An affordable housing lottery has launched for an almost fully affordable nine-story development on Bushwick’s Dekalb Avenue, not far from Maria Hernandez Park and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. Studio apartments start at $788 a month and three-bedrooms at $1,346.
The lottery for the development under construction at 1601 Dekalb Ave. includes 80 units, all rent stabilized and income restricted, targeted at households of one to seven people earning between $30,823 and $241,080 a year, or between 40-120% of Area Median Income, according to the listing.
While the development is dubbed 100% affordable by city standards, with all apartments income restricted and rent regulated, the 46 apartments targeted at families earning 120% of AMI are on the pricier side. The bigger units are close to or higher than Bushwick median asking rent in September, which was $3,500 a month, according to StreetEasy.
In the truly affordable category are 14 studio apartments set at $788 and $1,760 a month, eight one-bedroom units renting for $996 and $2,211 a month, four two-bedroom apartments priced at $1,178 and $2,636 a month, and eight three-bedroom apartments for $1,346 and $3,031 per month. At 120% AMI, there are 46 units including studios at $2,319, one-bedrooms at $2,910, two-bedrooms at $3,475, and three-bedrooms at $4,000 a month.
The nine-story building has a total of 126 apartments. The 45 not included in the lottery are set aside as supportive units for formerly homeless New Yorkers and there will be on-site support services for those residents, according to part of the development team, Riseboro.
The complex at 1601 Dekalb Avenue has been developed in a partnership between Riseboro and Camber Property Group, and is designed by Aufgang Architects. The building includes a shared laundry room, bike storage, and a community center, while apartments have air conditioning, dishwashers, and high-speed Internet, according to the listing.
While the listing doesn’t mention anything about pets, smoking, or utilities, a website for the development says tenants must pay for electricity, but not heat or hot water, and pets under 30 pounds are allowed. Tenants are allowed up to two pets, but they must be different species.
Renderings show a very utilitarian looking building that steps up from four stories on one end to the full nine stories at the other, all with a uniform grey brick facade and evenly spaced square windows. Apartments have white walls, wooden floors and cabinetry, and stainless steel appliances, along with full bathtubs, the renderings show.
The development has risen on a large site that sits mid block on Dekalb Avenue and spans through to Hart Street, between Irving and Wyckoff avenues. City records show in 2016 Riseboro and Camber Property Group, through 1601 Dekalb Owner LLC, took out a 99-year ground lease for the site, which had been used for parking, effective from 2020 from the longtime owners Two Guys From Glendale, Inc. There was no price recorded with the agreement.
In 2018, city records show, the site was rezoned from manufacturing to residential, allowing for a new nine-story building; at the time the rezoning had some locals worried about the impact on small businesses on Wyckoff Avenue. A new-building permit was applied for in June 2021 and was last reissued in April 2024. City records show the building is yet to obtain a certificate of occupancy.
The developers used the city’s new Mix and Match program to finance the new development, and also had to follow the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program due to the rezoning.
The 1601 Dekalb Avenue lottery closes on November 5. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner.
