Affordable Housing Lottery for East New York ‘Urban Village’ Has $561 Units

An affordable housing lottery has launched for 291 truly affordable apartments in a new building that is part of Innovative Urban Village, a Brooklyn megachurch pastor’s longtime vision to build an affordable housing complex in East New York.

The complex is being developed on the 10.5-acre campus of the Christian Cultural Center in a partnership between the center, Gotham Organization, and Monadnock Development.

Included in the lottery for Innovative Urban Village Phase 1A at 30 Inspiration Lane are 291 studio to three-bedroom apartments. All are rent stabilized and income restricted, targeted at households of one to six people earning 30, 40, 60, and 80 percent of Area Median Income, or $23,040 and $150,400 a year, according to the listing.

There are 70 studio apartments that range from $561 to $1,558 a month, 116 one-bedroom apartments between $712 and $1,956 a month, 77 two-bedrooms from $841 to $2,337 a month, and 28 three-bedroom apartments for between $959 and $2,691 a month. Some of the apartments in the lottery are set aside for residents with hearing, vision, or mobility impairments.

The building has a total of 386 units, and those not included in the lottery are set aside for households that need onsite supportive services, as well as for survivors of domestic violence.

The building, designed by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism and SLCE Architects, includes a fitness center, outdoor terraces, a children’s playroom, laundry room, bike storage, resident lounge, and computer room, according to the listing. The listing adds pets are allowed, but that restrictions apply. There will be a new grocery store on the ground floor, alongside local retail and a workforce development center. A performing arts center will be constructed nearby, the website for the development says.

Renderings show that the 15-story building, which sits on the corner of Flatlands and Pennsylvania avenues, has a plain white facade with evenly spaced punched windows and a setback at the 13th floor. Apartments have white walls and wooden floors and cabinetry, along with stainless steel appliances.

Innovative Urban Village, as it is dubbed, will see 1.7 million square feet of new development in eleven buildings on the CCC’s 10.5 acre parcel at the northwestern tip of Starrett City, which adjoins the megachurch that is one of the largest Christian parishes in the city. The plan is to build 1,975 apartments, retail including a grocery store, greenspace, a trade school, a performing arts center, and a daycare, along with hundreds of parking spots.

The project is a longtime dream of A.R. Bernard, the owner and pastor at Christian Cultural Center. For decades he has hoped to develop the parcel he owns situated between his church and low-income senior housing operated by the Jewish Community Council, which currently serves as a depot for Total Transportation’s school buses.

In 2018 he partnered with the real estate developer Gotham to come up with a plan for an “urban village,” mixing affordable housing, retail, and public space, which he hopes will be a means to combat gentrification in the area.

The project entered the city’s ULURP process in early 2022 and was approved by the city council later that year. City records show an LLC run by the Christian Cultural Center transferred the deed to 30 Inspiration Lane, formerly 12096 Flatlands Avenue, to LLCs managed by Gotham Organization for $13.94 million in March 2024. The new building permit for 30 Inspiration Lane was issued in April 2024.

The Innovative Urban Village Phase 1A lottery closes June 8. To apply, visit the listing on the New York State Home and Community Renewal website.

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• Public Scoping Meeting for East New York Affordable Mega-Development Set for March 3
• East New York Affordable Housing Lottery Opens With Rents Starting at $761

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