This week, we are sharing an affordable housing lottery to buy in a luxury building. But there’s a catch: unlike most lotteries, this is for one single unit.
The one-bedroom apartment is located in a new high-end building–250 West 96th Street Condominium– on the Upper West Side. It’s just two blocks from Central Park and one block from the subway. The building features a 75-foot saltwater lap pool, a fitness center, a regulation-size squash court with a basketball hoop, a children’s playroom and a teen club lounge. It has shared outdoor space with grilling areas.
The estimated sale price is $308,313, which is considerably less than the market-rate one-bedrooms in this building, which start at $1.3 million.
Why just one apartment?
Epicenter NYC spoke with the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD) to learn why there is just one lottery unit available. According to an HPD spokesperson, this building was constructed under a now outdated version of the Inclusionary Housing Program.
That zoning program allowed developers in what’s called “high-density zoning districts” to build apartments larger or taller than what is normally permitted, as long as they included affordable housing. However, the program only required a 3.5:1 ratio, meaning that for every 3.5 square feet of extra housing a developer built, they only needed to include one square foot of affordable housing.
This means the developer of 250 West 96th Street Condominium only needed to build one affordable apartment.
HPD says the “City of Yes” rules changed that ratio to 1:1, meaning that for every extra square foot of market-rate housing the developer gets, the developer must also include one extra square foot of affordable housing.
How to apply to the lottery
You can apply to the lottery here on Housing Connect. If you don’t have an account, you will need to create one.
If selected, your household must be within 80% of the area median income (AMI). For example, a family of three cannot make more than $111,840 a year. If you’re unsure what AMI is or how to determine your AMI, this explainer can help you.
Anyone who has owned an apartment previously is ineligible to purchase. Buyers should have a 10% down payment.
This lottery closes on January 17. You can apply here.
See more of our housing stories here.
