Lottery for 63 Affordable Housing Units in Queens now Accepting Applications

QUEENS, NY — An affordable housing lottery for 63 units in a newly constructed Queens building started accepting applications Monday. The building, located at 9306 Shore Front Parkway in Rockaway, is renting studios and one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments at rates below market value.

The city's Housing Connect website began taking applications for the affordable units Monday. The building will offer units at three different rates of affordability, so discounted apartments are available for an individual making as little as $18,275 a year and also available for a 6-person family with a yearly income of $136,630.

The cheapest unit, a studio apartment at 40 percent area median income, will rent for a very reasonable $494 per month. Meanwhile the most expensive unit, a three-bedroom at 130 percent of the area median income, will rent for $2,120 per month — which isn't terrible for a three-bedroom in a newly constructed building.

Here's a chart from Housing Connect that details the available units and levels of affordability:

Prospective tenants can apply for the housing lottery online using the Housing Connect website. Applications must be submitted by Dec. 27 and there will be no fee to apply. Additionally a mail-in application can be received by sending a self-addressed letter to: 9306 Shore Front, 5925 Broadway, Bronx, N.Y. 10463.

Fifty percent of the units will be prioritized for people living in Queens' Community Board 14, which spans The Rockaways and Broad Channel. An additional 5 percent will be prioritized for city employees as well as 5 percent for mobility-disabled applicants and 2 percent for vision- or hearing-disabled applicants.

The building will feature amenities such as a laundry room, parking, storage rooms and an indoor recreational facility, although some of the amenities are not covered by rent, according to the Housing Connect website.

In October the city announced it would be revising the rules of affordable housing lotteries to protect low-income residents from being discriminated against. Applicants to affordable housing lotteries will no longer be subject to rejection based solely on poor credit scores or past disputes with landlords in housing court.

Photo courtesy of Housing Connect website