Affordable Housing Lottery Launches at Former Pfizer Site at the Broadway Triangle

An affordable housing lottery has launched at 11 Gerry Street, a fully affordable ten-story building in Rabsky’s giant Broadway Triangle development. Units start at $812 a month. The mega-development, which includes nine buildings and spans two Williamsburg blocks, was the subject of a highly controversial 2017 rezoning.

All 120 apartments are included in the lottery. They range from one to four bedrooms and are all rent stabilized and income restricted, targeted at households of one to nine people earning 40, 60, and 100 percent of Area Median Income, or $32,160 and $226,800 a year, according to the listing.

There are forty one-bedroom apartments at $812, $1,260 and $2,155 a month. Forty are two bedrooms renting for $965, $1,502, and $2,576 a month. Sixteen are three bedrooms at $1,105, $1,725, and $2,966 a month, and there are 24 four-bedroom apartments for $1,222, $1,914, and $3,298 a month.

Developed by Rabsky Group and designed by Fischer + Makooi Architects, apartments include energy efficient appliances and patios or balconies, according to the listing. As for amenities, a shared laundry room and bike storage are available for an additional fee. The building is smoke free and tenants have to pay for electricity, which covers the stove. Rent includes heat and hot water.

Permits show there will be ground floor retail and an ambulatory diagnostic center on the second floor. A beige and brick facade includes floor-to-ceiling glass panels along the retail levels, a grid of evenly spaced windows, and some balconies.

The Rabsky site, and Broadway Triangle as a whole, has a controversial history. Various groups have clashed over developing the formerly-industrial area bordering Williamsburg and Bed Stuy. The city kicked off development of affordable housing on Broadway Triangle’s city-owned sites in 2022.

Rabsky’s site was formerly owned by drug manufacturing giant Pfizer and zoned for low-density manufacturing. Prior to Rabsky’s 2012 $12.75 million purchase, various community groups attempted to buy it to build low-income housing. In 2015, Rabsky filed to rezone the land and the highly contentious process split community and city council members.

When Rabsky’s rezoning passed in 2017, the plan was for an eight-building, 1,146-apartment complex with 287 units of subsidized housing. Permits now show the site will include nine buildings and 558 apartments. 11 Gerry Street is one of five on the block bordered by Gerry and Wallabout streets and Union and Harrison avenues. The other four are bordered by Wallabout and Walton streets and Union and Harrison avenues.

11 Gerry Street is not the first affordable building to open on Rabsky’s site. In 2022, an affordable housing lottery was held for 77 units at 269 Wallabout Street.

Because the 11 Gerry Street Apartments are taking advantage of the rezoning, the building is required to include affordable units under the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. It is also expected to receive the 421-a tax break, according to the listing.

The 11 Gerry Street Apartments lottery closes on March 4. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.

Related Stories

• Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for 125 Williamsburg Units, Including $544 Studios
• Construction of Long-Contested Affordable Housing in Broadway Triangle Poised to Begin
• Rabsky’s New Plans for Pfizer Mega-Project Could Bring Hundreds of Affordable Units to ‘Burg

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.