You call this ‘affordable’?
MOST OF the “affordable” housing units to be built at the longstalled Atlantic Yards project will go to families making at least $100,000 a year — a reflection of the high cost of living in the city, officials said.
Nearly two-thirds — 65% — of the 600 units in the two planned buildings in Brooklyn are set aside for families of four making six figures and will have rents that start at around $2,600, under a deal to speed up construction at the site that Gov. Cuomo announced Friday.
There will be 300 units for families whose income is around $130,000 a year.
Developer Forest City Ratner is receiving more than $23 million in city subsidies for constructing the buildings.
Under federal affordability guidelines, a middle-income family living in New York City makes between $100,681 and $138,435.
Although Cuomo crafted the deal, Mayor de Blasio’s office negotiated the affordability mix in the two buildings, which will begin construction next year.
The Barclays Center at the Atlantic Yards opened two years ago, but the promised housing has yet been built.
The deal announced Friday was made after a neighborhood coalition threatened to sue the developer for not moving to build affordable housing.
“We’re pleased that our tireless efforts to ensure public accountability have paid off, and that we were able to come to an agreement with Forest City and the state to ensure the community finally gets the affordable housing it was promised 10 years ago,” said Michelle de la Uz, executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee.
The $4 billion project will eventually include a mix of market rate and affordable apartments, but Forest City agreed to make the next two buildings completely affordable.
The buildings will include some housing for less well-heeled families, according to the mayor’s office.
Moderate income families — who make between $67,000 and $100,681 a year — will get around 5% of the remaining units and pay about $1,700 a month in rent.
And 180 units will go to families who make $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Their rents will be from $700 to $1,100.
The new deal stipulates that 2,250 affordable housing units will be built by 2025.
If the developer doesn’t move that quickly, it will face fines of $2,000 per unit a month.