🎙️ Affordable housing isn’t a construction problem. It’s a capital infrastructure problem.
In this episode of Tangelic Talks, hosts Victoria and TJ speak with Nick Khamsopa, CEO of Hudson Housing Lifestyle. Nick is spearheading a mission to build 5,000 units of affordable workforce housing across New York State.
He breaks down the reality of scaling mixed-use, transit-oriented development. From identifying abandoned brownfields to negotiating with local municipalities, Nick explains how he aligns 100% union labor with institutional capital from Wall Street and union pension funds.
In This Episode, We Explore:
🏗️ Nick's path from a union carpenter to overseeing high-speed rail.
💰 The economics of affordable housing and why government subsidies are the only way to close the gap on $300/sq ft construction costs.
🏘️ Why workforce housing (for teachers, nurses, and police) is critical to keeping local economies alive.
🤝 How to win community trust by guaranteeing local union jobs.
📊 Why institutional investors won't fund a single building, but will fund a 5,000-unit portfolio.
🔹 About Our Guest: Nick Khamsopa is the CEO of Hudson Housing Lifestyle, focusing on community-driven affordable housing in New York's Hudson Valley.
💬 Join the Conversation: What do you think is the biggest barrier to affordable housing in your city? Drop your thoughts below 👇
🌱 Support the Mission: Find extended guest resources at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks.
🔖 #TangelicTalks #AffordableHousing #RealEstateInvesting #CommunityDevelopment #WorkforceHousing #UrbanPlanning #JustTransition #SustainableInvestment #HudsonValley
Tags: affordable housing development, workforce housing, Hudson Housing Lifestyle, Nick Khamsopa, TOD transit oriented development, real estate capital stack, community development, New York housing crisis, green real estate, brownfield redevelopment, Tangelic Talks
In this episode of Tangelic Talks, hosts Victoria and TJ speak with Nick Khamsopa, CEO of Hudson Housing Lifestyle. Nick is spearheading a mission to build 5,000 units of affordable workforce housing across New York State.
He breaks down the reality of scaling mixed-use, transit-oriented development. From identifying abandoned brownfields to negotiating with local municipalities, Nick explains how he aligns 100% union labor with institutional capital from Wall Street and union pension funds.
In This Episode, We Explore:
🏗️ Nick's path from a union carpenter to overseeing high-speed rail.
💰 The economics of affordable housing and why government subsidies are the only way to close the gap on $300/sq ft construction costs.
🏘️ Why workforce housing (for teachers, nurses, and police) is critical to keeping local economies alive.
🤝 How to win community trust by guaranteeing local union jobs.
📊 Why institutional investors won't fund a single building, but will fund a 5,000-unit portfolio.
🔹 About Our Guest: Nick Khamsopa is the CEO of Hudson Housing Lifestyle, focusing on community-driven affordable housing in New York's Hudson Valley.
💬 Join the Conversation: What do you think is the biggest barrier to affordable housing in your city? Drop your thoughts below 👇
🌱 Support the Mission: Find extended guest resources at TangelicLife.org/TangelicTalks.
🔖 #TangelicTalks #AffordableHousing #RealEstateInvesting #CommunityDevelopment #WorkforceHousing #UrbanPlanning #JustTransition #SustainableInvestment #HudsonValley
Tags: affordable housing development, workforce housing, Hudson Housing Lifestyle, Nick Khamsopa, TOD transit oriented development, real estate capital stack, community development, New York housing crisis, green real estate, brownfield redevelopment, Tangelic Talks
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00At 11 years old when I stepped off the plane, I came here and the first thing they did was
00:04stop from JFK into New York City and I look up this building from the jungle of Thailand, the tall
00:12tree, look at the building and I'm like, how in the world do you build something like that?
00:17Satan said, one of these days I'm going to learn how to build something like that.
00:20Dream it and don't stop.
00:23Yeah, that's it.
00:24Speak out loud to the universe.
00:30For your podcast, consider green, tell me as a suggestion that combines an upbeat and abiding spirit without any micro
00:35music.
