Albany still hasn’t resurrected the 421-a tax exemption program, and developers of big affordable housing projects have become tired of waiting for a tax break that may not return. Now Procida Companies is pushing forward with one of those developments, a 300-unit affordable housing complex at 96 New Lots Avenue in Brownsville.
Procida is teaming up with the Church of God of East Flatbush and Brisa Builders to develop the project, which will fill a full block between Powell Street, Sackman Street, New Lots Avenue and Hegeman Avenue. The Brooklyn Borough President’s office helped bring the trio together, as part of a program that unites cash-strapped churches with developers that can help the religious groups make the most of their increasingly valuable property, Crain’s reported in October.
The finished development, known as Ebenezer Plaza, will include 512 apartments, according to The Real Deal. Procida filed plans last month for an 11-story, 306-unit building, the first of two. The second, yet-to-be-filed building will host 206 units and span 185,000 square feet.
The ground floor will have 7,700 square feet of retail and a 34,000-square-foot sanctuary for the Church of God. The 10 remaining stories will hold 236,565 square feet of residential space, divided between north and south towers. Tenants will be able to take advantage of recreation space, shared balconies, and laundry rooms on the second floor of both towers.
Apartments will range from studios to three-bedrooms, and all of the units will rent to families earning at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income, which for a family of three is $81,600.
Perkins Eastman is handling the design. Brisa and the NYC Housing Partnership picked up the 55,000-square-foot site for $12,600,000 in May 2016. The block is industrially zoned, but the developers filed an application last month to rezone the property for residential and commercial development.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Recommendation from a 300-unit affordable housing development, developer stay in Brownsville and say okay on permits filed.