Boerum Hill Parking Lot to Become Affordable Senior Housing

A city-owned parking lot in Boerum Hill will become permanently affordable rent-stabilized senior housing, a much needed rarity in the area.

The lot, located at 108-114 3rd Avenue between Bergen and Wyckoff streets, will be developed with 68 units. The new mixed-use building, dubbed the Third Act Apartments, will also include commercial and community spaces.

The city announced the development team late last month. Selected through a request for proposals process and after community engagement, it includes Cornerstone Construction Group, nonprofit developer and service provider St. Nicks Alliance, and Stanton Street Development Partners. David Cunningham Architecture Planning PLLC will lead the project’s architectural design. The community engagement and RFP process also included a second adjacent city-owned site to be developed at 153 Nevins Street, but plans for that site have not yet been released.

The plan for the Third Act Apartments was developed with guidance from the Nevins and Third Community Visioning Report, the goals outlined in the RFP, and input from over 200 community members, local elected officials, and organizations, according to the press release.

Community members called for new housing for seniors and formerly homeless individuals, as well as for sustainable, resilient design and outdoor spaces that foster neighborhood connections. In addition to residential units, the project will include approximately 1,700 square feet of commercial retail space and 1,000 square feet of community facility space. The building’s first floor will feature a community room available to residents and local organizations, a resident library, game room, fitness center, bicycle storage room, laundry services, and generous outdoor spaces. These will include a rooftop urban farm and a courtyard with access to a second-floor terrace and garden.

The commercial spaces will house a local pharmacy, according to the release.

“This administration is committed to transforming underutilized city-owned land into safe, secure, affordable housing,“ Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrión Jr. stated in the press release. “The Third Act Apartments will provide 68 older adults the ability to age in place comfortably and affordably with high-end amenities and services.”

The site at 108-114 3rd Avenue is made up of four separate lots between a Shell service station and a medical office, which sits on the corner of Wyckoff Street. Tax photos from the 1940s and 1980s show a history similar to that of the Nevins Street lot, with the sites containing a row of houses in the 1940s that had been razed by the 1980s and replaced by parking. The city gained ownership of the sites in the 1970s, according to PropertyShark.

City records show HPD still owns the four 3rd Avenue lots, and so far no building permits have been applied for.

Related Stories

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• How New York City Can Create Genuinely Affordable Housing
• Affordable Housing Lottery for Seniors Opens in East Flatbush, With Units Starting at $0

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