00:37Welcome to Tangelic Talks, your go-to podcast from Tangelic, where we dive into the vibrant world of clean energy,
00:44development, sustainability, and climate change in Africa.
00:47We bring you inspiring stories, insightful discussions, and groundbreaking innovations from the continent making waves in the global community.
00:55Tune in and join the conversation toward a brighter, greener future.
00:58Let's get started.
01:03Welcome to Tangelic Talks, a podcast at the intersection of energy, equity, and empowerment with your co-hosts, Victoria and
01:09TJ.
01:09In today's episode, we're talking with Nick Camposa.
01:12He's worked across every stage of built environment from beginning his career as a union carpenter to overseeing high-risk
01:18construction, commercial contracting, land acquisition, project finance, federally insured housing.
01:23He's done it all, guys, and he's going to help us today through his work at Hudson Housing Lifestyle to
01:30understand how we deliver mixed-use, transit-oriented communities, bringing together all the stakeholders like developers, municipalities, investors, all these
01:39people into a shared vision for long-term value.
01:42Welcome to Tangelic Talks, Nick.
01:46Well, thank you for having me.
01:47I'm not sure if I can tell you a lot of things, but I'm excited to be on and looking
01:52forward to our talk here.
01:55So I'll let you leave.
01:56No, I'm so happy you're here.
01:58How do you go from a union carpenter to overseeing high-rise construction?
02:02Talk us through your journey.
02:03Was this something you were always interested in?
02:05How did you find yourself at this crossroad?
02:08You know, they said, be careful what you wish for.
02:12And as I progressed in my 50s now, I truly believe in energy, right?
02:17So that dream, the dream building, and then when you speak and the universe gives you whether you believe in
02:23God or you believe in universe.
02:26At 11 years old, when I stepped off the plane, my parents picked me up from JFK.
02:31My father was an American GI man.
02:34My mother came here.
02:35My grandmother raised me until I was 11.
02:37When I finished sixth grade, I got shot on a plane to come here.
02:42And the first thing they did was stop from JFK into New York City.
02:47And I look up this, you know, this building from the jungle of Thailand, the tall tree, look in the
02:53building.
02:53And I'm like, how in the world do you build something like that?
02:57And Satan said, one of these days, I'm going to learn how to build something like that.
03:02Wow, you just put it out there.
03:05Yeah, at 11 years old, right?
03:08And then as I progressed to school, I lost interest and we grew up very poor.
03:14I know I could never burden my parents to go pay for college.
03:19So I'm like, I'm going to go to construction school during that time.
03:21Growing up in 80s, the outsider, you know, Robert Marchale and Patrick Swayze.
03:26And they were doing the movie about carpentry.
03:29I'm like, that is so cool.
03:31I want to go to Roses and learn carpentry.
03:34And I did.
03:35While I was going to high school, my shop teacher said, you're such a good worker.
03:41Why don't you come work with me?
03:41I'm like, what do you do?
03:42I say, I build houses during the summer.
03:44I'm like, no way.
03:45And then from there to vocation school, from vocation school into union construction school.
03:52And by the time I got into union, I learned so much.
03:54I'm like, you know, I need to learn high-rise commercial before, you know, I was working
04:00as a superintendent for safety coordinator for Turner Construction in Midtown Manhattan.
04:06You know what I mean?
04:07When I graduated, I already knew I wanted to start a general contracting company.
04:11And 1996, a year and a half later, I had close to 100 million guys working for me up
04:16and down the coast.
04:17It just happened because you put your mindset to it.
04:22And then when you hit that level, it's like, well, when you build something, the next thing
04:27you want to do is like, you get bored when success people have a tendency, when you get
04:32to that level, the challenge yourself, I have that personality.
04:36It's like, now I want to know how to own the asset, not building for someone, build for
04:44myself.
04:46Basing on economy downturn, 2006 real estate collapse, 2008 financial collapse, and then
04:53recession.
04:54You know, it's not, I'm not going to say it's easy, but the true roots of all is learning
05:00that construction and that years of apprenticeship taught me to understand the in and out construction
05:09and becoming a custom home builder and buying track of land and developing land, understand
05:14entitlement, egress, and rest, wall and sewer.
