Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for $1,537 Units at Greenpoint Waterfront Towers

An affordable housing lottery has launched for 251 apartments in a two-building complex in Greenpoint dubbed The Riverie. Located on the banks of the East River, right behind the Greenpoint Ferry Terminal, the development is the latest Greenpoint tower to replace low-slung industrial brick warehouses.

Australian-based Lendlease, the owners of The Riverie at 18 India Street, also 1 Java Place, faced pushback from local residents following their purchase of the large block-long site in 2020 for their management of the Greenpoint Ferry Terminal and labor issues during construction. The site is bound by India, Java, and West streets, and the East River, and includes the public access point to the ferry pier.

The housing lottery for the new 37-story, 834-unit development includes 251 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments that are all income restricted and rent stabilized. However, only 84 could be deemed actually affordable. Those are for families earning 70 percent of the Area Median Income, with income limits set between $56,503 and $117,390 for households of one to five people, according to the Housing Connect listing.

Of these, 18 are studios going for $1,537 a month, 34 are one-bedroom apartments priced at $1,639, and 32 are two-bedroom units renting for $1,953. The remaining apartments in the lottery are for households earning 125 and 130 percent of AMI, or between $100,526 and $218,010 for one to five people, including nine two-bedrooms set at $4,395 a month.

Designed by architect firm Marvel Designs, the apartments have white finishes and floor-to-ceiling windows, renderings show. According to online listings, they are outfitted with Caesarstone countertops, energy-efficient appliances, solar and blackout shades, in-unit washer/dryers, and ClimateMaster smart thermostats. Some have private outdoor space.

The building itself has a two-story gym, rooftop pool, dog washing station, covered parking, spa, yoga studio, and children’s playroom, according to the listing. Some of the amenities come at an additional cost to tenants. There is a two-pet limit per unit and the building is smoke free. Rent includes hot water, but residents are responsible for electricity, including for the stove and geothermal heating and cooling.

The complex is the largest residential development in New York City to use a geothermal system, which reduces emissions by 53 percent, according to the property website. The building is hoping to get LEED Gold certification, Fitwel Certification, WEDG Waterfront Certification, and Energy Star Certification.

Renderings show The Riverie includes two towers — the taller 37 stories and the smaller 20 — next to a six-story orange brick podium topped with the outdoor swimming pool and landscaping. The two towers have fluted white facades that are covered in grids of black-framed windows. Some corner units have balconies.

Large diagonal columns frame the entrance to the building, and the two-story-high ground floor has floor to ceiling windows.

Lendlease purchased the large property in 2020 for $110.825 million through 1 Java Owner LLC from development firm JZ Capital Partners. Lendlease applied for the new-building permit in June 2021, but it wasn’t issued until June 2023, city records show. In the meantime, the firm demolished the single-story industrial building that took up the entirety of the site.

Used as a bottling facility and for storage including of gasoline, according to old certificates of occupancy, the property went through brownfield cleanup.

The location is part of the 2005 Williamsburg and Greenpoint rezoning and its Greenpoint-Willamsburg Inclusionary Housing Program. The project is being developed under the city’s Inclusionary Housing Program and is expected to qualify for the 421-a tax break.

The lottery closes March 28. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.

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