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The cash-strapped New York City Housing Authority will receive more than $300 million in public and private funding to rehabilitate 21 public housing developments.

The funding is a combination of stimulus money, private funds from Citibank, state aid and bond financing. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan says the transaction will affect more than 20,000 apartments and is likely the most significant preservation effort in the history of public housing nationwide.

“Today we are preserving the equivalent of Washington D.C.'s and Boston's public housing combined,” Donovan says.

Donovan says in addition the federal government will provide NYCHA with up to $75 million annually for day-to-day operations at the 21 developments.

These housing complexes were built by the city and state but have been unfunded since 2003, forcing NYCHA to stretch their limited federal funds. The problem is partly to blame for its current $150 million deficit. The transaction means Citibank will partially own the units, the bank is providing a $200 million investment. But Donovan says the agreement doesn't allow for privatization now or in the future.

NYCHA says the ownership transfer won't affect the complexes' public housing status either. The authority will still manage the developments and own the land they are on.