05:17You know, to where before this, we end up spearheading high-speed rail for United States
05:24Congress, so outstanding development rail throughout the United States.
05:30Doing this affordable housing is a lot smaller scale than when my wife and I was traveling
05:37the country, trying to implement high-speed rail for President Obama in 2015 to 2017.
05:44That's very cool.
05:44It sounds like you learn by doing.
05:47Yeah, by doing it.
05:48And then same thing, fell into finance because I was forced, I borrowed money all the time
05:54and I have the tendency to connect the dots.
05:56It's like, that's a light bulb that go up and I'm like, okay, I get it.
06:00I understand who it is and I understand why they're doing it and how to get from that
06:05point A to B.
06:06Maybe you have to have the wisdom and the burning desire to knock on the door and say, how do
06:16you do it?
06:18No, no, fascinating.
06:19A very commendable story.
06:21And maybe we can delve into that point A to B much more in terms of projects you work
06:26on.
06:27I think the audience, and especially myself, would be really interested in knowing how
06:30do you maybe from the start look to analyze a project, whether it's a brownfield site,
06:37whether it's a new site, whether it's a go site or a no-go site, what are the characteristics
06:43that you're looking for and how do you get to that last level where it's maybe affordable
06:48housing or affordable and the right project for yourself and Hudson?
06:53You know what?
06:55When we implemented high-speed rail, I didn't come up with the idea.
06:59It wasn't a full project off the shelf.
07:01I took the project off the shelf and said, I'm going to do it.
07:04So New York State, you know, Governor Cuomo, when we spearhead a high-speed rail for him,
07:12his second mission was to do this affordable housing.
07:17The new government came in and implemented one million unit affordability, affordable housing
07:22throughout New York State.
07:25And he passed legislation in 2025 to build 800,000 units.
07:30Other 800,000 units that passed legislation, well, 160,000 to 200,000 units were built.
07:38So majority is being built.
07:41When you hear the Mayor Madnani is doing 50,000 units, that's not really his mission statement.
07:47It's the state mission to do affordable housing for New York in the form of workforce.
07:51And we call affordability, not in the form of low-income or Section 8.
07:56It's affordability for market rate, meaning that based on the county, AMI, you know,
08:03like my county's 2,400, I cannot charge more than that.
08:07So in return for me to build this and keep the rent roll, we use capital stack from the government
08:14subsidy,
08:15federal subsidy, local subsidy, to build the building so we can charge AMI for the policemen,
08:23the teacher, the firemen, the nurses, and the local municipality.
08:30This is not what people think.
08:33This is low.
08:34It's affordable for workforce housing so we can track the youth without them migrating to the state of Florida, Texas,
08:43or Arizona.
08:43So we have our kids that are growing up in the area, especially in New York, since COVID.
08:49We lost 430 people single day in the state of Florida.
08:52Florida now is number three in the country for population density, and New York just lost that rating.
09:01If we don't do this, we're going to have a major economic impact in New York state.
09:05That's why you see such a massive transformation in New York City and upstate.
09:12The problem is, to do this, you have to be, you have to have deep pocket.
09:17So the elite of Manhattan does not want to come up north of Westchester.
09:22So they leave the scrap for me.
09:24So I go around from village to village, from town to town, look at abandoned warehouse
09:28or a previous brownfield that have access to wall and sewer, run my market analysis using my fair experience
09:38and my previous knowledge gain on understanding the infrastructure of egress and ingress,
09:45and couple that with New York mission statement.
09:49Thus, I know and understand how to identify the site so we can then engage into it
09:57and then leverage that with the grant along with the federal and local to secure the capital
10:06and sell equity to the investment bank on Manhattan to take control of site location and engineering.
10:13Wow.
10:14So you weren't kidding about being really good at connecting A to B.
10:17You've just connected A through to the alphabet there.
10:20There's all these minutes you're thinking about and how they will feed into everything.
10:24And I think that's one of the things that get lost when we talk about construction and infrastructure.
