The 100 percent affordable building has units for seniors, low income renters, and households experiencing homelessness.
A truly affordable housing lottery has opened for 36 apartments in a new 100 percent affordable development in Crown Heights, with units starting at $454 a month. Dubbed Weeksville Place, the new eight-story, 45-unit building has risen on a formerly vacant and overgrown lot.
The lottery for the new development at 1559 Prospect Place includes 36 rent stabilized and income restricted studio, one-, and two-bedroom units for families earning 30 to 80 percent of the Area Median Income. Income limits are set between $18,480 and $134,160 for households of one to five people, according to the listing.
The 15 studio units start at $454 a month and go up to $654, the seven one-bedrooms start at $577 a month and top out at $1,676, and the 14 two-bedrooms range from $1,364 a month and to $1,999 a month. The building’s remaining nine apartments not included in the lottery are supportive units for households referred through city agencies.
The cheapest apartments at 30 and 40 percent of Area Median Income will favor seniors in the application process, according to the listing.
Weeksville Place was designed by ESKW/Architects to look like two buildings, one made of red brick and the other of gray chevron-patterned stripes on hairpin supports. The latter has a setback at the sixth floor that allows for a landscaped terrace, renderings show. On the ground floor are floor to ceiling windows with plantings out front.
According to the architect’s website, the lobby and residential hallways have wood paneling and there is a rear yard and grill area, along with a children’s playground. The listing says the building includes energy efficient appliances, air conditioning, bike storage, a community center, outdoor areas and a playground, and an onsite resident manager. Heat and hot water are included in the rent, but tenants have to pay for electricity, which includes electric stoves, the listing states.
Going back at least to the ’80s, the city-owned Prospect Place lot located between Buffalo and Ralph avenues was vacant and overgrown, old tax photos show. Before that, it held three houses. In 2022, records show the city transferred the lot to development partners Settlement Housing Fund, an affordable housing developer, and construction company The Beechwood Organization for $3. Settlement Housing Fund also operates a number of other affordable housing developments in Crown Heights, along St. John’s Place.
The site is an Urban Development Action Area Project, which gives the developer a tax break for up to 20 years. The construction was financed through LITCH and the city’s Neighborhood Construction Program, according to the listing.
The Weeksville Place lottery closes October 28. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.