{"id":154788,"date":"2026-03-06T00:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154788\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T00:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:42:13","slug":"housing-lottery-for-willets-point-commons-closes-after-receiving-overwhelming-demand-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154788\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing lottery for Willets Point Commons closes after receiving \u2018overwhelming demand\u2019 \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WilletsPoint2.jpg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"Renderings for the Willets Point Commons affordable housing development.\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Renderings for the Willets Point Commons affordable housing development. <\/p>\n<p>Courtesy Related Companies<\/p>\n<p>The housing lottery for Willets Point Commons, the first phase of an affordable housing being built next to Citi Field, has officially shuttered after receiving \u201coverwhelming demand.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/qns.com\/2025\/12\/housing-lottery-willets-point-commons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The affordable housing complex<\/a>, built as part of the development of New York City FC\u2019s new soccer-specific stadium in Willets Point, features 880 units, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.<\/p>\n<p>The next phase of the Willets Point affordable housing development will commence with the groundbreaking of a third building this spring, comprising 220 units for low-income seniors.\n<\/p>\n<p>Once complete, the Willets Point redevelopment will include 2,500 permanently affordable housing units, a new public school, over 150,000 square feet of open space, a new hotel and Etihad Park, a 25,000-seater soccer stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said demand for the Willets Point Common housing lottery was \u201coverwhelming,\u201d underscoring the demand for affordable homes in the city. Officials added that the demand also establishes Willets Point as one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the city.<\/p>\n<p>New York City Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy said the affordable units will give working families a \u201cfoothold\u201d in Queens.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe overwhelming number of New Yorkers who applied to live at Willets Point Commons speaks volumes about the demand for high-quality, affordable homes,\u201d Levy said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese 880 apartments will give working families real stability and a foothold in Queens. This is exactly the kind of bold development we need to embrace \u2013 and we\u2019re proud to help deliver housing that will support New Yorkers not just today, but for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The recent lottery offered a diverse range of units at a diverse range of prices, starting at $486 per month for single applicants making between $20,469 and $34,020 seeking studio apartments. The most expensive units in the lottery were capped at $4,244 per month for seven-member households with an income between\u00a0$152,778 and $301,350.<\/p>\n<p>Roughly half of the 880 units were available to applicants earning 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with 219 units set aside for applicants earning 60% AMI or below.\n<\/p>\n<p>New York City Housing Development Corporation President Eric Enderlin said the first phase of the Willets Point redevelopment marks a \u201ctransformational\u201d moment for the neighborhood.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese 880 affordable homes will provide lasting stability and create new opportunity for individuals and families in this evolving Queens community,\u201d Enderlin said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n<p>Jeanny Pak, interim president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, said the closure of the Willets Point Commons housing lottery leaves the city \u201cone step closer\u201d to helping hundreds of New Yorkers find affordable housing.<\/p>\n<p>Queen Borough President Donovan Richards, meanwhile, said the \u201ctransformational redevelopment\u201d of Willets Point would improve the lives of thousands of New Yorkers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith a tremendous amount of people submitting applications in hopes of calling Willets Point Commons home, it is clear that Queens families see the promise of this project as well,\u201d Richards said in a statement.\u00a0\u201cIt also speaks to the depth of our city\u2019s historic housing crisis and the need for revolutionary plans like this one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we welcome the first 880 families to their new homes this spring, I look forward to our continued partnership with our public and private partners in developing the remaining 1,600 units of affordable housing on this site as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry, whose Council District covers the Willets Point redevelopment, said the shuttering of the housing lottery represents \u201creal momentum\u201d for Queens.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis development is about creating a vibrant, sustainable, and a truly inclusive space where working families can grow, small businesses can flourish, and our community can develop lasting stability for generations to come,\u201d Thomas-Henry said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The project is spearheaded by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.willetspointqueens.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Queens Development Group<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a joint venture between Related Companies and Sterling Equities \u2014 in partnership with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and the New York City Housing Development Corporation.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Beal Jr., president of Related Companies, and Gregory Katz, a partner at Sterling Equities, said in a joint statement that the housing development is a perfect example of private-public partnership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWillets Point is an outstanding example of what we can achieve when the public and private sector come together to address the City\u2019s most pressing issues \u2013 affordability and an urgent need for housing,\u201d Beal and Katz said in a statement. \u201cWillets Point is in the midst of an incredible transformation, and we are proud to have built these modern, affordable homes where hardworking New Yorkers can grow and thrive along with the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renderings for the Willets Point Commons affordable housing development. Courtesy Related Companies The housing lottery for Willets Point&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,310,3945,64112,2203,9,24,63,6584,18411,129,131,130,35965,55792],"class_list":["post-154788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-daily-newsletter","tag-donovan-richards","tag-etihad-park","tag-housing-lottery","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nycfc","tag-shanel-thomas-henry","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-willets-point-commons","tag-willets-point-redevelopment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}