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A new affordable housing lottery opened last week, and it’s a doozy.
New Yorkers can now apply for a super cheap apartment in the Lower East Side’s sprawling Essex Crossing development, with studios starting at just $519 per month. That’s not a typo—there are two coveted single-person residences available at 145 Clinton St for a price so low that it could bring a tear to the eye of even the most seasoned New York apartment hunter.
There are 104 affordable apartments up for grabs in the building, which is one of nine sites in the development that’s poised to change the face of the Lower East Side over the course of the next decade. In all, the 564 affordable units are scheduled to open up as a part of the project by 2024. The first batch of cheap units include, studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments, and are open to applicants with household incomes ranging from $19,680 to $63,060.
Tucked in LES near the Williamsburg Bridge, Essex Crossing is one of the most ambitious developments currently in the works in Manhattan, and is being built on the longest contiguous undeveloped site on the entire island. After decades of red tape, deliberate stalling and an overfall disagreement for the use of the site, the once vacant area in the neighborhood is finally getting a major face lift.
The first condos in the project went on sale last fall at 242 Broome Street, starting at $1.275 million. The building containing the units in question will be home to a brand new Trader Joe’s on the ground floor—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Essex Crossing is bringing with it a movie theater, a “fancy” bowling alley and a massive 150,000 square-foot underground market and beer hall that will span three blocks below Delancey Street.
The deadline for applications to the apartment is May 2, and the developer and city agencies will be hosting an information session at the Seward Park High School auditorium tonight (March 6) from 6:30 to 8pm.
It won’t be easy to snag one of the apartments, but those who do will be the envy of any New Yorker who’s sifted through an endless number of listings and slimy brokers only to find themselves signing an all-to-expensive lease for an apartment that resembles something out of Trainspotting.