An affordable housing lottery has launched for an under-construction 17-story, 569-unit development dubbed Loden, with units starting at $914 a month for a studio.
Rising half a block from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Crown Heights south, and overlooking the S shuttle train tracks, the complex at 54 Crown Street and 131 Montgomery Street takes up about half the block between Washington and Franklin avenues and Crown and Montgomery streets.
The development was part of a contentious rezoning process in which a judge sided with local activists who had concerns about its environmental impact, tossing out the city’s decision to allow the development to move forward. However, in 2022 the court of appeals sided with the city and developers and allowed the rezoning to proceed.
The lottery includes 143 units, all rent stabilized and income restricted, 115 of which could be deemed truly affordable. Those are targeted at households of one to five people earning between $33,875 and $100,620 a year, or 40 and 60 percent of Area Median Income, according to the listing.
There are 28 studio apartments set at $914 and $1,408 a month, 50 one-bedroom units renting for $974 and $1,504, and 37 two-bedroom apartments priced at $1,161 and $1,796 a month. The remaining 28 apartments are targeted at families earning 100 of Area Median Income, or $84,720 to $167,700 a year. Studios in that range are priced at $2,397, one-bedrooms for $2,563, and two-bedrooms at $3,067 a month.
Apartments in the Hill West-designed, Carmel Partners-developed complex include in-unit washer and dryers, dishwashers, and air conditioning. The building itself incorporates a yoga studio, gym, media room, roof terrace, outdoor space, parking garage, and bike parking, according to the listing. The building is pet friendly and smoke free. Tenants have to pay for electricity, but rent includes heat, hot water, and cooking gas.
The development has an interior courtyard, renderings show. It also wraps around three small vacant lots not owned by Carmel Partners on Montgomery Street near the corner of Franklin Avenue.
Renderings of the exterior show an elegant glass and brick cube with symmetrical window openings. Above a setback at the 10th floor, dark gray panels replace the brick. Inside the apartments, high ceilings, wood floors, quartz countertops and backsplashes, and pale wood and white cabinetry, paired with large floor-to-ceiling windows, create neutral and airy looking rooms.
Loden has two Green Globes-level certifications for its environmentally friendly design, according to the development’s website. While market-rate units have not yet kicked off leasing, a popup on the developer’s site says market-rate studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms will start at $3,150 and debut in February.
Prior to construction, the industrial-zoned site housed single-story brick garages and parking spaces. In 2014, Cornell Realty Management, through Cornell Crown LLC, purchased the site from Central Service Laundry Corp for $14.5 million, city records show. The developer filed for a rezoning to allow two new 16-story buildings to be built at 54 Crown Street (which was then 40 Crown Street) and, two blocks away, at 931 Carroll Street.
In 2018, while the rezoning application was in process, Cornell sold the site to Carmel Partners, through CP VI Crown Heights LLC, for $41.025 million. Lee Bloch of Carmel Partners is listed as the building’s owner on the new building permit for 54 Crown Street.
From the start, the rezoning application faced fierce pushback from locals, and following its approval in December 2018 the group, led by Alicia Boyd, filed a lawsuit against the developer, city, and local pols.
In 2020, a judge struck down the rezoning the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio effectively killed the controversial rezoning of the nearby Spice Factory at 960 Franklin Avenue. But in yet another turn of events, an appeals court in 2022 ruled that the 2020 supreme court decision was incorrect and the rezoning should proceed, saying DCP had taken adequate precautions when evaluating the environmental impacts of the development. In October of 2023, a new-building permit was issued for a 17-story, 569-unit complex.
The new development is just across Montgomery Street from the former Spice Factory site, which has been the subject of another contentious rezoning process. A 10-story building is now slated to rise on part of the old Spice Factory site, thanks to a 2024 rezoning.
Because Loden takes advantage of a rezoning, the complex is required to include affordable units under the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. It is also expected to receive the 421-a tax break, according to the listing.
The Loden lottery closes on Feb. 21. To apply, visit the listing on New York City’s Housing Connect website.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner
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