Deeply Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for Seniors on Rheingold Brewery Site in Bushwick

An affordable housing lottery has launched for 65 truly affordable apartments for seniors in an under-construction development at 15 Monteith Street in Bushwick, on a section of the sprawling former Rheingold Brewery site.

The apartments are aimed at seniors making zero to 50 percent of Area Median Income. Eligible incomes top out at $49,450 for one person, $56,500 for two, and $63,550 for a family of three. To qualify for one of the 26 studios or 39 one-bedrooms in the lottery, applicants must also meet certain asset limits, and households must have at least one resident 62 or older.

Developed by longtime neighborhood organization Los Sures and Churches United for Fair Housing, Rheingold Senior Residences is designed to be environmentally friendly, with low utility costs, and promote socializing.

Although the apartments are listed as rent free on the NYC Housing Connect website, the site says households applying for the lottery must be eligible for Section 8 and will pay 30 percent of their household income in rent. Tenants will pay for electricity but gas for cooking, heat, and hot water is included in the rent.

The eight-story development will have a total of 94 units, according to Department of Building permits. Units not included in the housing lottery are set aside for formerly homeless individuals, Los Sures said.

To encourage socializing, there are lounges on every floor, community spaces, a rooftop garden, and places to sit outside the entrance. Building amenities also include office space, shared laundry rooms, energy-efficient appliances, air conditioning, and elevators. The development is being built to Passive House standards, which means its energy needs for heating and cooling will be extremely low and the inside air quality will be high, according to Los Sures. It has won a NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence Award.

Architects Magnusson Architecture and Planning are behind the building’s modern and energy-efficient design, and say on their website that the complex will be capped by a large solar canopy, include efficient mechanical systems, and have “meticulous material choices” to “ensure low energy use and superior indoor air quality.”

The architects say the building is clad in a “contemporary and sustainable fiber-reinforced concrete rainscreen” to fit in with an “architectur­ally diverse context.”

Renderings show a blocky masonry building of light and dark gray tile with a variety of setbacks and window styles to create an interesting facade. Big windows, benches, and landscaping at the street level make it pedestrian friendly. The landscaping also provides privacy for first-floor apartments, according to Magnusson Architecture and Planning.

Los Sures staff will manage the property and provide supportive services and programming, along with volunteers, for both residents and the community.

Rheingold Senior Residences is being constructed through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and the City’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program. It also got $7 million in Reso A funds from Mayor Eric Adams and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

The development is located in the sprawling former Rheingold Brewery complex, which was rezoned in 2013 to allow for a large amount of housing development. City records show Los Sures took over the deed to the property in 2014, and in 2017 it was transferred to Rheingold II Housing Development Fund Corporation.

Across the street is the colorful 10 Monteith Street, one of several new luxury rentals that have gone up on the old brewery site since its 2013 rezoning. Since that was years before Mandatory Inclusionary Housing was required for rezonings, the new builds have taken a varied approach to income-restricted units. At 10 Montieth, 20 percent of units are rent stabilized and restricted to those making 60 percent of Area Median Income under an older version of the now expired 421-a tax break.

The lottery for the Rheingold Senior Residences closes April 15. To apply, visit the listing on Housing Connect.

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• Affordable Lottery Opens for 41 Pricey Units on Rheingold Site in Bushwick, Starting at $1,432
• Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for Deeply Affordable Senior Apartments in Bushwick

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