10:28We see it as the, you know, the final product being the building.
10:32But all these things that you're thinking of in the background and how they interact with governance
10:36and policy of the state you're working in or the local area.
10:40Super interesting.
10:41And the biggest fear, right?
10:44Biggest fear, fear of failing.
10:45So people are afraid to approach because they're afraid to, oh, no.
10:50Listen, I'm not going to say that I can do this for the East.
10:54It's not an easy task to take this mission statement, right?
10:59800,000.
11:00I say, I'm going to build 5,000 units, right?
11:02And I'm going to do this as a 2.5 billion construction for the next five years.
11:07Unite all the local union leaders to support with the local IDA, local economic development.
11:17Say, listen, we're going to create value and assist in the, you know, shortage of housing and connection.
11:24Right.
11:26But however, they're afraid people are afraid to approach and engage in to assembling the infrastructure that needed to make
11:36this project become reality.
11:39Right.
11:40Fear and time.
11:41Time take, it takes a lot of time to do it and fear of rejection.
11:44So most people don't do it because you may know how to do it, but you cannot be afraid of
11:51not doing it.
11:53I hope that makes sense, you guys.
11:56No, definitely.
11:57And I can imagine fear of letting down all the stakeholders that you've got kind of riding on it, especially
12:02the type of projects you do that are so all-encompassing.
12:07Correct.
12:08Yes.
12:09It's a huge undertaking.
12:11A lot of work, you know what I mean?
12:14Okay.
12:15Maybe I can ask this one because we've talked about, you know, interacting with the communities.
12:20So, and obviously this is why you're creating a lot of these projects.
12:25So on my end, it will be really good to know about first how you engage with that community, because
12:31I can imagine that a major part of the communities can be quite skeptical when people say that you're creating
12:37that affordable housing.
12:38Other times, some communities might be scared of maybe gentrification of around the area.
12:44So how do you reassure that community that you're creating housing that is first right for them?
12:51Because I know it's just like the Hudson lifestyle.
12:55You mentioned that every project is different, right?
12:58So how do you interact with each community and also make sure that they're kind of on your side too?
13:06You know, you're the first one to ever ask that question.
13:09I'm very impressed with that.
13:11Trying the best.
13:14Yeah, yeah, you might.
13:15I have no idea.
13:16You've got great backgrounds around your house.
13:18Wow.
13:20I have a big house.
13:22There's a problem.
13:22The house is so big.
13:23My office is way on the other side.
13:25Great backgrounds.
13:26So the signal doesn't get...
13:29No, that's so far.
13:31...get through it, you know?
13:32It happens.
13:32Anyway, I don't think you're going to have a problem because I'm right next in the moment.
13:36Perfect.
13:36There we go.
13:38It's so good.
13:40No, that's why I stated before.
13:43It's a great question you have because most people don't understand it.
13:50And that's the biggest problem I'm having, right?
13:53So I'm going to scale up to build 5,000 units.
13:56Think about Marriott, Courtyard, prototypical in each village.
13:59100 units per location from village to village.
14:03We didn't walk in distance to a train or bus stop.
14:06That's why we call it TOD.
14:07Now, the biggest problem is being a local.
14:10So we had to move from Florida to here, back from, you know, state of Florida to build this house
14:15to call residents.
14:17So we came back for the purpose of trying to engage with this.
14:22And I grew up here at the high-speed rail, moved to Florida.
14:25I came back to build a house to plant the roots.
14:28And then my wife spent four years certifying herself as a woman, WBE for New York State and Federal Register,
14:38Federal Contractor, General Contractor.
14:41Cool.
14:42To assist my pre-development.
14:44So first was local and grew up here being local.
14:48And I'm a union guy.
14:49And this is where it pays now.
14:52Because all those years in the union, coming back to this, I say, listen, if you're going to do this,
14:58let's do it right.
14:59We're getting a tremendous amount of money from the federal and state.
15:02So my firm, hi, union guy for local job to create local development.
15:09And the union leaders connect me to union AFL-CIO, union pension fund, who is going to buy their senior
15:17debts when the budget completed.
