Affordable Housing

Affordability vs. racial inclusion may sound like an odd battle to be having, yet it's one that often simmers below the surface in discussions of neighborhood change. The words "Nearly 50 years after the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act..." are, of course, no small part of the reason. And in a city known for its diversity–one that often feels more racially integrated than it is–the question of how housing policy might affect racial makeup tends to be carefully sidestepped, but the New York Times opens that worm-can in a subsection called "Race/Related."
Is there a tradeoff between integration and affordability?

April 14, 2016

Lottery Opens for 10 Affordable Units in the Bronx’s Crotona Park East Neighborhood

In 1977, when President Jimmy Carter visited the South Bronx and declared it the worst neighborhood in the country, he was standing in Crotona Park East, a small neighborhood nestled in the triangle bordered by the Cross Bronx Expressway, the Harlem River, and Crotona Park. Though the Bronx dropped this reputation a long time ago, Crotona Park East was one of a few areas that seemed slow to catch up with the rest of the borough, but five years ago, the city rezoned this stretch from light industrial use to residential, creating a boom in affordable housing opportunities. The latest such development is located at 1702 Bryant Avenue, where 10 newly constructed affordable units are up for grabs through the city's housing lottery. The unit are $931/month one-bedrooms for one person earning between $31,920 and $38,100 annually and two people earning between $31,920 and $43,500.
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Affordable Housing

April 13, 2016

Apply for 86 Affordable Apartments in Brownsville’s Prospect Plaza, Starting at $689/Month

Through tools like rezonings, the city has been trying in recent years to increase affordable housing opportunities in lower-income Brooklyn neighborhoods like East New York and Brownsville, and the latter now has 86 brand new apartments available through the city's affordable housing lottery. The units are part of the much larger Prospect Plaza development by Dattner Architects, which altogether will transform a 4.5-acre site into 364 units of affordable and public housing, as well as a 22,000-square-foot supermarket, 12,000-square-foot community facility, and a rooftop greenhouse. The first batch of units to come online, located at 1740-1760 Prospect Place and 396 Saratoga Avenue, range from $689/month one-bedrooms to $1,181/month three-bedrooms for families earning between $24,995 and $63,060 annually. They'll feature "exquisitely finished kitchen and bathrooms," energy efficient appliances and fixtures, on-site laundry rooms, a fitness room, and parking for an additional fee.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

April 11, 2016

Last Chance to Apply for 282 Middle-Income Apartments at Downtown Brooklyn’s 250 Ashland Place

Today is your last chance to apply for 282 affordable housing units at 250 Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn. The 52-story skyscraper rises from the heart of Brooklyn's cultural district and is near a multitude of subway lines, the Atlantic Terminal transit hub, and the Barclays Center. Developed by the Gotham Organization, the skyscraper encompasses 580,000 square feet of space and soars 568 feet into the burgeoning Brooklyn skyline, making it the second tallest in the borough after the nearby rental tower AVA DoBro. Designed by New York-based FXFowle Architects, the building is sheathed in a contextual brick and glass exterior, relating both to the charming brownstones of Fort Greene and the dynamism transforming Downtown Brooklyn.
Find out if you qualify

This 1970s East Village Windmill Was Decades Ahead of Its Time

Raising the windmill on the roof of 519. Photo credit: Travis Price via Gothamist

April 5, 2016

This 1970s East Village Windmill Was Decades Ahead of Its Time

If you want to build a windmill today, you can thank a handful of dedicated tenants in a building at 519 East 11th Street in the East Village of the 1970s. The story of the Alphabet City windmill is one of many stories, recounted in Gothamist, from the bad old days of Loisaida–as the East Village's far eastern avenues, also known as Alphabet City, were once called–the kind the neighborhood's elder statesmen regale you with, knowing well that you know nothing firsthand of a neighborhood of burned-out buildings and squatters who bought their homes for a buck. But this particular story isn’t one of riots or drug deals on the sidewalk; it’s one of redemption, no matter how brief in the context of time. The windmill was installed above an East Village building that was saved by the community, built and lifted to the roof by hand–or many hands. According to legend, the windmill kept the lights on during the chaos of the 1977 blackout.
Read all about it

April 4, 2016

Live in a Boutique Harlem Building for $839/Month, Lottery Launches for 71 East 110th Street

The Lovina House, located at 71 East 110th Street in East Harlem, recently opened as a boutique rental building with 14 contemporary, loft-like apartments. Three of these units are now available through the city's affordable housing lottery. This includes a $839/month studio for a single person earning between $28,766 and $36,300 annually, and two $1,089/month one-bedrooms for households with incomes between $37,338 and $52,020, depending on family size.
More info on the building and lottery

