An affordable housing lottery has opened for first-time homeowners looking to buy an affordable apartment in the longstanding Brooklyn Heights middle-income housing complex Cadman Towers. The lottery will give people a spot on the waitlist for one of 19 units.
The well-known development, which debuted in 1971 and comprises high-rises at 10 Clinton St. and 101 Clark St., was recently converted from a Mitchell-Lama cooperative into a city-sponsored HDFC, freeing residents to sell their houses for a higher profit and generating more income for the buildings, which are in need of costly repairs.
Apartments used to sell for five figures, and now all of the units in the lottery are more than $100,000. At the same time, the conversion wiped a years-long waiting list for the affordable units (to the dismay of those on it), creating a new one through NYC Housing Connect.
Included in the lottery for 10 Clinton St. and 101 Clark St. are 19 one- to three-bedroom apartments for households of one to seven people earning between $78,137 and $251,125 a year. That works out to 125% of Area Median Income. Applicants also cannot have assets worth more than $271,775, according to the listing.
In the lottery are nine one-bedrooms priced between $168,928 and $186,760, with monthly maintenance between $986.22 and $956.76, six two-bedrooms ranging from $240,019 to $248,500 with maintenance between $1,429.16 and $1,523.69, and four three-bedrooms between $269,644 and $275,381, with monthly maintenance from $1,807.12 to $1,830.68.
The listings states buyers must make a 10 percent down payment, and people with lower incomes than required could qualify if they make larger down payments. The listing also notes asset limits and sales prices could change. Those applying must be first-time buyers and have to live in the apartment as their primary residence, the listing lays out.
The building, which has a total of 421 apartments and includes a shared laundry room, bike storage lockers, and garages, joined the Mitchell-Lama program in 1973. According to The City, in April last year the complex had $62 million in debt due and needed tens of millions for repairs, but couldn’t take on any more loans. It had been raising maintenance fees for residents to keep up with repairs, but that was proving unsustainable for them or the building.
The board voted to convert the complex to HDFC status, allowing residents to sell their apartments at more of a profit than allowed under Mitchell-Lama, and requiring them to pay 50% of that profit to the board to fund repairs and maintenance.
Cadman Towers board president Toba Potosky told The City at the time: “It’s to make sure we’re affordable for the next 50 years and beyond.” Local Council Member Lincoln Restler added the conversion is “a choice to make between hurting the existing low-income residents at Cadman or hurting future low-income residents who want to live at Cadman.”
There will be an informational session on the housing lottery in the community room of Cadman Towers at 101 Clark Street on September 9 at 6 p.m. Instructions for joining the meeting remotely are available in the listing.
The Cadman Towers HDFC lottery closes on September 22. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner.
