Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for Co-op Apartments, Starting at 183K, in Brooklyn

An unusual affordable housing lottery is taking place, for five Columbia Street Waterfront District co-op apartments for sale rather than for rent. Estimated sale prices range from $183,039 to $203,904 for a studio or two-bedroom apartment. The lottery is open until the end of the month.

Located at 55 Summit Street, formerly home to a parking lot and auto repair shop, the five-story, five-unit building under construction will be 100 percent affordable under the city’s Inclusionary Housing Program because the site was rezoned to residential from manufacturing in 2019.

Also going up as part of the development are four adjacent townhouses at Nos. 57-63, presumably market rate. A rendering shows the four townhouses in shades of beige and brown with high stoops at right; the apartment building at left is taller and has a section that juts out like a modern-day bay window.

In the early 20th century, part of the property was a yard for an industrial building, an old tax photo shows.

Known as the 55 Summit Street Cooperatives, the affordable building includes one studio and four two-bedroom apartments. They are available to households ranging from one to five people and earning between $57,074 and $115,280 annually, according to NYC Housing Connect.

Buyers have to earn below 80 percent of the area median income to qualify for the income-restricted units. A minimum down payment of 5 percent is required. Buyers cannot pay all cash but must secure a mortgage, the listing specifies.

The studio is available for one person earning between $57,074 and $74,720 or a couple earning between $57,074 and $85,440. The estimated sales price is $195,605, and the monthly maintenance for the co-op is $515. To be eligible, buyers cannot have more than $243,230 in assets.

The four two-bedroom apartments are available for families of two to five people earning between $57,088 and $115,280, depending on family size. The four units are priced between $183,039 and $203,904, and have monthly maintenance fees between $870 and $973. The asset limit for buyers ranges from $242,603 to $243,645.

According to the new building plans, the co-op development will have an apartment on each story, and the top floor will include a rooftop terrace. The homes will include washers and dryers in units, high-end kitchen appliances, and energy-efficient appliances and will be pet-friendly. The complex will be built to Passive House standards for energy efficiency, according to New York YIMBY.

The developer of the complex is SS Dev Partners LLC. The new-building plans for all three sites list Michael Abramov as a representative for SS Dev Partners LLC.

The architect behind the homes is Tahir Demircioglu, with the business name listed as Tahir Demircioglu Architect PLLC, DOB records show. Demircioglu is the founder of architecture firm, Builtd.

According to the city’s tax department, SS Dev Partners LLC has taken out an $8 million loan to finance construction of the 55 Summit Street co-ops and neighboring sites.

The city will be holding a webinar on the apartments on Wednesday, March 23 via Zoom. Applications for the affordable housing lottery must be submitted by March 31, 2023. Apply through the city’s affordable housing portal NYC Housing Connect.

The 2021 affordable housing lottery for the ownership of 17 homes in Brownsville, East New York, and Ocean Hill received more than 5,300 applications, indicating the level of demand for homeownership opportunities supported by the city.

Dozens, possibly even hundreds, of different kinds of affordable housing exist in New York City, most of them rentals, but owned affordable housing is rare. Dotting Brooklyn and other boroughs are examples including HDFC co-ops, tenement apartments renovated by Habitat for Humanity, as well as newly constructed townhouse rows built by the city and nonprofits such as Habitat, religious organizations, and community groups.

Currently, the 55 Summit Street Cooperatives are the only affordable houses for sale in a lottery through the city’s Housing Connect portal.

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