At northeast corner of Vanderbilt and Atlantic, The Axel emerges, at 29 stories, with "low-income" units ranging from $1,320 to $2,229

The first large new building along Atlantic Avenue, albeit not within Community District 8, is set to open soon, and the affordable units have entered the city's Housing Connect lottery system, with the deadline closing next week.

The 29-story building (plus a four-story addition) previously known as 809 Atlantic Ave. or 550 Clinton Ave. is being marketed as 539 Vanderbilt Ave. for the affordable units).

For the market-rate units, the address is 545 Vanderbilt Ave. and it's being marketed as The Axel, though no market-rate units are yet available. (The lowest price category for inquiries is $2,000-$3,000. The building promises "over 30,000 square feet of unrivaled amenities.")

That suggests the housing lottery started earlier than, say, with the more recent Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park buildings, as market-rate tenants at 662 Pacific St. and 18 Sixth Ave. moved in first.

Affordable configuration

Looking east from Sixth Ave., The Axel center-left

The Axel contains 284 units, with 80 of them affordable, at a range of incomes.

Of the total, 40 units are at 70% of Area Median Income (AMI), which is technically low-income, according to city categories, but doesn't reach the neediest; 14 are at 80% of AMI, again technically low-income; and 26 are middle-income units at 130% of AMI.

For the "low-income" units, that means 12 studios at $1,320 and 5 at $1,519; 9 1-BRs at $1,409 and 7 at $1,623; 18 2-BRs at $1,683 (and none at the slightly higher level); and 1 3-BR at $1,933 and 2 at $2,229.

For the middle-income units, that means 8 studios at $2,644; 9 1-BRs at $2,827; 8 2-BRs at $3,381; and 1 3-BR at $3,897. The Fifth Avenue Committee is the developer's housing partner.

Note that those rent levels, at least for the studios and 1-BRs, are considerably higher than those at the two Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park buildings, which did not seek the maximum rent allowable for units at 130% of AMI. A studio at 18 Sixth is $1,905 and one at 662 Pacific is $1,547; the 1-BRs are $2,390 and $2,273, respectively.

So we'll see how fast they lease up. 

At One Blue Slip in Greenpoint, which offers the bonus of being near the waterfront but the drawback of significant distance from the subway, the 130% of AMI units--with studios at $2,370, 1-BRs at $2,542, and 2-BRs at $3,063--are being marketed with an extra month free.

At The Axel, the average is about 91% of AMI by unit count (by my calculation) but, given the larger number of lower-income 2-BRs, the configuration may reflect Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Option 2 (below right), which requires 30% of the units, by floor area, to meet an average of 80% of AMI. (See below for another twist on that requirement.)

As indicated in a Department of Buildings filing, the building includes 54 inclusionary housing units, and 26 Affordable New York units. Translation: the latter are required to get the 421-a tax break.

A one-off rezoning

The building is in Community District 2, on the north side of Atlantic.

It's a bit of an anomaly compared to the rest of the nearby rezonings in Community Board 8's M-CROWN district, since it takes advantage of air rights from an adjacent church. 

From the City Planning Commission (CPC):

As described above, the proposed development would utilize approximately 70,000 square feet of unused development rights generated from the landmark church and Lots 51, Lots 1101-1118 and Lots 1001-1010, which would be distributed to the development site on Lots 1 and 59. Additionally, as required by ZR Section 74-711 , and facilitated by the purchase of development rights, the project would include the restoration of the church.

Tha CPC noted that CB 2 voted to approve the application with conditions, including that that the below-market rate apartments be affordable to households earning no more than 60% of AMI.

From Housing Connect

The CPC stated:

The 312-foot height of the proposed development is consistent with proposed buildings in the surrounding area, such as the Pacific Park site, where taller buildings are planned to be constructed. The applicants have also oriented the tower portion towards the corner of Atlantic and Vanderbilt avenues to more closely relate to the Pacific Park site, while maintaining a lower base near the church and the low-rise buildings along Clinton Avenue. 

While the MIH Option 2 requires 30% the residential floor area as permanently affordable for households at an average of 80% of AMI, the CPC noted that "the landmarked church and other lots are not being rezoned for increased residential capacity, and therefore the existing floor area that they generate and transfer to the proposed development site would not be subject to MIH."

From the lottery ad

The project doesn't yet appear on the Fifth Avenue Committee's list of projects.