Affordable Housing

December 20, 2017

New legislation will a create a real-time portal for affordable housing in NYC

During its last full-body meeting of the year, the New York City Council passed a bill Tuesday that makes it easier for low-income renters to find apartments by creating a user-friendly online portal. Under the new legislation, landlords who receive tax breaks in exchange for renting below-market units will be required to register units each year with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. As the Wall Street Journal reported, the department would list these units online and match potential tenants by their income with apartments.
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December 14, 2017

On the site of a former Bronx church, 76 affordable units are up for grabs, from $718/month

St. Augustine Apartments, a brand new affordable multi-family building in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx, is accepting applications for 76 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Located on the site of the demolished St. Augustine's Church at 1180 Fulton Avenue, the complex, designed by Magnusson Architecture and Planning, contains 112 units and measures slightly more than 117,000 square feet. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50 and 60 percent of the area median income can apply for affordable units ranging from a $718/month studio to a $1,229 three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify
December 13, 2017

Lottery opens for 98 units at site two of Lower East Side’s Essex Crossing, from $519/month

Applications are now being accepted for 98 mixed-income apartments located at 115 Delancey Street, known as site two of the sprawling nine-site Essex Crossing Development. The 26-story tower is the tallest building on the $1.9 billion complex and will host the Essex Street Market and a 14-screen Regal Cinemas Theater. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60, 120 and 165 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a studio for $519/month to a three-bedroom for $3,424/month.
Find out if you qualify
December 13, 2017

Apply for a mixed-income unit at CetraRuddy’s Hell’s Kitchen rental, from $596/month

A CetraRuddy-designed building at 572 Eleventh Avenue is now accepting applications for 46 newly constructed, mixed-income studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Developed by the Moinian Group, the Hell's Kitchen rental, which recently topped out this June, rises 13 stories high and features 10,000 square feet of commercial retail at its cellar and ground floors. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a studio for $596/month to a two-bedroom for $2,715/month.
Find out if you qualify
December 12, 2017

City will convert cluster apartments occupied by homeless New Yorkers into affordable housing

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday another plan aimed at adding to New York City's affordable housing inventory, while combating homelessness. As the New York Times reported, the plan converts hundreds of cluster apartments, occupied by homeless families across the city, into permanently affordable units. Cluster or scatter-site housing are typically private apartments in buildings in which landlords rent out to the city to house homeless people. To lower the number of homeless New Yorkers and add more affordable housing, the city's plan could potentially place 3,000 people into permanent housing, allowing some homeless families to remain in the same apartment and not be considered homeless any longer by the city.
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December 11, 2017

De Blasio launches new programs to make affordable homeownership easier for New Yorkers

In October, Mayor Bill de Blasio increased the goal of his ambitious affordable housing plan from 200,000 financed affordable homes to 300,000 by 2026. Expanding his Housing New York 2.0 initiative further, the mayor announced on Monday two new homeowner assistance programs, aimed at helping 2,100 New York City families own real estate and renovate homes over eight years.
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December 11, 2017

Apply for 93 low- and middle-income apartments along the Grand Concourse from $822/month

Applications are now being accepted for 93 newly constructed mixed-income apartments at 2605 Grand Concourse in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx. Built by Douglaston Development, the 12-story building is one of the first ground-up residential projects along this Bronx thoroughfare in decades. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60, 100 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $822/month studios to $2,190/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
December 8, 2017

City will replace Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden with 121 affordable apartments for seniors

After years of public battles between open space advocates and public officials, the city announced on Friday that it will create an affordable senior housing development at the site of the Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita. Dubbed Haven Green, the project will be an energy-efficient passive house, with units reserved for seniors earning between $20,040 and $40,080, as well as formerly homeless seniors. According to the Daily News, the project calls for 121 deeply affordable units with 7,600 square feet of public open space in a new garden. Developed by Pennrose Properties, Habitat for Humanity New York City, and RiseBoro Community Partnerships, Haven Green will use 60 to 70 percent less energy than a standard building of its kind and will be designed to manage and reuse stormwater through permeable surfaces.
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December 1, 2017

Lottery opens for middle-income condos at Essex Crossing’s 242 Broome, from $224,861

A high-end condo in a SHoP Architects-designed building on the hip Lower East Side for just $224,000? Yep, you read that right, and this middle-income lottery is now live for mega-development Essex Crossing's 242 Broome. The only one of the development's 10 towers to offer condos, 242 Broome will have a total of 55 residential units, 11 of which are available to households earning no more than 125 percent of the area median income and range from $224,861 one-bedrooms to $331,703 three-bedrooms (quite the deal considering market-rate units are going from $1.3 to $7 million). In addition to amenities like a roof deck, gym, and entertainment lounge, the 14-story building will also include a five-story base with retail and commercial tenants including The International Center of Photography Museum and Splitsville Luxury Lanes Bowling Alley.
Find out if you qualify
December 1, 2017

