Affordable Housing Lottery Opens in Crown Heights for 18 Units Starting at $735 a Month
The under-construction building with curved facade and swanky amenities is the result of an unusual deal brokered between the local community board and the developer that requires light manufacturing on the premises.
The Grand Pacific development in Crown Heights has 69 apartments. Image via NYC Housing Connect
An affordable housing lottery has launched for 18 apartments in the under-construction Grand Pacific complex on the corner of Pacific Street and Grand Avenue in Crown Heights. The eight-story, 69-unit building with curved facade and swanky amenities is the result of an unusual deal brokered between the local community board and the developer that requires light manufacturing on the premises.
Of the 18 one- and two-bedroom apartments in the lottery, all income restricted and rent stabilized, 14 could be deemed truly affordable. Those are for families earning 40 to 60 percent of the area median income, with income limits set between $28,320 and $91,500 for households of one to five people, according to the listing.
Nine units are one-bedroom apartments going for $735 and $1,183 a month, and five are two-bedroom apartments renting for $823 and $1,360, depending on household income. The remaining apartments in the lottery are for those earning 130 percent of AMI, which for one person ranges from $89,143 to $128,570.
Designed by architect firm Issac & Stern, the Grand Pacific complex is rising on what was for decades a parking lot with the address of 513 Grand Avenue. The new address for the housing will be 985 Pacific Street.
In 2020, developer EMP Capital reached a deal with Community Board 8 that requires the developer to follow the community’s M-Crown rezoning vision.
The long-planned community-led rezoning aims to upzone an area of northern Crown Heights between Atlantic Avenue, Grand Avenue, Bergen Street, and Franklin Avenue to allow for certain residential development that includes light industrial uses.
EMP Capital agreed to set aside 25 percent of the ground floor of the new development for light manufacturing, supporting the community board’s goal of job creation in the area. If the developer does not comply, it will pay fines issued by the Department of Buildings to nonprofit Friends of Community Board 8, which would use the money to support manufacturing in the area, the agreement specifies.
According to NYC Housing Connect, the apartments include energy-efficient appliances, in-unit washers/dryers, air conditioning and heating with smart controls, and hardwood floors. Some units have balconies. Tenants are responsible for electricity, which includes heat and, unusually, hot water.
The building itself has a gym, spa, yoga and dance studio, playroom, playground, media room, business center, rooftop terrace, dog washing station, bike storage lockers, a shared laundry — and the list goes on. However, there is no mention in the listing, nor on the development’s website, of the light manufacturing space.
The new-building permit approved by DOB says the eight-story building with a penthouse has 48,499 square feet dedicated to housing, 4,929 dedicated to commercial space, and 2,523 for community facilities.
EMP Capital bought the vacant lot in 2018 for $6.05 million after the previous owner applied unsuccessfully for a new-building permit for the site. To get its project off the ground and build local support for the required rezoning, EMP Capital made the deal with the community board.
Image via Department of City Planning
Because of the rezoning, 25 percent of the development’s apartments are required to be affordable through the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, and the developers also expect to benefit from the 421-a tax exemption, NYC Housing Connect states.
While the M-Crown rezoning has never been officially adopted, it has helped shape the developments planned for northern Crown Heights, including a planned new building on the Atlantic Avenue McDonald’s site.
The Grand Pacific lottery closes September 5. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.
[Renderings via NYC Housing Connect]
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