Affordable Housing

Apply Today for Two $939/Month One Bedrooms Near the Best Bronx Attractions

Google Street View of the site while still under construction

March 30, 2016

Apply Today for Two $939/Month One Bedrooms Near the Best Bronx Attractions

The Bronx is having a moment, thanks in part to popular institutions like the Bronx Zoo, New York Botanical Garden, and Italian food mecca along Arthur Avenue. If you want to get in on the action, you can now enter the lottery for newly constructed, $938/month affordable apartments nearby at 863 Fairmount Place in Tremont. There's just one little catch -- only two units are available.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Middle-Income Housing Lottery Opens for 16 Newly Renovated Apartments in Harlem

152 West 124th Street (L); 70 East 127th Street (R). Via Google Street View.

March 29, 2016

Middle-Income Housing Lottery Opens for 16 Newly Renovated Apartments in Harlem

The Third Party Transfer Program (TPT) is an initiative of the NYC Department of Housing and Preservation Development that was created in 1966 where the city forecloses on properties with unpaid taxes and eventually transfers ownership to a developer who must rehabilitate the building if necessary and manage it as affordable housing. Two Harlem buildings, 152 West 124th Street and 70 East 127th Street, were renovated under this program and are now offering 16 middle-income units through the city's housing lottery. They range from $1,040/month studios to $2,165 two-bedrooms for persons earning anywhere between $36,995 and $107,875 annually, depending on household size.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

March 23, 2016

POLL: Do You Agree With the City Council’s Citywide Rezoning Approval?

This time last year, Mayor de Blasio put forth his controversial rezoning proposal, part of his plan to preserve and/or create 200,000 units of affordable housing by 2024. It’ll now come to fruition, as DNAinfo reports that the City Council has approved the rezoning. “It includes Zoning for Quality and Affordability, a push to raise building heights […]

Apply for 83 Affordable Apartments in Astoria, Starting at $895/Month

The affordable housing lottery has commenced for 83 brand new apartments at the Steinway Estates in Astoria, per the NYC HPD. Units will range from $895/month studios to $2,586/month three-bedrooms, with annual income requirements varying from $32,023 for a single-person household to $130,260 for a six-person household. The development at 19-80 Steinway Street is on the edge of the Steinway IBZ (Industrial Business Zone) and was originally known as the Vesta or Vesta Q when it first surfaced as a mixed-use project back in 2008. Exact details on the building aren't clear, but renderings from Garrett Gourlay Architect show a four-story, corner-lot structure with landscaped outdoor areas and contemporary apartments.
Find out more about Steinway Estates

Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing 101: Should I Buy an HDFC Apartment?

A two-bedroom in the East Village asking just $695,000

March 21, 2016

Affordable Housing 101: Should I Buy an HDFC Apartment?

By Diane Pham

While perusing hundreds of real estate listings you come across one that seems almost too good to be true: it’s in a prime neighborhood, there are two real bedrooms and two real bathrooms, and it’s selling for well under a half million. While you may be pinching yourself over the price tag, rest assured that it’s […]

March 16, 2016

Housing Lottery Launches for Greenpoint Landing’s 33 Eagle Street, Rents Start at $494

Greenpoint Landing's third affordable housing building has kicked off its lottery process. The ground-up seven-story building at 33 Eagle Street will provide 97 newly constructed rental apartments priced well below market-rate rents. The 24 studios will be priced from $494 to $1,463 per month for annual household earnings ranging from $18,275 to $78,650. Its 29 one-bedrooms, designated for either one or two-person households, have rents ranging from $532 to $1,840 for household incomes from $19,612 to $78,650. And lastly, the building's 49 two-bedrooms are priced between $647 and $2,216, based on household sizes ranging from two to four persons with income ranges from $23,589 to $112,190 per year.
Find out more this way

March 9, 2016

Apply Today for 47 New Affordable Apartments in Central Harlem, Starting at $847/Month

Starting today, you can apply for 47 brand-new affordable apartments in prime Central Harlem, according to the NYC HPD. Located at 2139 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, at the corner of 127th Street, the building will offer 12 $847/month one-bedroom units for households earning between $30,412 and $41,460 annually, as well as 35 $1,025/month two-bedrooms for those earning between $36,549 and $51,780. Designed by architects Urban Quotient, the building known as Harlem Dowling will also house community facility spaces for the Harlem Dowling West Side Center for Children and Services and Childrens’ Village, both foster care organizations. Harlem Dowling was founded in 1836 as the Colored Orphans Asylum, the first such institution devoted to children of color. In 1863, its building was burned down during the Draft Riots, and this new location will be the first time since that they've had their own home. Though the current housing lottery announcement doesn't specify this, a 2014 press release for the project noted that preference would be given to youth aging out of foster care.
More details ahead