Snag a middle-income apartment in COOKFOX’s EŌS from $1,448/month

EŌS, a COOKFOX Architects-designed 47-rental mixed-use tower in Midtown West, is accepting applications for 19 newly constructed, middle-income studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Located at 855 Sixth Avenue (aka 100 West 31st Street), EŌS sits just a quick walk away from nearby shops, restaurants and transit options found in Midtown, Chelsea and the Flatiron District. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 90, 100, 110 and 120 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a $1,448-per-month studio to a $2,519-per-month two-bedroom.
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November 29, 2017

Waitlist opens for middle-income units at East Harlem’s Riverton complex, from $1,968/month

East Harlem's Riverton Square complex is once again accepting applications for its 7,500-name waitlist for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The affordable seven-building development, built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, first opened in 1947 for World War II veterans, later becoming a coveted address for middle-class families. After it was sold to A&E Real Estate for $201 million in 2016, the city mandated that 975 of its 1,229 units be reserved for working- and middle-class families for 30 years. The waitlist opens tomorrow, with apartments set aside for New Yorkers earning 110 percent of the area median income. Units range from a $1,968/month one-bedrooms to $2,729/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
November 27, 2017

Apply for a middle-income apartment in Alphabet City, from $2,116/month

Applications are currently being accepted for middle-income studio and one-bedroom apartments at 101 Avenue D in the Alphabet City section of the East Village. The 78-unit building, known as Arabella 101, is a post-war rental located between East 7th Street and East 8th Street. In addition to its prime downtown Manhattan location, residents can enjoy a roof deck, laundry room, bike room and fitness center. Qualifying New Yorkers earning between $74, 435 and $116,900 can apply for a $2,116 per month studio and those earning between $74-435 and $133, 700 can apply for $2,270 per month one-bedroom.
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November 17, 2017

Second phase of Hunters Point South development moves forward with 960 affordable unit proposal

Plans to redevelop Hunters Point South, a project first proposed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is finally making some headway. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Housing Development Corp. on Thursday selected a proposal that will bring a 1,120-unit apartment complex, with 80 percent of them permanently affordable, to the southern tip of the Long Island City neighborhood. According to the Wall Street Journal, the $500 million, two-tower project is being developed by Gotham and RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc.
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November 16, 2017

Framlab proposes 3D-printed modular microneighborhoods to shelter NYC’s homeless

The growing population of homeless New Yorkers is sending creative agency Framlab up a wall–literally. The Oslo- and New York City-based agency has proposed a way to provide shelter for the city's homeless in an arrangement of 3D-printed micro-neighborhoods comprised of hexagonal modules designed to attach to a scaffold structure, creating a second layer of properties, basically, alongside a building's empty wall (h/t designboom). In the project, called "Homed," the modular pods can be clustered together, creating a "cellular mosaic" with their fronts facing the street.
Way better than giant ads
November 15, 2017

Bronx lottery opens at city’s first model that co-locates homeless shelter and affordable apartments

Applications are now being accepted for 24 new affordable rentals at 233 Landing Road in the University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. The newly-minted elevator building will offer residents a computer lab, a live-in super, bicycle storage, a community room and an on-site laundry room. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50 and 60 percent of the area median income may apply for units ranging from a $714/month one-bedroom to a $1,058/month two-bedroom.
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November 15, 2017

De Blasio’s affordable housing ‘road map’ includes tiny homes and micro-units

Calling it "Housing New York 2.0," Mayor Bill de Blasio has just released a new road map to his goal of building and preserving 300,000 affordable New York City homes–100,000 more than his previous pledge. The plan accelerates and expands the production of new housing, fights tenant displacement, creates more housing for seniors and working families and provides new home ownership tools. Among the more technologically advanced strategies outlined are plans to use innovative smaller homes on vacant lots that are too small for traditional housing and the expansion of modular buildings and micro-units.
Mitchell-Lama, vacant lots, modular building and micro-units, this way
November 15, 2017

15 apartments up for grabs near the Williamsburg waterfront, from $867/month

Applications are now being accepted for 15 newly constructed, affordable apartments in a mixed-use development in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. With 75 total units and more than 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, the building at 94 North 3rd Street sits just a few blocks from the waterfront and bustling Metropolitan Avenue. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for studios for $867 per month, one-bedrooms for $931 per month and two-bedrooms listed for $1123 monthly.
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November 15, 2017

