Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for Williamsburg Tower With $1,467 Studios

An affordable housing lottery has opened for 49 apartments in a towering new mixed-income development on Boerum Street in Williamsburg. The 19-story, 162-unit building at 159 Boerum Street, which rises far above any other structure on the block, has gone up on the site of the former parking lot attached to a low-lying 1980s affordable housing complex at 170 Johnson Avenue. Across the street and on nearby blocks are NYCHA housing projects including Borinquen Plaza I and II, Bushwick-Hylan Houses, and Williamsburg Houses.

Of the 49 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments in the lottery, all income restricted and rent stabilized, 33 could be deemed truly affordable. Those are for families earning 60 percent of the Area Median Income, with limits set between $50,298 and $83,880 for households of one to three people, according to the listing.

The cheapest apartments included in the lottery are 15 studios at $1,467 a month for households of one or two people. There are also 18 one-bedroom apartments for $1,536 a month. The remaining units are for families earning 125 and 130 percent of AMI, or up to $218,010 for five people, and include a two-bedroom apartment for $4,215 a month. The rest of the apartments in the complex will be unregulated.

Designed by Aufgang Architects, the pet-friendly building includes a gym, rooftop terrace, covered parking, bike storage, and an on-site manager. Apartments come with washers and dryers, dishwashers, high-end and energy efficient appliances, and have air conditioning, the listing says. Tenants have to pay for electricity, which covers an electric stove, hot water, and heat.

Renderings show a masonry building with panels in varying shades of gray with large tripartite windows. Setbacks at the 12th and 16th floors create outdoor terraces. Inside, apartments are finished in white and gray, with a tile wainscot in the bathroom and wood floor in the main living area.

The Welz, as it has been dubbed, was developed in a partnership between Slate Property Group, Avenue Realty Capital, and SD Builders and Construction, permits and city records show. In 2016, 170 Johnson Avenue owner Lindsay Bushwick Associates LP turned the parking area into a separate tax lot so it could be developed. The same year, Slate through an LLC entered an agreement to lease the land from Lindsay Bushwick Associates LP. It’s unclear how much Slate paid for the lease.

The city council approved the lease and the transfer of development rights from 170 Johnson Avenue to 159 Boerum Street, which is how it has reached its towering 19-story height, but required that the developer include 28 percent of so-called affordable units in a new development. The resolution shows the council ordered that 20 percent of the units be affordable to families earning 60 percent of the Area Median Income and 4 percent be set aside for families at 125 percent and 135 percent of AMI.

At one point owned by the city, the property was part of an urban renewal project dating back at least to 1973 and sold to Lindsay Bushwick Associates in 1980, records show. The development of the parking lot at the affordable housing complex appears similar but unrelated to the city’s plan to fund repairs of NYCHA housing by developing its land.

The developers will receive a tax break through the now expired 421-a program, according to the listing.

The lottery closes on November 18. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.

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