Affordable Housing

March 9, 2016

Affordable Housing Lottery at Colgate Close Starts in Soundview, Priced $696/Month

In the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, the Arker Companies has commenced the affordable housing lottery process for their latest ground-up building, Colgate Close. Located at 1092 Colgate Street, where the semi-industrial area along the Bronx River evolves into a low-scale residential community, the five-story complex will contain 32 studio and one-bedrooms targeted for low-income households earning between $25,200 and $30,250 for a single person and $27,052 and $41,460 for two people. Depending on income, studios will be priced at $696 or $847 per month and one-bedrooms at $749 and $910 per month.
More details this way

March 4, 2016

MAP: Where to Find NYC’s Current Affordable Housing Lotteries

The number of affordable rental units up for grabs through the city and state's housing lotteries has been on the upswing. There are now more than 30 open to a variety of household sizes and incomes, with the bulk of the lotteries geared towards low-income households. For instance, in buildings currently accepting applications, annual incomes for a single-person household range from $18,789 to $36,300 and two-family households from $20,160 to $41,460. However, a growing number of drawings are now available to middle-income households, where for those open, a single person can make anywhere from $44,400 to $105,875 annually to qualify. To stay on top of it all, 6sqft gathered all affordable housing buildings now accepting applicants and compiled them into one handy, interactive map.
Check it out here

Affordable Housing

March 4, 2016

Why Micro-Apartments in Carmel Place Are So Expensive

We’ve been hearing a lot recently about the city’s new micro-apartments. As 6sqft has reported, NYC’s first micro-apartment complex Carmel Place (formerly My Micro NY) at 335 East 27th Street began leasing at the end of last year. The nine-story modular development in Kips Bay has 55 studios that are 260 to 360 square feet. Of these, 22 are affordable and they’ll go from $950 to $1,500 a month. Market-rate units on the other end range from $2,540 to $2,910. According to CityRealty, the average rental price per square foot for New York City apartments overall is $51, while Carmel Place units ring in at $98 per square foot. The idea of micro-housing was presented, in part, to address the need for more affordable apartments. So why is it that the result is what a recent New Yorker article calls “micro-luxury" housing?
Small Is Beautiful–but Not Affordable

Over 100,000 Unofficial ‘Ghost Tenants’ May Be Living in NYC Public Housing

Photo via Wiki Commons

March 4, 2016

Over 100,000 Unofficial ‘Ghost Tenants’ May Be Living in NYC Public Housing

Although 400,000 is the official head count of residents in New York City’s public housing units, estimates say that figure may be much higher, and that 100,000 to 200,000 more people live there off the books, Slate reports. In a way it's hardly news: People live with relatives, friends and roommates while they aren't the primary leaseholders–almost standard fare in a regular rental apartment (though market rate tenants may run afoul of the lease if anyone wanted to make a case). The city's public housing units are over 50 years old and in dire need of updates and repairs, but because the city is becoming ever more unaffordable for anyone on a meager income, the real tally of people who live in these buildings could be as much as 50 percent higher than the official number.
Find out more about NYCHA's shadow population

March 1, 2016

Apply for One of Stuyvesant Town’s Affordable Apartments, Starting at $1,200/Month

By Ondel Hylton and Dana Schulz

When news broke back in October that Blackstone Group had partnered with Canadian investment firm Ivanhoe Cambridge to buy Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.45 billion, one of the most talked about parts of the deal was that it would reserve 5,000 units of affordable housing for 20 years, 4,500 of which will be for middle-income families and 500 for low-income families. Starting today, qualifying New Yorkers can apply for one of these apartments, reports to DNAinfo. Through March 31st, the housing lottery will accept up to 15,000 names for the waitlist. They'll be entered into a randomized computer system that will assign a number to each applicant, and as more apartments open up, people will be contacted to move in. The units range from $1,210/month studios for persons earning between $36,300 and $48,400 annually to $4,560/month five-bedrooms for families of five to 10 making between $136,800 and $210,870.
See the full breakdown ahead

Affordable Housing

Apply for 30 Affordable Units in Three Williamsburg Buildings, Starting at $532/Month

A rendering of 356 Bedford Avenue from the construction fence from July, 2014. Via Brownstoner