New affordable Bronx development will feature a rooftop aquaponics greenhouse

The construction of a 13-story supportive housing development in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx will begin Thursday when federal, state and city officials join nonprofit Project Renewal in a groundbreaking ceremony at the site. Located at 2880 Jerome Avenue, the Bedford Green House will feature 118 units of affordable housing for families, seniors, and singles. To connect its residents to nature, the building will be covered in carbon sequestering plants and have an operational rooftop greenhouse where residents will be able to raise fresh fish and produce, partake in healthy cooking demos, and enjoy a community playground.
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November 10, 2017

Live in a Dattner Architects-designed affordable rental in the South Bronx, from $864/month

In a partnership between L&M Development and B&S Supportive Services for the Underserved, a new 12-story affordable housing project is now accepting applications for 88 units at 294 East 162nd Street. Designed by Dattner Architects, the South Bronx building, called East 162nd Street Court, offers 126 mixed-income rental apartments, with 37 reserved for formerly homeless families. The remaining units available will be set aside for New Yorkers earning 60 and 80 percent of the area median income for units ranging from an $864 per month studio to a $1,829 three-bedroom.
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November 7, 2017

Lottery opens for 180 affordable units near the Bronx Zoo, from $396/month

Applications are currently being accepted for 180 newly constructed, affordable units in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx. The building at 1939 West Farms Road and 1926 Longfellow Avenue features an on-site super, security cameras, outdoor recreation space and on-site laundry. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 30, 40, 50, 60 and 120 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a $396 per month one-bedroom to a $1,898 per month three-bedroom.
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November 6, 2017

Nearly 100 middle-income units sit vacant at Brooklyn’s Pacific Park development

In July 2016, the lottery opened for 298 mixed-income rentals at 535 Carlton Avenue, part of the sprawling Pacific Park complex, in Brooklyn. But now, more than a year later, about 95 units remain vacant at the Prospect Heights site, as City Limits reported. Despite over 93,000 New Yorkers applying for the nearly 300 units within just eight weeks, the applicants were rejected because they did not make enough money to qualify for those specific units. The 95 vacancies, the most expensive apartments at Pacific Park, are reserved for households that earn between 135 and 165 percent of the area median income, which translates to $74,606 and $173,415 annually. Unable to secure tenants for this income bracket, developer Greenland Forest City Partners (GFCP) placed advertisements for the units on market-rate real estate websites.
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November 6, 2017

More affordable senior housing units planned for Essex Crossing development

Thanks to a $34 million loan from Wells Fargo, Delancey Street Associates closed last week on financing the construction of a 100 percent affordable senior building at 140 Essex Street, site 8 of the 1.9 million-square-foot Essex Crossing development. Originally, the project called for an 80/20 condo building, but developers decided to add 61 more affordable units to the building, bringing the number of affordable rentals at the Lower East Side complex to 561 out of 1,078 total units. Designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, the building at 140 Essex will rise 8 stories and include 92 affordable homes for seniors earning between 0 and 60 percent of the area median income, as well as 9,600 square feet of retail on the ground floor. Construction will begin soon, with an expected opening date sometime in 2019.
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November 3, 2017

Jane Jacobs-developed West Village Houses may be replaced by luxury complex to preserve affordability

As the clock ticks down on a significant and decades-old property tax break for residents of the 420-unit West Village Houses, developer Madison Equities has proposed a possible solution–with a price, Crain's reports. The unassuming affordable West Village cooperative located between West Street and Washington Street was developed in the 1970s by Jane Jacobs. The tax break expires in March, and residents are scrambling to find a solution to offset the impending increase in monthly fees. The development firm has attempted to entice shareholders with another option: an offer to purchase the buildings, demolish them, and allow current residents to snag affordable apartments in a new 42-building development that would span seven sites bounded by Washington, Morton, West and Bank streets. The new development, which would add yet another massive apartment complex to the low-rise neighborhood would also include luxury units.
What are the options?
November 3, 2017

Live across from Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City for $867/month

On Monday, the lottery opens for 21 affordable units in a new luxury residential building located on the border of the trendy Queens neighborhoods of Astoria and Long Island City. The mixed-use rental at 11-06 31st Drive, called the Vernon Tower despite being just eight-stories, sits directly across from Socrates Sculpture Park and just a few blocks from the Noguchi Museum and waterfront promenade. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the units ranging from $867/month studios to $1,123/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
November 2, 2017

Live in the heart of Downtown Jamaica from $707/month

Applications are currently being accepted for 379 recently constructed, affordable units in a 26-story rental tower, called Alvista Towers, in Jamaica--a Queens neighborhood on the brink of transformation as new residential and commercial developments continue to take root. Amenities at this spacious housing complex located at 147-36 94th Avenue include on-site laundry, playroom, an outdoor courtyard, fitness center, yoga room and a rooftop terrace. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50, 60, 120, 130 and 165 percent of the area median income can apply to units ranging from a $707 per month studio to a $2,611 per month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify