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October 12, 2006

State Renaissance Court: Not a Small Building

condos
Bounded by Schermerhorn, Hoyt and State Streets, the State Renaissance Court has been in the works since 2002 when the Empire State Development Corp. issued an RFP for the 60,000-square-feet plot of land atop the Hoyt/Schermerhorn subway station. (This means the overall project must be, what, 200,000 to 300,000 square feet?) About two-thirds of the site will be a multi-family rental building while the balance will be 14 two-family townhouses on State Street (not to be confused with the State Street Townhouses). In the mix will be 47 Low Income units, 8 of which are for "Very Low Income" households (no more than $28,000 for a 2-bedroom). The marketing campaign was supposed to have kicked off already, though it hasn't gotten on our radar screen yet. Anyone know anything more than we've included here?
Rental Apartments and Applications [State Street Living] GMAP
Checking In On the State Renaissance Court [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:00 AM | Comments (20)
Categories: Development

Comments

Typical New York bland. Is there any other city in the world where new construction is so consistantly boring and ugly? Buildings such as this would not be built in Chicago, Vancouver, Seattle, LA or Paris.

Posted by: GrandPa at October 12, 2006 11:54 AM

These are but. I've lived in a lot of cities and have never seen buildings as ugly as these. It's also interesting that building built in New York before the govenrment got so involved in regulating them and their ocupants were so much nicer.

Posted by: JoshK at October 12, 2006 12:20 PM

They may be aesthetically bland and uninspired... but at least they are providing low-income housing in an area that is hideously expensive...

Posted by: Anonymous at October 12, 2006 12:32 PM

The very very low income metrics say that a person earning $18K, say $14,400 after taxes or about $1,200 month should pay over 1/3 of their income for rent? Are these numbers fair for NYC and who came up with them?

Posted by: Squatter at October 12, 2006 1:05 PM

Mega-Fedders

Posted by: Anonymous at October 12, 2006 1:28 PM

The entrance to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station is incredibly filthy, with one of the highest number of vagrants i've seen at a station in Brooklyn. I'm not surprised that the building will have rentals and Low Income Units- they'd have trouble getting the luxury condo crowd to buy into that block.

Posted by: Anon at October 12, 2006 1:33 PM

i think that the federal definition of "very low income" is 30% of the area median income, so that seems about right. and 1/3 (pre-tax) is the standard amount people are supposed to pay toward rent.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 12, 2006 1:38 PM

It's IBEC's project, and they usually do pretty good work (see the Clermont Armory in Fort Greene). Check out their website:
http://www.statestreetliving.com/

Posted by: babs at October 12, 2006 2:44 PM

Incidentally, what's interesting is that they're building the low income housing in the FIRST phase of the projects, and the pricer townhouses AFTER that. Quite a contrast to the Atlantic Yards stupidity.

Posted by: babs at October 12, 2006 2:46 PM

i have to agree. i live in in an IBEC building (the aforementioned clermont armory) and it is awesome. the management is great, the building is clean and the rent is reasonable. i would definitely consider moving here to be close to the subway and work.

Posted by: zzzap at October 12, 2006 3:22 PM

I was wondering what the FAR is for this lot of land. Too bad the building is bulky. I would have preferred a smaller footprint profile with greater height. Yes, I know, all things being equal it is more cost effective the way it is being built.

Nevertheless, I would have preferred higher.

Posted by: D at October 12, 2006 4:52 PM

The numbers aren't fair, but with a metro Area Median Income instead of an NYC Median Income determining rents and subsidies, what do you expect? As for the block, sure the other side of the street is gross now, but give it a year, and watch the building begin.

Posted by: Anon at October 12, 2006 4:53 PM

it's nice to have parking lots converted to housing. and it's even nicer to have that housing for a range of incomes.

and it's nicest most of all to not have another methadone clinic being built in the neighborhood.

btw, hoyt-schermerhorn may be the filthiest station in the hood, but there is a nypd outpost in it, so thank god for that.

Posted by: chuck at October 12, 2006 6:04 PM

Also, this building is far nicer in appearnce than the Fedders-style small apartment building populating CH/BS corridor. And whoever made the crack about LA or Vancouver has not seen a lot of the dreck that gets built in those cities.

Also, I don't know if this block of Schermerhorn is zoned to go above 8 stories generally which would explain the lack of height (and the "bulkiness", which I kind of like). This building seems to fit in the size of the buildings across the street, and a little bit of a step down from the taller buildings on Livingston.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 13, 2006 11:28 AM

HUD's rule is you must earn at least 40x the rent....

Posted by: m at October 14, 2006 7:52 AM

Does anybody know who is moving into the retail space?

Posted by: Anonymous at October 15, 2006 4:47 PM

Years ago (maybe 2000 or 2001) when this proposal started to get legs, some people (i.e., real estate broker types) claimed that Crate & Barrel was interested in the retail space. Obviously, if this was acccurate we'd probably have heard much more about it in recent days.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 16, 2006 12:02 PM

Middle income max is $141,000?
People earning less than $11,000 are not low income?
No opportunity to rent if you make more then $44,000 but less than $60,000?

whoever came up with these guidelines should be fired on the spot

Posted by: Bron at October 31, 2006 1:44 PM

Twistys Presents: Gauge

Posted by: gauge at November 22, 2006 10:17 AM

actually, there is an opportunity to rent if you make between $44,000 and $60,000. you just have to live with someone else. if you're single and middle income, you are screwed.

Posted by: Anonymous at December 12, 2006 3:28 PM

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