Affordable Housing

Housing lottery launches for 165 rent-stabilized apartments in Brownsville

  • New Yorkers who earn $18,480 to $154,080 are eligible to apply and rents start at $454 for a studio
  • The 11-story building holds 206 units total and has a gym, recreation room, and shared laundry room
Celia Young Headshot
By Celia Young  |
August 8, 2024 - 11:30AM
A rendering of the 11-story building at 589 Christopher Ave.

The building replaced a single-story auto shop between New Lots and Hegeman avenues.

NYC Housing Connect

Housing lottery applications are open for 165 rent-stabilized apartments at a new development in Brownsville, Brooklyn. New Yorkers who earn $18,480 to $154,080 are eligible to apply, depending on the size of the household. Rents start at $454 for a studio.

The building at 589 Christopher Ave. has a gym, recreation room, shared laundry room, elevator, and bike storage lockers. It’s located near the New Lots Avenue subway stop on the L train.

Developed by Procidia Companies, the 11-story building holds 206 units total and just over 12,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, according to Department of Buildings records and the development’s commercial brokers. The property between New Lots and Hegeman avenues replaced a single-story autoshop. 

The apartments are set aside for New Yorkers earning from 30 to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI)—a metric that depends on how many people you live with. Currently the AMI for New York City is $108,700 for a single-person household. The apartments available include studios as well as one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. 

There are 35 one-bedroom apartments available for households earning from $66,892 to $97,860. The rent for these apartments is $1,854 per month. 

A map of one of the one-bedroom units inside the 11-story building at 589 Christopher Ave.
Caption

The floor plans of one of the one-bedroom inside the building at 589 Christopher Ave.

The developers have set aside 20 percent of the rent-stabilized apartments for applicants who already live in the area. Future lotteries will use a lower ratio as a result of a lawsuit settlement, which claimed the practice of community preference perpetuates segregation and violates the Fair Housing Act. Check out: "NYC agrees to cut percentage of housing lottery units set aside for nearby residents."

Another 5 percent of the apartments will be preferentially given to NYC employees. A small percentage of the apartments are also set aside for residents with mobility, vision, and hearing needs. 

Applications must be submitted online or postmarked no later than Oct. 3rd.

If you’re interested and think you might qualify for one of these apartments, you can create a profile and apply online via NYC Housing Connect. For details on this particular lottery, click here. Don’t apply more than once, or you could be disqualified.

Winning a rent-stabilized apartment can be life changing: Rent increases are capped and lease renewals are automatic, providing long-term stability for NYC renters. Need more information on how the housing lottery works? Check out “6 steps for applying to NYC's affordable housing lottery.”

For some advice from successful applicants read “How to land a rental apartment through NYC's affordable housing lottery.” And if you or someone you know is having trouble with the application process, consider reaching out to a housing ambassador in the community.

Note: Brick Underground is in no way affiliated with New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development or the Housing Development Corporation. If you are interested in applying to these or other affordable housing developments, please go to NYC Housing Connect for information and instructions.

Have you successfully won an apartment through the affordable housing lottery? If you have first-person advice to share about the process, we’d love to hear from you. Please send us an email. We respect all requests for anonymity.

Celia Young Headshot

Celia Young

Senior Writer

Celia Young is a senior writer at Brick Underground where she covers New York City residential real estate. She graduated from Brandeis University and previously covered local business at the Milwaukee Business Journal, entertainment at Madison Magazine, and commercial real estate at Commercial Observer. She currently resides in Brooklyn.

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

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