15:19So now it's 100% union.
15:22I said, now we're going to create jobs here.
15:24With that union leader that they help securitize the local economic development, local IDA.
15:32With this local relationship, then we come to the planning board and say, we're local.
15:38Let's go back to what you're saying in the beginning about how you make a community.
15:43So I make it through community by developing and creating a job for the community first before you can turn
15:52around, you're building a community.
15:53You can't build a community and hire a guy from the state of Texas to come in here to do
15:59construction.
16:00You know what I mean?
16:00That doesn't work, especially when you have a lot of taxpayer money and the union pension fund,
16:07which is part of that pension fund, to reinvest it back into these assets.
16:13So now with that local support, then the town can say, okay, they're local people.
16:20Because the local guy is doing the work, right?
16:23High-powering rate job, they're making the money.
16:26And then the money he makes, he can go to a dealership, buy a nicer car,
16:30and afford to spend a little bit more money on grocery.
16:32And so it's truly economic uplift for the local community.
16:37And the money stay in the village and the city and the town and the county because it's New York
16:44State capital.
16:47Yeah.
16:49And it's one of those.
16:51That's something about, yeah.
16:52Go ahead.
16:53I was just, because you were talking about how important it is to be part of the community
16:58and sort of you're not coming in as a stranger.
17:01You understand what you're working with, where you're working with,
17:04and how it affects people because it affects you as well, right?
17:08How do you, how are you able to sort of separate the two?
17:13Because there's something about, it's really good to be part of the community,
17:16but that might give you sort of a slanted view of things or a bit of a, I don't know,
17:21bit of bias on how things should happen.
17:23Whereas I can imagine when you're coordinating so many stakeholders,
17:26not everyone's going to be a part of the community.
17:28So being able to relate that back to them, how does that work?
17:33Yeah.
17:34You know, it's funny about development is that the hardest thing about development
17:40is gaining trust from their community, right?
17:44So that's the biggest developer in the United States called Related,
17:49and they came up with the name Related.
17:51They're not really a developer.
17:53They're an infrastructure of funding and construction background.
17:59Okay.
17:59They're looking for, they can't come into this community
18:04or the community throughout the United States trying to put on something like this.
18:08So I'm more of a sponsor.
18:11I put in the relationship and the municipality to show them to gain the trust that we are going for
18:20this
18:21and really truly build this, not destroying the community.
18:24That's why it's three years in the making.
18:26We have not broken ground on one, right?
18:28But however, to get this approval or pre-approval or pre-entitlement,
18:37they call it pre-development, to get that acquisition, engineer, architect, planning board approval,
18:42when we get through all that, it's easy for Related to come in
18:48to bring their capital in and their construction company to build.
18:52So Related partner with local development.
18:55So that's how, what I do is very similar to that.
19:00I take these, put all this structure in and said,
19:03I can't say I'm going to build one and then go to Wall Street.
19:07He said, by the way, I need like, you know, $3, $4 million to,
19:12but if you scale them up to do 5,000 units, 50 locations,
19:17then that means, listen, I need $200 million, $100 million to $200 million.
19:21Wall Street does not want to get out of bed unless they can raise $100 million.
19:25Of course.
19:26Mezzanine.
19:27So I have to scale this up, projection to do development from, you know,
19:33north of Westchester to Albany to Rochester in a small town, America.
19:37To scale it up to a 50 location and then take that prototypical
19:41and then go back to Wall Street and say,
19:44can you please help us out?
19:46Of course.
19:47Because I'm not some rich guy.
19:48I'm not some, you know, big time developer.
19:51That is the hardest bridge.
19:53How interesting.
19:54Because if I were to build 50 locations, if I have $100 million to start it,
19:59if people with $100 million, it's not going to do it.
20:02They're going to put their money in the investment grade paper and making 18, 22% a year.
20:06It's always the one that someone like similar to my background with a vision and dream
20:12to come out, work so hard to get through this rigorous and, you know,
20:20of negativity and the thought throwing at you and saying, you know,
20:24this guy, what is he doing and how is he doing it?
