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The market vs. affordable gap at Pacific Park narrows to just 7% (& market-rate renters get two months free)

Update Dec. 21: now rent at one market-rate studio at 461 Dean is lower than affordable rents at 535 Carlton.


A market-rate studio at 461 Dean is now renting for $2,298, which is a not insignificant 6.2% drop from the $2,450 announced for the first (different) market-rate studios.

Indeed, the rents are a sign of a very tough market. As stated in an announcement Friday on CityRealty, "In a special concession, just in time for the New Year, the remaining apartments are offered with one month free rent and one month OP [owner pays]".  So the $2,298 and $2,450 are the effective rent levels.

The rent gap narrows

And $2,298 is just 7% more than an affordable studio in the Pacific Park Brooklyn project.

The most expensive affordable studio at 461 Dean, which is 50% market/50% affordable, will rent for $1,996, which is 13.1% less than $2,298. But the most expensive affordable studio at 100% affordable 535 Carlton, which opens early next year, will rent for $2,137, which is only 7% less.

This is not the most alarming juxtaposition of market-rate and affordable units in and around Downtown Brooklyn.

Consider: an affordable studio at the 250 Ashland tower can rent for $2,455, which is well above some market-rate units at 461 Dean. The cheapest market-rate studio at 250 Ashland as of now is $2,780, which reflects two months free rent (on a lease with a higher sticker price), and also reflects the current glut.

The benefits of affordability

Of course, affordable units will be rent-stabilized, so there's more certainty for renters. But a lot of those units are no great bargain at this time. After all, more than half the units in "100% affordable" 535 Carlton could go to households earning at least six figures, and 36 of 66 studios will rent for $2,137.

The gap, for now, between Pacific Park market-rate and affordable one-bedroom units is slightly larger. The least expensive market-rate one-bedroom at 461 Dean is $2,905, while the most expensive affordable one-bedroom at 535 Carlton is $2,680, a 7.7% difference.

There are open houses at 461 Dean today and tomorrow. The affordability chart for 535 Carlton is below.

535 Carlton affordability chart

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