Brownsville affordable housing lottery begins with 4 units

Brownsville affordable housing lottery begins with $454 units

An affordable housing lottery has begun for 165 truly affordable apartments in a building under construction in Brownsville. One-bedroom units start at $484 per month.

The subject of the lottery is the third and final building in the 100 percent affordable Ebenezer Plaza complex, which was developed in a partnership between the Ebenezer Urban Ministries Center (formerly the Church of God of East Flatbush) and a group of other affordable housing developers.

The Ebenezer Plaza project spans two blocks on New Lots Avenue from Christopher Avenue to Powell Street. The newest building, called Ebenezer Plaza Phase 2, is being built on the site bordered by Christopher, Hegeman and New Lots streets and Sackman Street. The address is 589 Christopher Avenue.

Floor plan of a studio unit
Studio floor plan via NYC Housing Connect
One bedroom floor plan
Floor plan of a one-bedroom apartment via NYC Housing Connect
One bedroom floor plan
Floor plan of a one-bedroom apartment via NYC Housing Connect
Floor plan with three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Three-bedroom floor plan via NYC Housing Connect

Included in the lottery are 165 rent-controlled and income-restricted studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for families earning 30 to 80 percent of the area median income. According to the listing, income limits for households of one to seven people range from $18,480 to $154,080.

The 15 studio apartments start at $454 a month and go up to $1,709, the 94 one-bedroom apartments range from $577 to $2,145 a month, the 46 two-bedroom apartments range from $680 to $2,563 a month, and the 10 three-bedroom apartments are available for as little as $774 a month and go up to $2,949 a month. In total, the building has 208 apartments, and the apartments not included in the lottery are assisted living units for households placed through city agencies.

Living - rendering of apartment buildings
Ebenezer Plaza, Phase 1. Rendering via Brisa Builders Corp.
Rendering of a paved outdoor area with seating and planters
Ebenezer Plaza, Phase 1. Rendering via Brisa Builders Corp.
Rendering of a multi-storey residential building
Ebenezer Plaza, Phase 1. Rendering via Brisa Builders Corp.

Designed by Perkins Eastman, the 11-story Ebenezer Plaza Phase 2 building includes a gym, shared laundry room, community room, outdoor space and bike storage, as well as 1,400 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Tenants are responsible for paying for electricity, which includes an electric stove.

The adjacent building, constructed in phase one, includes 315 units of affordable housing and a new 3,700-square-foot building for the church, nestled between the two buildings on the ground floor and in the basement.

589 Christopher Avenue in 2008
The location that is now 589 Christopher in 2008. Photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark

Before the new housing complex, the lots between Christopher, New Lots and Hegeman Avenues and Powell Street were mostly occupied by low-rise brick garages used by auto repair shops and car dealerships.

The church bought the properties in 2011 for $8.18 million and sold them to a nonprofit housing trust in 2016 for $12.6 million, records show. The church partnered with Brisa Builders Corporation and Procida Companies on the housing trust, all of which were brought together under a program initiated in 2016 by then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to help churches make money from real estate ownership. Later that year, the group applied for a rezoning of the site, which was approved.

The development falls under the city’s Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA) program as well as the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) initiated by the rezoning.

The lottery for Phase 2 of Ebenezer Plaza ends October 3. To apply, visit the ad on the City of New York’s Housing Connect website.

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