Affordable Apartments, Including Free Units, Available for Seniors in Brownsville Housing Lottery

A lottery has launched for 108 truly affordable studio and one-bedroom apartments for seniors in an under-construction development on the corner of Chester Street and Livonia Avenue in Brownsville.

The new eight-story Simba Simbi Seniors development at 381 Chester Street, also listed as 401 Chester Street, will include 156 affordable apartments for seniors and one for a live-in superintendent, according to a Department of Buildings permit.

Included in the lottery are 52 studios and 56 one-bedroom apartments for households of between one and three people who earn anywhere from zero to 50 percent of the Area Median Income, or up to $46,700 for a single person, $53,400 for two people, and $60,050 for three. Each household must include at least one senior who is at least 62 years of age. According to city records, 30 percent of the apartments have been set aside for those formerly homeless.

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 must pay 30 percent of their household income in rent. Heat and hot water are included, but tenants are responsible for paying for electricity, including for the electric stove, according to the listing.

The listing says the “stylish new building is designed especially with comfort and convenience in mind for modern senior living and will offer many amenities for residents to enjoy, including free Internet and WiFi, a 24-hour attended front desk, library and computer room, exercise room, community room, hobby room, laundry room, and a landscaped courtyard garden.”

Apartments will be equipped with air conditioning, energy efficient appliances, and high speed Internet. The building will also include bike storage lockers, a business center, security cameras, an accessible entrance, and elevators, according to the Housing Connect site. It will be a smoke-free building and there is no mention of pets on the listing. Permits show the building is equipped with solar panels.

The building is being constructed through the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments Program and NYC’s Housing Development Corporation’s Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability program.

Nonprofit Simba Simbi LLC, with principals Martin Dunn of Dunn Development Corp. and Margaret Poxon and Mark Zimet of Fish Plate Development LLC, are listed as the building’s owner, according to city records. According to the building permits, SLCE Architects is behind the building’s design.

The corner site at Chester Street and Livonia Avenue in Brownsville has sat empty for decades, although it has been long planned as a site for affordable housing, according to NYC Department of Finance records. In the 1970s, it was owned by Marcus Garvey Brownstone Houses Inc., which had an agreement with the state to develop it as one of its affordable housing complexes in the neighborhood, public records show.

The organization developed the Mitchell-Lama Marcus Garvey Park Village, now known as Marcus Garvey Apartments, in Brownsville, before it was hit with a lawsuit from the state for failing to make repayments on its mortgage. While the development was initially touted as an architectural breakthrough in affordable housing, it was quickly plagued with problems, as the New York Times reported. As the organization faltered, the site at 381 Chester Street remained undeveloped.

In 2014, the site, along with Marcus Garvey Park Village, was taken over by nonprofit HP Marcus Garvey Preservation Housing Company Inc. for $98.67 million, according to city records. The Mitchell-Lama development was subsequently renovated.

The empty site at 381 Chester Street had its deed transferred to HP Simba Simbi Housing Development Fund Company Inc. in 2021 for $145,001, and the permits for the new building were approved in the same year.

The lottery for the apartments closes on May 26. To apply, visit the listing on Housing Connect.

[Images via NYC Housing Connect unless otherwise noted]

Related Stories

• Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for Co-op Apartments, Starting at 183K, in Brooklyn
• Lottery Opens for Deeply Affordable, Including Free, Senior Housing on Former Church Site
• Bed Stuy to Get Truly Affordable Complex With 238 Apartments, Food Co-op, Community Programs

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.