20:28So my narrative that Robbie and I are trying to paint right now is that
20:33we're in an infrastructure of capital partnership with the construction
20:39and development team to merge together for the purpose of developing affordable housing.
20:45That is the first thing I discuss with you.
20:47And the question you guys are asking is an extremely intelligent question
20:52because this is what a development is.
20:55If you do want to do one, good luck.
20:58You can do one and become successful at that.
21:01It's going to take you the same amount of time to scale up to, you know,
21:0550 locations for your build-out because build one of these, you know,
21:10is three to four years.
21:11But in four years, I want to be able to do, you know,
21:14close to 40, 50 locations for construction.
21:17That's how to truly create the job and cause an impact on the economy
21:24in the local because you're spending two, two and a half billion in the capital
21:29for the local union and for them to assist with the workforce.
21:34You know, it's a large scale investment in that case.
21:38Right.
21:39A large scale, but however, the bridge money or mezzanine money is 100 million.
21:44100 million triggered a $2.5 billion construction.
21:47And the $2.5 billion construction is where they exited to, you know,
21:53AFL-CIO, head housing investment trust to buy the mortgage.
21:57So the infrastructure, when I said this infrastructure, that's what I meant.
22:03The capital infrastructure is lay to match with the operation of the union
22:09and a general contract to come in, scale this up from one location
22:14to another location, another location, to assist the dire need
22:18of this housing crisis that New York State is having.
22:23No, no.
22:25It's quite good.
22:26Like you said, it's commendable, that kind of impact investing.
22:29I know some people don't love that term all the time,
22:31but it does feel like, especially as you are, like you said,
22:35trying to grow and get more housing projects altogether in aggregate,
22:38you're making a massive difference.
22:40And maybe just a broader question, because if you're looking
22:44at mixed housing and affordable housing, I'd like to just ask,
22:48in terms of the last decade or two, how the landscape has changed
22:53in terms of affordable housing and mixed housing, whether it is the returns,
22:57whether it is how you do engage that question asked before,
23:01and also just the different types of incentives that you can get
23:05from the government, what things have maybe changed
23:07in terms of summer doors and centres being available, not there,
23:11in terms of the returns, how they've changed as well.
23:15We've asked a similar question to a previous guest regarding the pandemic too.
23:21There's so many ways you can go, but very interesting just to learn
23:23about how that landscape has changed overall.
23:27Yeah, you know what, when we came back from Florida for my wife
23:35to certify herself, she needed a cash flow and business operation,
23:39so she dived into headfirst to do custom homes, right?
23:42I'm going to count the number from four years ago.
23:46I used to be a custom home builder in this area, you know, 25 years ago.
23:51I did a massive development, eight to ten homes a year.
23:55I had a best friend I grew up with that still do the same thing,
23:59but I took off to do other stuff and development from high-speed rail
24:03to come back to this, and then while my wife was scaling up
24:06to build four or five custom homes from the grandma.
24:10And I remember when the house, the last time I did,
24:14I was building the house for $80 a square feet, right?
24:16This is 19, this is 2002, 2003, 2004, at $90 a square feet.
24:24Well, this house, I bid it at about $180 a square feet.
24:28I went to see my best friend.
24:29He said, Nicky, you can't do it for that price.
24:32It's $240 a square feet.
24:34But I said, no, I'm doing a lot of work myself.
24:36He said, no, trust me.
24:37So we built the first house at $180 a square feet,
24:42and we lost about, us saving about $80,000 of our money.
24:47So when we ran the number on it, so we increased it from $180 to $240,000.
24:52And then next time, we did $250,000, $260,000.
24:55So going back to four years, this is 2026.
24:59So 2022, think about $240,000, 2023.
25:04You talk about $260,000 per square feet.
25:08Now, if you come to me, it would cost me, my cost, at $300,000 a square feet.
25:14I have to short you $400,000 a square feet to make profit.
25:18So let's take $3,000 square foot an hour times $400 a foot.
25:22That's $1.2 million.
25:24Then you have to buy the land at $300,000.
25:27You're $1.5.
