Affordable Housing Lottery Opens in Gowanus With Units From $848

An affordable housing lottery has launched for an under-construction nine-story, 214-unit building on Gowanus’ 3rd Avenue, the latest lottery to go live for a development that benefits from the area’s rezoning. Taking up the whole block along 3rd Avenue between Union and Sackett, the Union Channel Apartments features a rooftop pool and outdoor areas. Units start at $848 a month.

The lottery for the development at 240 3rd Avenue (formerly 585 Union Street) includes 58 units, all rent stabilized and income restricted, 46 of which could be deemed truly affordable. Those are targeted at households of one to seven people earning between $31,989 and $115,560 a year, or 40 and 60 percent of Area Median Income, according to the listing.

There are nine studio apartments at $848 and $1,315 a month and 11 one-bedroom units going for $874, $903, or $1,403 a month. Also available are 23 two-bedroom apartments set at $1,071 and $1,671 a month. The three three-bedroom units will rent for $1,225 or $1,919 a month.

The remaining 12 apartments are targeted at families earning 100 and 130 percent AMI, or $80,023 to 167,700 a year, with studios from $2,249 and one-bedrooms from $2,404 a month. The most expensive unit in the lottery is a studio apartment set aside for households earning 130 percent AMI that is priced at $3,447 a month.

The building’s amenities include the rooftop pool, outdoor terraces, a fitness center, pilates studio, business room, garages, and bike storage lockers. Units have air conditioning, hardwood floors, and in-unit laundry, according to the lottery. While rent includes heat and hot water, tenants have to pay for electricity, including the stove.

Developed by Charney Company and Tavros Capital and designed by Fogarty Finger, the elegant masonry building weaves together vertical columns and floor-to-ceiling windows of varying widths with horizontal lines across three sections. Pale-colored angular bays top a retail base with big windows punctuated by thick columns.

Higher up, the angular bays give way to a darker, more rectilinear facade. Inside, the apartments and common spaces have light wood and white finishes.

The exterior is similar to another Charney Company and Tavros Capital-developed and Fogarty Finger-designed development elsewhere in Gowanus at 251 Douglass Street, but with the light and dark sections reversed.

The site was previously home to the iconic South Brooklyn Casket Company building. The company moved its operations out of Brooklyn almost two decades ago, but the industrial building endured until it was demolished sometime between 2021 and 2022.

It’s one of a number of notable Gowanus buildings or businesses that have been razed since the rezoning, including Lavender Lake, Pig Beach, and the Green Building. The formerly crumbling and toxic Batcave, landmarked ahead of the rezoning along with a handful of other buildings, opened last year as Powerhouse Arts.

City records show that Charney Companies and Tavros Capital purchased the site through Gowanus Union Street LLC from another LLC in 2019 for $32.682 million. The same developers and architect Fogarty Finger are also behind another elegant masonry complex in Gowanus, a giant development with delicate arches at 320 and 340 Nevins Street.

Because Union Channel is taking advantage of the rezoning, it is required to include affordable units under the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. It is also expected to receive the 421-a tax break, according to the listing.

The Union Channel lottery closes on January 3, 2025. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.

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• Affordable Housing Lottery Opens in Gowanus With $888 One-Bedrooms
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• Extensive Construction in Gowanus Forecasts a Very Different Neighborhood Ahead

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