At "Plank Road," aka 662 Pacific Street, new advertising for apartments; StreetEasy's withdrawn listings show studios starting at $3,452, well above market nearby

The view from Sixth Avenue

OK, the new 662 Pacific Street (aka B15) residential tower has a name and website, Plank Road, with leasing starting in July.

And the building, just east of Sixth Avenue between Dean and Pacific streets, now boasts posters in the window advertising availabilities, as shown in the photos.

While the building does not at the moment offer active listings, StreetEasy offers "past rentals," apparently hasty or test listings posted on May 13 but not currently available.

So while we should take the numbers with a grain of salt--perhaps the sticker prices will change, or the incentives--they also offer some ballpark information about the market-rate units.

As the screenshot below shows, the lowest price listed was a one-bedroom for $3,375 a month, which was oddly less than the cheapest studio, listed for $3,452 a month. 

Other one-bedrooms start at $4,221 a month, while the three two-bedrooms start at $5,876 a month.

As described below, those prices seem... aspirational, and many of those listings had incentives.

Two of the three two-bedroom units were offering two months free, lowering the net effective rent for the cheapest to $4,897. 

Two of the three one-bedroom units were offering one month free, though the net effective rent was still well below the outlier mentioned above.

None of the studios were offering discounts, just the concession of a reduced security deposit.

Let's assume pricing is under review by the developer, The Brodsky Organization. 

After all, not only are there (a few) better deals nearby in fairly new buildings, the larger 18 Sixth Ave. is coming online later this year, built by Brodsky in collaboration with the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park master developer, Greenland Forest City Partners (GFCP).

The competition

Consider: just down the block, at 461 Dean (50% affordable/50% market-rate), a studio listed for $2,825 offers one month free, with a net effective rent of $2,590.

At 461 Dean, a one-bedroom listed for $3,475 offers one month free, with a net effective rent of $3,185. Note: 461 Dean is shown in the photo below right at the far west end of the image, with the "100% affordable" 38 Sixth Avenue in between.

Further east Dean Street nearly two blocks, at the condo building 550 Vanderbilt, a studio is listed for $2,495, while a one-bedroom is listed for $3,450.

What about the "affordable" units?

The 30% below-market, income-targeted "affordable units" at 662 Pacific have not yet entered the city's Housing Connect portal, and neither Brodsky nor GFCP have said anything publicly.

There's a reasonable chance that that example (apparently) set by 18 Sixth Avenue, the Brodsky/GFCP collaboration, will hold: all units at an average of 130% of Area Median Income (AMI). 

That translates into studios at $2,263, one-bedrooms at $2,838, and two-bedrooms at $3,397, according to 2021 city guidelines--though there are numerous examples of rent being lower.

The maximum rents are lower--but not by a huge factor--than the market rents tentatively listed for the building, but not necessarily lower than units in the neighborhood, though comparisons are inexact, given that this is a new building. 

The income ceilings for 130% of AMI are all six figures, with $108,680 for a one-person household and $124,150 for a two-person household, though the floors are considerably lower (but thus require a higher percentage of income).

Below, a view of the intersection of Plank Road and the more modestly scaled rest of Dean Street. There's a school coming in the bottom floors of the building, accentuated by different bricks and different windows, but not until 2024.

Also note: three months of free rent at the "100% affordable" 38 Sixth and 535 Carlton, for units aimed at households at 165% of AMI.

The advertising

As shown below, a Google text ad for 662 Pacific touts "Modern living spaces with state-of-the-art appliances. Walking distance to BAM, the Barclay's [sic] Center, Whole Foods and more."

Note that they're not claiming association with the Pacific Park project or the future open space--which is currently very fractional, a block away--called Pacific Park.