25:28But the neighbor is like $800,000, $900,000 in comparison analysis.
25:32So that means you shortfall $500,000.
25:35So you have to show up at the table, $500,000 cash.
25:40And when you build this house, your house is only valued based on a comp of $1 million.
25:44So you have a $500,000 shortfall.
25:46Welcome to America.
25:48This is the problem across the United States, why housing is a major crisis.
25:53So the new generation can't afford it.
25:55So therefore, this affordability is that through LIHTC Structure Finance is a tax credit to put into affordable housing.
26:07With New York State launching $25 billion subsidy, we can secure up to 70% to 80% of the
26:14capital to mitigate the construction bill to de-risk the developer so we can charge that MAI.
26:23Have this been done before?
26:25No, this is the first time in New York State.
26:28There's other program out there with LIHTC that does affordability.
26:32But do not confuse this with a voucher Section 8 HUD affordability project or low-income affordability.
26:41This is a market rate affordable in the form of non-voucher.
26:46Just keep the AMI at the county average.
26:49So that's the biggest issue.
26:52So to develop 1 million or 800,000 units throughout New York State is a massive undertaking.
26:58But however, you can see the economy in New York City.
27:01The economy being grown rapidly in the five-year-old Manhattan is slowly pushing up north.
27:09And this is why Elizabeth Warren pushed the housing bill to pass the Congress.
27:18And it did pass Congress, even though President Trump didn't sign it.
27:21This is a perfect prototypical that's going to go across the United States for the next 20 years.
27:31Well, I mean, it sounds like one of those where, yes, it sounds harder, doesn't it?
27:36Yeah.
27:36But it also sounds like because the challenge is so much bigger, it feels more rewarding to an extent, right?
27:42That's the word I'm searching for.
27:43It's rewarding knowing that you can put it together because it's a win-win for local economy, win-win for
27:50the village and the city that accept it.
27:52But, you know, now you can walk in and you talk about affordable housing or the major village and cities
28:00like, welcome, please come on in.
28:02When she first launched this, like, you know, three years ago, four years ago, every city was suing her because
28:09it's like, I don't want a little income in my backyard.
28:11I'm going to sue you.
28:12Now everyone's like, oh, my God, this is, you know, disposable income.
28:17This is people with jobs that can economic, you know, spend money in my village, in my restaurant.
28:23So they all want that because we're not targeting, you know, Section 8 housing for the one that can afford
28:32it.
28:32And I'm sure it depends on the village.
28:34Certain village say, listen, you got to give me five, six units or eight units out of 100 units to
28:39make it, you know, for subsidy or whatever it is.
28:42But majority of the village does not want subsidy.
28:45They really want to talk at it.
28:47My county itself was short 33,000 units.
28:51The county next to me is 28,000 units.
28:55New York State is short 1 million units of housing right now.
29:00We can't build them fast enough.
29:02Yeah.
29:03It's a lot.
29:05It's too many people.
29:06Jesus.
29:07It's happening.
29:07It's happening in so many different major cities.
29:10Yeah, it's happening here as well.
29:11Happens in London.
29:12It happens in Toronto.
29:14It will happen in so many different places in the West.
29:16And no, it's commendable.
29:18Like you said, you're definitely reaching that 800,000 housing sites or goal, helping to reach that.
29:24So it's commendable.
29:26Well, I won't reach it.
29:27My goal is only to do 5,000.
29:29I mean, I'm in the whole government as far.
29:31Yeah.
29:32I hope they do.
29:32Yeah.
29:32I hope there's more people like me.
29:35Matter of fact, you know, to get this because I'm nobody.
29:40Believe it or not, I have to go back to New York City and ask one of those big developers
29:46to sit on as a general partner.
29:48Or I could never get funding because they want to see who is help driving the bus.
29:55So at the end of the day, this development is not for a local flipper or local mine power who's
30:03doing 10, 12 units.
30:04Like I say, each location is approximately 100 to 150 units, prototypical.
30:09And each location is $50 to $75 million construction budget to build these.
30:15So it's not a small development.
30:20It's a large-scale development.
