Lottery Opens for Affordable Housing Above Sunset Park Library, Starting at $524 a Month

A lottery has opened for 40 genuinely affordable apartments at 372 51st Street in Sunset Park, where the local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library is undergoing redevelopment. The one-story structure is being replaced with a new eight-story building containing 50 apartments and a library condo at its base with 20,000 square feet of space, almost twice the size of the old library.

While the project encountered controversy during the public review process, it is publicly funded and aimed at low- and extremely low-income residents with household incomes between 30 percent and 80 percent of the Area Median Income. (Rent for eight of the residences will be paid by Section 8.)

Available by lottery are residences aimed at households of one to seven people earning from 40 percent to 80 percent of AMI, or $20,160 to $118,400 a year. The least expensive apartments are studios renting for $524 a month. The most expensive are three-bedrooms costing $2,096 a month.

Some three-bedrooms go for as little as $929 a month. There are also one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms available, with a range of rents from $667 to $1,820 a month.

Housing Connect, the city’s website that takes applications for housing lotteries, doesn’t show interiors, but floor plans indicate the units are typical efficient modern ones with an open plan. The one-bedroom has three closets.

The units have hardwood floors and “high end” appliances and finishes, according to the listing. The smoke-free building has shared laundry, outdoor space, rooftop solar panels, a community center, an accessible entrance, security cameras and an elevator.

Nonprofit Fifth Avenue Committee is the developer and owner of the $37.4 million project. The architect is Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP); Mitchell Giurgola also worked on the library portion.

Applications for the affordable housing lottery must be submitted by April 12, 2021. Apply through NYC Housing Connect.

Related Stories

• Library Mulls Adding Seven Stories, Affordable Housing to Sunset Park Branch
• Residents Reject Plan to Enlarge Sunset Park Library With Affordable Housing
• Bigger Library, Fewer Affordable Apartments for Sunset Park

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