With Manhattan rents rising always and forever, a new residential development in Harlem closed out its lottery with 50,000 applicants, all of whom are vying for a spot in one of the complex's 124 affordable-housing units.
The Sugar Hill Complex, developed by Broadway Housing Communities and located in Harlem's Sugar Hill/Hamilton Heights district, has been in the works for a while now. The project purports to be a "showcase of innovation in affordable housing and community development," housing a children's museum, art center and pre-school. There are planned gallery exhibitions—an exhibition titled "If You Build It," featuring the works of over 20 local, national and international artists, is slated to open later this month.
But it's the complex's cheap (and permanently affordable) housing that's the real draw here, particularly in a city that sorely lacks it—studios here rent for as little as $349 a month, and a three-bedroom can run only $1,588 per month. The now-closed lottery drew 50,000 applicants for the 99 apartments available for low-income families, with 70 percent of the units available to households earning less than 50 percent of the area's median income. An additional 25 units have been reserved for the homeless.
The $89.2 million complex, largely funded through grants and philanthropic support, began development in 2008 and was originally supposed to have been completed by the end of 2013. In September, the development was only 77 percent complete.
Mayor de Blasio has said he plans to build 80,000 new units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. 124 down, 79,876 to go.
