoring system over a period of time so that the score reflects more accurately current conditions and is a proven indicator of financial or physical distress in a property. 

Using software created for UNHP, specified housing data is collected from the NYC Department of Buildings, ACRIS, HPD, Department of Finance and Department of Environmental Protection web sites. UNHP has used the BIP as a collaborative tool to meet with lenders to discuss their portfolios and to work to gain improvements to the properties; the UNHP BIP produced an improvement in 74% of the buildings identified as distressed and mortgaged by lenders that are working with UNHP on this initiative.

UNHP uses the BIP data to outreach to multifamily lenders regarding improving the status of their portfolios, primarily in the Bronx, but also citywide. UNHP also shares the citywide BIP data with HPD and is about to open the data up to community groups throughout the City.

New York City's Multifamily Housing in Distress is an extensive report by UNHP using BIP data released in April 2011. You can download the report here.

The UNHP Home-Owner Outreach Database (HOOD)

The HOOD includes basic property information for nearly 580,000 1-4 family properties throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan,* as well as data on outstanding property tax and water charges. It is designed to work as an outreach tool to reach homeowners at-risk for foreclosure and/or lien sales and water shutoff.

Free Enterprise Subscriptions

Enterprise Community Partners is offering nonprofit organizations in New York City a limited number of free subscriptions to University Neighborhood Housing Program’s Building Indicator Project (BIP) and Home Owner Outreach Databases (HOOD).   

An Enterprise Subscription entitles the recipient organization to a two-year subscription to the BIP and/or HOOD database.  In each of the two years, the organization will receive two deliveries of the BIP and/or HOOD data for their designated catchment area, for a total of four data deliveries. A basic application will be required of all organizations interested in subscriptions.

(*) Because Staten Island data is not readily available from New York City databases, the borough's information is not included in the BIP/HOOD databases.

See press coverage of the BIP database in Crain's New York Business, the NY Daily News, and on NBC News.