Affordable Housing Lottery for Wait List Has Three-Bedrooms for $48K

In an affordable housing lottery to get on a wait list for a coveted Mitchell-Lama complex in Crown Heights, three-bedroom units are priced at less than $50,000 while some studios can be had for less than $20,000.

Included in the lottery for the wait list at Crown Gardens at 1185 Carroll Street are studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments ranging from $19,222 to $48,030, according to the listing on NYC Housing Connect. The listing doesn’t say how many of the building’s 239 units are available, but it says it will draw 300 applications from the lottery for the studio, one-, and two-bedroom units, and 200 applications from the lottery for the three-bedroom apartments to create a waiting list.

The studio and one-bedroom units are for households of one to three people. Studios are selling for between $19,222 and $23,339 with household income limits of $31,760 to $182,250. Monthly maintenance for the units is $794 to $924. One-bedrooms are listed between $26,080 and $32,938 with income limits between $38,880 and $182,250 and monthly maintenance from $972 to $1,186.

Two-bedroom apartments are for households of two to four people earning between $48,120 and $202,500. The units are selling for between $35,682 and $38,422 and monthly maintenance fees range from $1,203 to $1,376.

The three-bedroom apartments are set aside for families of four to six people earning between $56,920 and $235,000. They are selling for between $45,286 and $48,030 and have monthly maintenance of $1,423 to $1,614.

On top of having the correct household numbers and income requirements, to be eligible for the lottery, applicants must be at least 18, cannot already be shareholders in the building, can apply only once, and can be on only one waiting list at a time for the complex. Those selected through the lottery have to pay a $75 application fee. The listing says preference in the lottery is given to veterans.

The Brutalist-style orange brick and concrete complex with balconies dates from the 1970s. Spanning the block along Nostrand Avenue between Carroll and President streets, it stands 15 stories tall at its highest point. There are no interior photos or renderings or floor plans of the units available in the listing.

Crown Gardens was developed as part of the Mitchell-Lama program, widely hailed as a successful and exemplary model for middle-class housing in New York City. The program, created in 1955 by State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assembly Member Alfred Lama, was designed to expand affordable housing options for middle-income New Yorkers.

Under the program, the nonprofit buildings were developed by the city or state and received low-interest mortgages and significant tax breaks to keep rents and co-op prices below market rate. The housing remains under the supervision of either the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal or the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

At its peak, the program supported 269 developments with more than 105,000 affordable units statewide, including 18,000 in Brooklyn. Currently, Mitchell-Lama units are hard to come by and many have years-long waiting lists.

The Crown Gardens lottery closes on December 1. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.

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