Technical Assistance at PICCED
PICCED provides technical assistance in the areas
of architecture and planning to community-based nonprofits to
build and sustain the economic, social and physical infrastructure
of their communities.
PICCED's community planning services enable localities
to develop comprehensive strategies for the sustainable revitalization
of their communities. We assist in the integration of social and
human infrastructure issues - access to social services, health
care, education, employment, training, recreational amenities
and day care -- into their operating programs and sustainable
development activities.
PICCED's capacity to launch innovative program models
has had a substantial impact in the New York region where, for
example, it has helped dozens of local organizations to initiate
community-based housing programs such as linked-development, cross-subsidy
and a range of tenant-controlled and owner-occupied housing innovations.
Project-specific services are carried out by the
Pratt Planning and Architectural Collaborative (PPAC), a related
but independent entity. PPAC helps local groups to undertake neighborhood
surveys and needs assessments, identify sites and shepherd projects
through the complex development process. Architectural assistance
includes schematic design, the development of construction documents
and construction phase monitoring. PPAC is often called upon to
provide pre-development services, and thus becomes the catalyst
for packaging the public and private resources necessary for getting
projects off the ground.
PPAC's staff includes architects, planners, financial
packaging specialists with extensive experience in planning and
building affordable and special needs housing (over 5000 units
to date), community health care and day care facilities, schools,
and economic development projects. Our architectural work has
included moderate rehabilitation to preserve occupied buildings
as tenant-controlled affordable housing, innovative designs for
SRO and affordable family housing, the first new building to provide
housing and services for people with AIDS and HIV in Brooklyn,
and a community cultural and commercial center in the Bronx. PPAC
planners have helped grassroots coalitions to prepare community
plans, create new zoning districts, plan and finance Section 202
housing for senior citizens, and create innovative financial packages
to create and preserve affordable housing.
PPAC's assistance ranges from project-specific,
fee-for-service contracts for financial packaging or full architectural
and construction monitoring services, to pro-bono consultations
with groups in the early planning stages of projects, and interventions
on behalf of community and tenant organizations faced with building-related
crisis situations. We are particularly committed to working with
grassroots organizations who need assistance in developing innovative
projects that may ultimately become models for others. We have
helped many organizations to develop the preliminary designs,
construction cost estimates, and project budgets that have enabled
them to move their projects forward, even in the present environment
of fiscal austerity.
Over the past 30 years, PICCED's comprehensive technical
assistance services have been an invaluable resource to community-based
organizations with limited budgets and staff expertise. Without
access to the professional services offered by the Pratt Center,
hundreds of innovative projects may not have been realized. In
the past ten years, PICCED staff have been responsible for the
planning, design and construction of affordable housing and community
facilities worth over $70 million.