Up for grabs at a new development at a former Catholic convent in Bushwick are 63 affordable apartments. Our Lady of Lourdes Apartments is located at 1875 Broadway and 11 and 21 De Sales Place.

The units range in rent from $519 a month for a studio to $1,740 a month for a three-bedroom apartment. Income requirements range from $19,132 for one person to $84,080 for a household of six people.

The complex includes bike storage, laundry in the building, storage for tenants, an outdoor playground, a shared common room and an intercom system.

The property comprises a four-story early 20th century Mediterranean style brick building with arched windows and doors at 11 De Sales Place, a new six-story addition at 21 De Sales Place, and a separate new eight-story building at 1875 Broadway. The new buildings are still under construction.

Image by NYC Housing Connect
Image by NYC Housing Connect

The one at 1875 Broadway will contain a large community facility and 18 apartments averaging more than 1,000 square feet each, according to building records. The two buildings at 11 and 21 De Sales Place will contain 58 apartments, according to DOB records.

The development appears to be 100 percent affordable and is being financed through the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, and the Housing Trust Fund.

affordable housing brooklyn 1875 Broadway 11 De Sales
The former convent at 11 De Sales Place surrounded by construction Wednesday morning. Photo by Cate Corcoran

The owner and developer is an LLC called Our Lady of Lourdes Apartment LLC, which purchased the property from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (controlled by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn) in 2015 for $1.8 million, according to public records.

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and developer Georgica Green Ventures are behind the development, according to their websites; Georgica Green also appears on Department of Building records. They started the development in 2012, as we reported at the time.

Based in Jericho, N.Y., Georgica Green Ventures is a developer that specializes in affordable housing. Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council is a nonprofit started by the late Vito Lopez whose services include health care and developing and managing affordable housing in Bushwick.

The grotto during demolition. Photo by Carol Podkrash
The grotto during demolition in 2015. Photo by Carol Podkrash

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn still owns a school on the other side of the block at 2 Aberdeen. It was all part of the same property until the Archdiocese sold the convent. The private Catholic school, Our Lady of Lourdes School, closed in 2004 and the property sat empty for years.

The site was a source of controversy not long ago, when some alumni of Our Lady of Lourdes School set out to save a grotto and statue dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The grotto was demolished to fix a retaining wall, and a few months later, the archdiocese rented out the space to Ascend Public Charter Schools, and Bushwick Ascend Middle School opened there in September 2015.

The new apartments are located between Broadway and Bushwick Avenue close to the graveyards and the J and Z lines at Chauncey, the L line at Bushwick-Aberdeen, and the A, C, J, L and Z trains at Broadway Junction.

Applications for the lottery are due no later than March 8th. To apply, click here. For more information on affordable housing tips, check out our guide as well.

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