Lottery for 595 Dean affordable units extended again, to Aug. 15. State official predicts move-ins by October. But processing time usually well exceeds two months.

Yesterday, I wrote briefly about the main takeaway--a likely extension of affordable housing obligations for developer Greenland USA and the possibility of a 421-a substitute--from the meeting 8/2/23 of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), set up to advise the parent Empire State Development (ESD).

I have a longer article coming. And I'll write separately about the AY CDC's apparent embrace of more public comment.

But an update was quietly disclosed about the affordable housing lottery for the two-tower 595 Dean complex (B12/B13). ESD executive Joel Kolkmann told the group that the lottery had been extended through August 15. 

From ESD slideshow

First extension

The lottery, which launched May 1 (after market-rate move-ins began), was initially supposed to close July 3 and was extended to July 31; this is a second extension. 

Kolkmann didn't explain the extensions, but I suspect it's to increase the applicant pool for the middle-income units, given that income ceilings had been raised from the initial announcement.

Middle-income "affordable" units, however a bargain compared to market-rate apartments in the same building, are tougher to fill, given that applicants can often find similarly-priced units--albeit not in new, amenitized buildings--on the open market, and need not go through a complicated application.

When do move-ins start?

Once the lottery is closed, Kolkmann told the AY CDC, residents of the affordable units should be ready to move in within about two months, or the middle of October. 

That seems unlikely. As I wrote, after the applications close,  it may take two to ten months to hear back, according to the city, which is followed by an interview and evaluation process.

As I wrote in November 2012, the Citizens Housing and Planning Council reported that, on average it takes 371 days--more than a year--to fill all the units in a NYC housing lottery, despite units being available and ready for occupancy. 

Fitness center & open space

Kolkmann also mentioned the presence of Chelsea Piers at the base of 595 Dean, but not of course the ESD's dubious decision to allow developer TF Cornerstone to market new "recreational" space.

While the work on the open space around those towers, he said, was completed, not everything was open; he cited a playground. Actually, the work wasn't all finished. As I wrote recently, the fountain plaza also needed work. 

Kolkmann couldn't provide a date for completion but said "very soon."