Four two-bedroom co-ops in an Ocean Hill development are for sale through an affordable housing lottery, priced at $247,550 each. The terms are notable: Very low down payments are allowed, and the mortgage interest rate is ultra low.

The apartments are part of the 25-unit, four-story Seed Cooperative development at 1900 Park Place and 416 Thomas S. Boyland Street, developed in partnership by Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County and Latent Productions.

Work on the complex started in 2017 after Habitat for Humanity acquired the formerly empty lot that had been owned by the city since 1973. A lottery for the 25 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments opened in 2018, but four two-bedroom apartments remain available.

The current lottery is for households of two to five people earning between 50 and 80 percent of the Area Median Income or $48,000 to $115,280.

An eligible family of two can earn between $48,000 and $85,440. A family of three can bring in as much as $96,080. For a family of five, the maximum household income is $115,280.

seed cooperative floor plan
Image via NYC Housing Connect
seed cooperative floor plan
Image via NYC Housing Connect

Applicants must be first-time homebuyers to qualify, and must use the co-op as their primary residence. Appealingly, the apartments require only 1 percent of the sales price as a down payment, and the mortgage rate is only 2 percent.

While the house prices for the two-bedroom co-ops have stayed the same since the lottery first opened in 2018, the Area Median Income range has changed. In 2018, the income range was set for 80 percent AMI, which at the time was between $49,400 and $66,800 for two people and $49,400 and $75,120 for households of three.

Floor plans for the apartments show varying layouts, with one apartment featuring an outdoor terrace and another showing it measures around 888 square feet. The monthly maintenance charge is $1,400 for each unit.

seed cooperative floor plan
Image via NYC Housing Connect
seed cooperative floor plan
Image via NYC Housing Connect

According to Habitat for Humanity’s website, the development is energy efficient, which will keep utility costs low for owners, and it includes a common rear year connected to the three buildings that make up the complex. There is shared laundry, additional storage, and bike parking. Previous models and renderings of Seed Cooperative show a U-shaped complex with a center courtyard.

The project was developed through the New Infill Homeownership Opportunities Program, and Salvatore Perry of Latent Productions is the architect of record. The firm designed the Runner & Stone bakery-bar at 285 3rd Avenue in Gowanus and the Dean Carlton condos at 535 Dean Street in Prospect Heights.

Nearby are affordable condos built by Habitat for Humanity called the St. Johns Residences. Located at 1812 St. Johns Place, the building was completed in 2012.

Applications for the lottery must be submitted by May 22 through the NYC Housing Connect website.

1900 park place 2008
The site in 2008. Photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark

As Brooklyn housing costs continue to set records — the median home price hit $950,000 in the first quarter — affordable homeownership opportunities in the borough are in high demand. The 2021 affordable housing lottery for the ownership of 17 homes in Brownsville, East New York, and Ocean Hill received more than 5,300 applications.

Dozens, possibly even hundreds, of different kinds of affordable housing exist in New York City, most of them rentals, but owned affordable housing is rare. Dotting Brooklyn and other boroughs are examples including HDFC co-ops, tenement apartments renovated by Habitat for Humanity, as well as newly constructed townhouse rows built by the city and nonprofits such as Habitat, religious organizations, and community groups.

Currently, the Seed Cooperative apartments are the only affordable homes for sale in a lottery through the city’s Housing Connect portal.

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