Low-income to extremely low-income seniors, including 40% formerly homeless seniors, with services available for LGBTQ seniors.
1
Who will live in the new development?
Low-income to extremely low-income seniors, including 40% formerly homeless seniors, with services available for LGBTQ seniors.
2
How can I get one of the new apartments?
Applications for the apartments at Haven Green will be open to individuals aged 62 and over and their families who meet the low-income requirements. Starting about a year into construction, applications will be available on NY Housing Connect to enter the lottery for the building. You will also be able to submit a paper application, and the development team will provide multi-lingual services to assist interested parties in filling out and submitting the application.
3
How affordable will the apartments be?
All units are affordable to individuals or families with incomes at or below 60% AMI and are 100% affordable. AMI, or Area Median Income, is a statistic generated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for purposes of determining the eligibility of applicants for certain federal housing programs. HUD determines AMI on an annual basis for each metropolitan area and non-metropolitan county, making adjustments for household size and other factors. (Example: In 2024, the New York City 40% AMI for a single person household is $ 43,480).
4
Will there be services available for the tenants and community offered out of the new building?
Yes. The Community Facility space tenant(s) and local partner organizations will offer community services out of the ground floor of the building and in the accessible green space. The tenants will also enjoy access to other senior services provided by RiseBoro and partners.
5
What is the length of affordability?
HPD and the development team, which has a 50% non-profit ownership partnership, are committed to long-term affordability in this project. The term of the regulatory agreement is 60 years, as is standard for HPD’s public sites. The loan that HPD will provide to the development team to support this project is structured to require a large balloon payment at the end of the term, and the project’s tax exemption will expire at the end of the regulatory agreement, structurally incentivizing and ensuring extension of affordability far beyond the initial regulatory term.
6
How can I be involved in the future?
First, there is a participatory garden design process including an anonymous survey that welcomes community residents and garden users. Here you can share your stories from the old garden and your hopes for the future garden. Your feedback will be incorporated into the eventual design of the new garden. After the garden is designed and reopened, there will be a host of programs and events that will be available to the public and your involvement is encouraged! There will also be an opportunity for community members to contribute to the stewardship of this publicly accessible space.
7
Why are you building on a garden?
The current site was utilized as a private commercial retail space until the site was designated for affordable housing development. In understanding its recent public use and significance to the neighborhood, HPD issued a competitive request for proposals that would balance the dire need for affordable housing with the legitimate desire for open space. There are very few City sites in Community Board 2, and even fewer that are feasible for housing development because of their size or their current use. More importantly, over the past decade, less than 120 affordable units have been developed in the neighborhood.
After evaluating numerous submissions, the City selected Haven Green. Our team felt that submitting a proposal would be the best way to ensure that the site was developed in line with the community’s needs and desires. We share the city’s mission to meet the growing need for affordable housing for seniors and services for the LGBTQ community.
8
What will happen to the current green space?
The current site design preserves nearly 16,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space. Though the site will be closed during the course of construction, the new green space will be reopened when construction is complete. The development team is committed to including the garden community in the landscape design and the programming of the new garden space. We hope that the new space will welcome the same variety of activities as the current space, plus more.
9
Who will maintain the future open space?
The garden will be stewarded by Habitat NYC and Westchester and RiseBoro. Habitat’s A Brush with Kindness and RiseBoro’s Bushwick Cooks will welcome and cultivate community participation in the planting, gardening, stewardship, and decoration of the garden. Habitat NYC and Westchester and RiseBoro will work with Community Stakeholders to develop a group to support community stewardship of this space and register it with Green Thumb. RiseBoro will manage the property and will handle any other general maintenance tasks that are needed on the grounds, such as trash and snow removal.
10
Will there be public programming offered/hosted in the future open space?
Yes. Though this programming has not yet been decided upon, the development team is committed to a garden space that can fill this role. If you currently operate or attend public events or programs at the garden, we want to hear from you! The ideal outcome is that current programs and amenities can be preserved or replicated, and enhanced.
11
Will there be regular open hours of the future open space? Will it be open on weekends?
Currently the public access to the space is very limited. The Haven Green Team has committed to public hours of operation: 7am-7pm from April 15-October 31, and sun to dusk from November 1 to April 14. Exceptions include: closures necessary for maintenance and/or emergency conditions; and accommodations for special events.
12
Will there be commercial space in the new development?
Yes. On the ground floor there will be a few commercial spaces, as well as community facility space. Part of the community facility space will be accessible for public meetings and for the collaboration of non-profits in the neighborhood.
13
What kinds of commercial uses/stores will there be?
We have not determined the sizes of the commercial spaces or the tenants yet but we recognize the importance of selecting tenants who contribute to the fabric and stabilization of the neighborhood.
14
What is the time line for the project?
Public review including multiple public meetings and participatory design sessions took place throughout 2018-2019. The City Council, City Planning Commission, Borough President, and Mayor approved the project in the Summer of 2019. Community Engagement is open, ongoing, and welcome as is the previously mentioned participatory design survey.
Remaining predevelopment processes have commenced and construction is estimated to begin in the summer of 2025.
For a complete timeline, click here.