Affordable Housing Development Finished at Our Lady of Loreto Site in Brownsville

The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development recently finished an affordable housing development on the site of a former Catholic church in Brownsville called the Monsignor Anthony J. Barretta apartments. The $18,000,000 development on Atlantic between Eastern Parkway and Sackman Street consists of eight four-story buildings that house 64 units. The apartments, mostly one- and two-bedrooms, were rented through a lottery process run by the city. Rents range from $597 to $860 a month for a family making a maximum of $49,800, according to a chart from the city’s Housing Preservation and Development Department. Also, eight units were set aside as Section 8 housing for very low-income tenants. RTKB Architects designed the buildings, and Community Preservation Corporation Resources (CPCR) was the developer.

Before construction began last year, the site had been home to the 100-year-old Our Lady of Loreto Catholic Church and school, an architectural gem that preservationists struggled to protect. The church closed its doors in 2009 due to low attendance. Within two years, the Brooklyn diocese sold the land to the city, which preserved the original church building and built the development next to it.

Fight to Preserve Ocean Hill Church [Brownstoner]
Brownsville Church Saved from Wrecking Ball [Brownstoner]

Photo by Briarwood Organization