Developers have released renderings of a newly-approved affordable housing development coming to Park Slope.
Last month, the City Council green-lit a 245,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 341 10th St. With two new buildings and one refurbished one, the development is expected to feature 305 new apartments, 162 of which will be permanently affordable. The project will also preserve 154 existing affordable units at the site.
A number of the units will be “deeply affordable,” Council Member Alexa Avilés said at a hearing last month — 17 will be affordable for tenants earning 50% of the Area Median Income, or $69,900 per year for a family of three; and four will be available at 70% AMI, or $97,860 for a family of three. One of the new buildings will feature 100 units set aside for low-income seniors and families, with apartments available at or below 50% AMI.
Over months of negotiation, Stellar Management — the developer behind the project — agreed to add more affordable units than are required by law to get the project approved, according to The Real Deal.
Stellar is partnering with multiple local nonprofit organizations including the Fifth Avenue Committee to provide supportive housing services and programming for older residents. The development will also include a publicly accessible 15,000-square-foot green space with shaded play areas and community gardening features, new retail spaces with a preference for local small businesses and nonprofit organizations, and an improved streetscape.
Developing the site proved particularly difficult, according to Stellar, because MTA tracks cross the site diagonally. The construction of those tracks in the 1930s left the block littered with vacant lots and parking lots — which the company referred to as a “100-year void” in the fabric of the neighborhood.
“This challenging site required the coordination of many experts and local stakeholders to develop a creative proposal that preserves and generates deeply affordable housing in Park Slope,” Stellar Management representative Benjamin Rubenstein said in a statement. “[We are] firmly committed to offering affordable housing solutions in New York City. We look forward to delivering on our commitments to meet the needs of existing and future residents of the neighborhood.”
All the new amenities built at the site will be available to existing tenants at 341 10th St., according to Stellar, and the existing building itself will be rehabilitated — the developer plans to renovate the building’s lobby and community room, upgrade elevators, plumbing, and electrical systems, and renovate individual apartments throughout the building. Almost 40 of those existing affordable units will be re-regulated after falling out of rent regulation.
“All of this is done while knitting the street scape between 4th and 5th Avenues and 9th and 10th Streets back together on a very challenging block,” said Fifth Avenue Committee Executive Director Michelle de la Uz, in a statement. “FAC is grateful for Councilmember Aviles’ support and that we and Prospect Towers Tenants Association were able to come to an agreement with Stellar to build and preserve so many affordable homes in a highly desirable community while addressing concerns around construction impacts for existing tenants and ensuring affordability of the apartments for generations to come.”
