These 'Affordable' LIC Units Require A Higher Than Average Income

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Over 500 apartments on the Long Island City waterfront have hit the affordable housing lottery, but a majority of the units are reserved for people making at least 130 percent of the area’s median income.

Households making anywhere from $20,606 to $212,685 a year — depending on the number of residents and the size of the apartment — can apply for one of 534 units in the 56-story tower at 5203 Center Boulevard, which overlooks Hunter’s Point South Park.

The apartments are part of a two-tower residential complex on Center Boulevard by real estate development company TF Cornerstone. Sixty percent, or 719, of the units in the sibling luxury buildings will be permanently “affordable,” according to a news release, but the majority of those units require applicants to make over 130 percent of the area's median income — highlighting the citywide affordable housing crisis.

The new units on the market range from 24 studio apartments priced at $537 each, which are available for applicants who make 40 percent of the area’s median income, to 161 two-bedroom apartments priced at $3,065 each, which are available for applicants who make 165 percent of the area’s median income.

The amenity-packed building includes laundry and bike storage facilities at no additional cost. Residents can also access a co-working space, a fitness and yoga center, a children’s playroom, and roof terraces for an additional monthly fee.

Some of the affordable units have been designated for specific kinds of applicants.

Half of the affordable units at 5203 and 5241 Center Boulevard are set aside for local applicants who live within the bounds of Queens Community Board 2, according to the Housing Connect listings.

The listings also indicate that five percent of the units at the two buildings are for NYC employees, five percent are for people with mobility disabilities, and two percent are for those with hearing and visual disabilities.

100 of the 534 units that just hit the market are set aside for seniors who are over the age of 62.

Zoe Elghanayan, Principal and Senior Vice President at TF Cornerstone, said in a written statement that the developers are “thrilled to be a part of making the Long Island City waterfront and Hunter’s Point South more accessible and activated than ever before,” citing the developments “permanently affordable units” and a “brand-new public park” nearby.

In addition to the two luxury buildings and public park, the residential complex includes retail space, a 150-car parking garage, a community center, and an office for Selfhelp Community Services, a health and human services organization that will specifically serve the complex’s seniors, according to a news release.

Evelyn Wolff, Executive Director, Selfhelp Realty Group - The Melamid Institute for Affordable Housing — the organization’s real estate development wing — said that the development will expand “access to affordable housing for older New Yorkers and provide access to services,” including an on-site social worker.

City agencies are still in the process of figuring out details for a 572-seat K-8 school and playground, which will be located just east of the luxury buildings.