The eight new buildings will span four neighborhoods and create 108 apartments for first-time homeowners.
The site at 908 Madison Street. Photo by Anna Bradley-Smith
Eight new buildings with a total of 108 co-op apartments are planned for vacant or under built city-owned sites in Bed Stuy, East New York, Brownsville, and East Flatbush, all offering affordable home ownership opportunities to first-time buyers.
Late last month, the City Council approved Housing Preservation and Development’s request to dispose of the sites at 908-910 Madison Street and 1901-1903A Atlantic Avenue in Bed Stuy; 881-885 New Jersey Avenue and 650 Glenmore Avenue in East New York; 1794-1796 St. Johns Place, 85-87 Legion Street, and 250-254 Herzl Street in Brownsville; and 395-397 East 94th Street in East Flatbush, paving the way for nonprofit partners to build on them.
All of the co-ops in the project, dubbed Constellation, will be income and asset restricted, and will be aimed at households earning 60 and 70 percent of Area Median Income, or currently $87,480 to $102,060 for a family of three, a rep for HPD told Brownstoner.
The site at 1901 Atlantic Avenue in Bed Stuy in August 2021. Photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark
The site at 395 East 94th Street in East Flatbush in December 2021. Photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark
Sales prices will likely be between $89,000 and $223,000 depending on unit type — however, the rep noted affordability levels and sales prices could change throughout the process. Once the buildings are further along, the co-ops will be made available through Housing Connect.
The buildings will include one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, and more than two-thirds will be family sized, the rep said. They will all have central heating and air conditioning, in-unit washers and dryers, be fully electric, and ready for solar. Buildings over four stories will have an elevator.
HPD partnered with Habitat for Humanity, Union Street Studio Architects, and the Interboro Community Land Trust for the project, and will transfer the lots to developer Habitat for Humanity for $1 each.
The site at 1794 St. Johns Place in Brownsville in November 2006. Photo by Gregg Snodgrass for PropertyShark
The site at 650 Glenmore Avenue in East New York in March 2023. Photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark
During construction, Habitat for Humanity will own the sites. When construction wraps — predicted for 22 months after the sale to Habitat closes, or in about two years — the land will be transferred to Interboro Community Land Trust. The buildings will become HDFC co-ops, which will then lease the land from the CLT through a 99-year ground lease, the rep said.
“With so many New Yorkers facing housing instability and struggling to keep up with housing costs, the city is laser focused on using public land more effectively to build much needed affordable housing,” HPD Deputy Press Secretary Kim Moscaritolo said. “The Constellation project will result in 108 affordable homes, providing home-ownership opportunities to New Yorkers who would otherwise be unable to afford it.”
The project came about through a 2014 request for qualifications, where development teams submitted plans for affordable housing projects on vacant or underused city sites, according to documents included in the Uniform Land Use Review Process. The city must go through the process (also known as ULURP) to dispossess or acquire land.
The site at 85 Legion Street in Brownsville in July 2008. Photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark
The site at 250 Herzl Street in Brownsville in June 2017. Photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark
In Bed Stuy, the development at 908-910 Madison Street, on the corner of Howard Avenue, will top out at four stories and include 14 apartments, according to the documents, and the new building at 1901-1903A Atlantic Avenue will stand seven stories and include 20 units.
The two East New York developments will include a four-story, eight-unit building at 881-885 New Jersey Avenue, and a three-story, six-apartment building at 650 Glenmore Avenue.
The three Brownsville developments at 1794-1796 St. Johns Place, 85-87 Legion Street, and 250-254 Herzl Street are all planned to be six stories and include 12 apartments, the documents say, as is the East Flatbush development at 395-397 East 94th Street. The East Flatbush site has been used as a small neighborhood park.
Records show the sites are still owned by the city. So far, the development team hasn’t applied for new building permits for any of the sites.
The 2014 RFQ also resulted in the city transferring a separate group of 14 sites to nonprofit developers to build another 42 affordable units targeted at first-time homeowners. That project, dubbed Mosaic, is similar to Constellation and includes sites in Bed Stuy, Crown Heights, Ocean Hill, and Brownsville. The lots are currently under development for new buildings with four or fewer apartments per building, documents show.
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