30:21That's the only way I can get the support of the local, you know, municipality, local county, local state, or
30:32the union to back it.
30:34Because if you were going to build four units, you can't hire a union.
30:39You have to do, you know, multi-million dollar project.
30:42And thus, you want to build a union for the safety.
30:45Each man has certification and safety of OSHA so it can mitigate the risk.
30:51of accident and, you know, mishap.
30:55So we can have a smooth construction called the biggest risk is from the day we close on construction turnkey.
31:03That is the biggest risk.
31:05Thus, we have to have a construction company with 40 years to 100 years experience.
31:11Or you can get financing.
31:13So you kind of have to work with the institution to make this project work without coming in and saying,
31:21I'm a New York City developer.
31:24So it's not easy.
31:26Yes, I understand the thought.
31:28I understand how to connect that.
31:30But getting to that, you know, some of my executive office is scratching their head.
31:34It's like, I don't understand.
31:35I'm like, I hear you.
31:37It sounds like a minefield.
31:39Yeah, I hear you.
31:41It's a lot.
31:42You know, then you have to go in and explain to the municipality and explain to the people you work
31:47with.
31:48And I'm like, no, no, no.
31:49That's not what this is.
31:50You got to read.
31:51You got to read it.
31:51Look, look.
31:52It's going on.
31:53It's happening throughout the state.
31:55Look at these.
31:56So when I hear blips on the news, I'm like, oh, yeah, I know who's doing that.
32:00When I hear, you know, AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust is committed to invest $4 billion in New York City.
32:07I know why.
32:08Because part of that is 50,000 units.
32:11Someone is doing 50,000 units of affordable housing, you know?
32:14Yeah.
32:15So it's exciting to be part of that.
32:17I can imagine.
32:18It's very rewarding.
32:20It's tough, stressful, but it's rewarding.
32:23I can imagine.
32:25And I want to close out the episode before we go nerd out at the Q&A.
32:31How or what would you tell someone who's looking into breaking into this?
32:36You know, the next person that lands at JFK, walks out into New York and looks up and is like,
32:42I want to do what Nick is doing.
32:43How do they even start getting into this minefield?
32:49Dream it.
32:50Yeah.
32:50Manifest it.
32:51Don't stop.
32:52Yeah, that's it.
32:52Speak out loud to the universe.
32:55Ask for help.
32:56Ask God.
32:58Ask universe.
32:59Whoever you believe in at high power, speak about it.
33:03Discuss it.
33:05You know, dream about it at nighttime.
33:07Put in a piece of paper.
33:09Write it down.
33:10Fold them up.
33:11Put it in your bed.
33:12It's amazing how, you know, the power universe can help you open these doors based on, you know, what you
33:20want.
33:21You read any successful books.
33:23You study any successful speaker.
33:26They all have the same thing.
33:29And never give up.
33:31You get up every morning.
33:33That's a matter of how.
33:33Listen, I'm in my mid-50s.
33:35And I still get up every single day doing this and pound the pavement.
33:42Am I ever going to stop?
33:44Probably not.
33:44Because I enjoy, you know, make it desirable for yourself.
33:49It's you against the world.
33:51Don't do it to prove to other people.
33:54It's you against you.
33:55There's a movie by Adam Sandler.
33:57It's only you can do it.
33:58It's you against you.
34:00And you don't have to prove to no one except yourself.
34:03I love that.
34:04Thank you so much, Nick.
34:05That was, it's a minefield that was very easy to understand.
34:09So I really commend you for being so easy to understand.
34:12I really appreciate it.
34:14We're going to stay on for a bit longer and nerd out a bit more about these investments.
34:18But I'm also really interested about your work around brownfields.
34:21So we're going to talk about that on the questionnaire and Q&A that you can find at angeliclife.org.
34:28You'll also be able to find Nick's information and the amazing work happening at Hudson Housing Lifestyle.
34:35And we'll catch you guys on the next one.
34:58Angelic talks, energy, equity, pride, empowering the world side by side.
35:05A spark becomes a fire, a vision that's true.
35:08Together we rise.
35:10It starts with you.
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