Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for 55 Units at Bedford Union Armory, Starting at $367 a Month

An affordable housing lottery has opened for 55 units at an eight-story building located at 1089 President Street, part of the controversial redevelopment of the Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights.

Of the affordable apartments, there are 12 studios, 30 one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units and a single three-bedroom unit. Monthly rents start at $367 and top out at $1,472.

The lottery is set at an area median income range of 30 percent for four of the units, 40 percent for six units, 50 percent for another six units and 60 percent for the remaining 39 units. Eligible incomes range between $14,778 and $88,800 for households of one to seven people.

There are a total of 60 units in the building, with 38 spots to park a bicycle in the cellar along with laundry and a tenant recreation space. More space for residents will be on the ground floor, along with a community facility that also has space on the third floor. The apartments start on the fourth floor and continue above.

A second, 15-story building with a total of 355 units and an address of 1101 President Street will be part of the same redevelopment. Marvel Architects are behind the design for both.

The Bedford Union Armory development will take up an entire block and include a recreational center operated by CAMBA and open to the public. It will include a swimming pool, basketball courts, and free and low-cost after-school programs.

The developers are the NYCEDC and BFC Partners.

Critics argued the development, on city-owned property, should be 100 percent affordable. Just before the final city council vote in November 2018, Crown Heights residents and the Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit against the development on the grounds that the environmental review did not include rent regulated tenants in its displacement projections, the New York Daily News reported at the time.

Shortly before the vote, developer BFC Partners brought on community nonprofit Local Development Corporation of Crown Heights, the local arm of the NYCEDC, as a development partner.

The Bedford-Union Armory has sat in Crown Heights for over a century. Built in 1903, it had troops stationed there until 2011 when they were moved to Fort Hamilton. The city has been seeking to redevelop the site since at least 2013, when it issued a call for proposals.

Applications for the affordable housing lottery must be submitted by August 25, 2021. Apply through NYC Housing Connect.

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