February 29, 2016

Apply for 30 Affordable Units in Three Williamsburg Buildings, Starting at $532/Month

Here's the third affordable housing lottery to open in Williamsburg over the past few weeks. First, 33 units opened at 149 Kent Avenue, followed by 13 more spread across five small buildings. Now, 30 additional apartments are up for grabs at 37 Ten Eyck Street, 37 Maujer Street, and 356 Bedford Avenue, according to the NYC HPD. The Bedford address, the largest of the buildings, is located in the heart of South Williamsburg, just north of the Williamsburg Bridge between South 3rd and South 4th Streets, near a cluster of trendy bars and restaurants; the Maujer and Ten Eyck buildings are in East Williamsburg between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street. According to the posting, the units range from $532/month one-bedrooms to $1,182/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

February 29, 2016

Riverside Center’s One West End Avenue Tops Off, Cantilevering Pool and All

Propelled skyward by the still-sizzling Upper West Side residential market and its dearth of buildable sites, the final phase of the Riverside South master plan is coming together alas. After decades on the drawing board, this southern-most, eight-acre segment collectively known as Riverside Center/Waterline Center has already spawned a pair of residential buildings designed by SLCE Architects and another by Pelli Clarke Pelli with Goldstein, Hill & West Architects (GHWA). Three other parcels to the west are now undergoing site preparation. Those lots will give rise to a trio condo and rental buildings whose developer, Boston-based General Investment and Development Companies (GID), has enlisted a trio of high caliber designers working with GHWA, the executive architect of record. Work has moved forward swiftly on the the plan's first two towers. The shorter of the pair, known as One West End , has just topped off its 491-foot concrete skeleton and is being developed through a partnership between the Elad Group and Silverstein Properties. The robust 41-story spire is the second tallest building on West End Avenue, only behind its more anonymous 521-foot-tall rental neighbor 21 West End.
Details, renderings, and construction photos this way

February 25, 2016

Lottery Open for 77 Affordable Units for Seniors at Dattner Architects’ Van Cortlandt Green

It's been widely noted that New York has an ever-growing population of low-income elders, and a new affordable housing project in Riverdale seeks to address the issue. Designed by Dattner Architects (who are also behind the Bronx's huge West Farm Redevelopment Plan), the brand-new building at 6469 Broadway is known as Van Cortlandt Green and overlooks the park. It will offer 77 studios for $832/month for those age 62 and older. They're available to one person earning between $26,430 and $36,300 annually and two persons earning between $26,430 and $41,460, according to the NYC HDC.
Find out how to apply

Affordable Housing

City Planning Commission Approves Controversial East New York Rezoning Plan in 12-1 Vote

Map of proposed rezoning via Department of City Planning

February 25, 2016

City Planning Commission Approves Controversial East New York Rezoning Plan in 12-1 Vote

The New York City Planning Commission voted 12-1 in approval of Mayor de Blasio's controversial rezoning plan for East New York, Gothamist reports. It's the first of 15 low-income neighborhoods scheduled for rezoning as part of the Mayor's affordable housing plan, which promises to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning this spring. As part of what is known as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), rezoning plans for East New York's Cypress Hills neighborhood and adjacent Ocean Hill in Bed-Stuy would have 7,000 new apartments built by 2030, 3,447 of which will be designated affordable, in addition to one million square feet of commercial space. Of those affordable units, 80 percent would be reserved for families (defined as a household of three, with any number of earners) making no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), or $46,000; 27 percent would go to families making 40 percent of the AMI or $31,000.
Find out more

Apply Now for 13 New Affordable Apartments Across Williamsburg, Starting at $756/Month

7 Stagg Street via Joseph Vance Architects

February 16, 2016

Apply Now for 13 New Affordable Apartments Across Williamsburg, Starting at $756/Month

Last week, 6sqft announced that the affordable housing lottery had launched for 33 apartments at 149 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. If you're in this income bracket and are looking to live in this trendy Brooklyn area, you can now up your chances, as 13 more brand-new affordable units are up for grabs at five sites around the neighborhood–568 Graham Avenue, 7 Stagg Street, 40 Scholes Street, 198 Montrose Avenue, and 44 Morgan Avenue–according to the NYC HDC. These addresses, which will offer/preserve 24 affordable units in total, are part of a project from the affordable housing developer St. Nicks Alliance. Currently available are one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for those earning between $30,446 and $60,120 annually, roughly 60 percent of the area median income.
More information this way

Affordable Housing

February 12, 2016

Apply Today for an $827/Month Apartment at the Controversial Towers Next to St. John the Divine