East New York SRO Will Become Modern Co-Living Space, City Says

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — An East New York building will be rehabbed by a local nonprofit as part of a co-living initiative, the city announced.

The Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation will take stewardship of a two-story single-room occupancy building in East New York and covert it into an 11-unit co-living building available to low-income New Yorkers, officials announced this week.

"I applaud HPD's decision to move forward," said City Council member Rafael Espinal, who represents part of East New York.

"This inclusive choice will set a new standard for truly affordable housing in NYC, so that more New Yorkers can benefit from this model of shared housing."

The new plan will see major renovations to the row house which the building's current tenants will remain to enjoy, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Windows will be replaced to improve insulation, the layout will be redesigned to include eight bathrooms, a common living room and kitchen, and the backyard will be updated to increase recreational space, according to HPD and CHLDC the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation.

Co-living startup PadSplit will co-manage the property, officials said.

Financing for the arrangement will be figured out by the end of 2020, and work in the building is slated to be completed in late 2022, an HPD spokesperson told Patch. The exact address could not be provided, due to privacy concerns, the spokesperson said.

The announcement comes almost a year after HPD first said it would begin using co-living—an arrangement where kitchens, bathrooms and other spaces are shared among tenants— with an initiatives dubbed ShareNYC. Tuesday's announcement also revealed plans for two East Harlem co-living sites.

“The Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation is thrilled to have this chance to develop safe, livable, and deeply affordable shared housing in East New York," said executive director Michelle Neugebauer.

"Shared housing is an exciting and much-needed approach to preventing displacement in our community and providing affordable housing for New Yorkers in small households that being priced out of the market for studios and one-bedroom apartments."