Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for Seniors in Brownsville
The affordable housing lottery is for a Catholic Charities-owned building in which residents will pay 30 percent of their income in rent.
The building at 350 Livonia Avenue in Brownsville. Rendering via NYC Housing Connect
An affordable housing lottery has opened in a modern 13-story building in Brownsville that includes a total of 142 apartments, all dedicated to seniors. 47 of the units can be deemed truly affordable. The building is located beside the elevated train tracks along Livonia Avenue, between Mother Gaston Boulevard and Christopher Avenue, on a block of mostly two-story, single-family houses.
Included in the lottery for Gail P. Duke Senior Residence at 350 Livonia Avenue are 47 studio and one-bedroom apartments for households of one to three people who earn between $0 and $72,900 a year, according to the listing. Households must include someone 62 or older.
There are 24 studios for households of one to two people earning between $0 and $64,800 a year and 23 one-bedrooms for one to three people earning between $0 and $72,900. Tenants must pay a third of their income in rent, and there is an asset limit on tenants of $81,000 for all the apartments. Rent includes gas for heat and hot water, but tenants must pay for electricity, which covers the stove.
Five percent of apartments in the lottery are set aside for households with a mobility disability, and two percent are reserved for households with a visual or hearing disability.
Designed by Magnusson Architecture and Planning and developed by Catholic Charities Progress of Peoples Development Corporation, the new building includes a senior center, green space, shared laundry room, 24-hour building super, computer lab, elevator, air conditioning, and bike storage lockers, according to the listing. The building will be smoke free. There is no mention whether pets are allowed.
The senior center will have on-site supportive services by Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services which will offer daily hot meals, events, fitness classes, and senior case management services. It will also be used as a “resiliency resource during energy disruptions, flood-related events, or extreme heat,” according to the architect’s website.
The building is part of a multi-site development bringing more than 420 apartments to Livonia Avenue through a partnership between Radson Development, Community Solutions, and Catholic Charities. The team was chosen through a city RFP through the Brownsville Planning process. A neighboring 11-story, 82-unit building, also designed by MAP, is rising across Christopher Avenue at 372 Livonia Avenue.
Gail P. Duke Senior Residence at 350 Livonia Avenue is all-electric and built to Passive House standards. The architects say it has heat pump water heaters for hot water, energy recovery ventilators, a solar power system, and battery back-up for resilience. The plantings are native and drought-resistant species that offer shade, and there are cooling stormwater planters.
Renderings show a tall, almost z-shaped building that has a cut out for an existing single-story building housing a bodega along Mother Gaston Boulevard, and a cut out for a rear yard along Christopher Avenue. Lower levels have a dark grey facade that steps back around the midway point, where there is rooftop planting and the facade turns to a light grey. Windows have dark green panels to add a splash of exterior color. Inside, units have floor-to-ceiling windows, white walls, and contrasting cabinets, renderings show.
Records show the Catholic Charities purchased the long-vacant site from the city for $9 in May 2024. A new building permit for the development was first applied for in 2023 and a certificate of occupancy was issued in April of this year, city records show.
The building, which cost a total $143.4 million, was constructed using New York City Housing Development Corporation’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Tax-Exempt Bonds, as well as HDC’s Extremely Low and Low-Income Affordability program. It also used New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program.
The lottery for the Gail P. Duke Senior Residence closes April 24. To apply, visit the listing on Housing Connect.
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