MHANY Management, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation and Urban Builders Collaborative Open 275-Unit Chestnut Commons in East New York

MHANY Management, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC) and Urban Builders Collaborative held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Chestnut Commons Apartments, a 14-story, mixed-use affordable housing development in East New York, Brooklyn. MHANY announced the event in a post on its website, saying it was joined by many of the people who helped make the project a reality.

The building, designed to meet passive-house standards, contains 275 permanently affordable apartments and serves as the new home of the CHLDC community center along with three commercial spaces, one of which is occupied by the Brooklyn Cooperative Credit Union.

Chestnut Commons Apartments: Project Details

Chestnut Commons spans approximately 300,000 square feet in the East New York and Cypress Hills area of Brooklyn. The residential portion offers 275 apartments, including studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The units serve low- and moderate-income households earning from 20% to 80% of area median income, and 55 apartments are designated for formerly homeless New Yorkers.

MHANY said residents have access to an on-site fitness room, a passive outdoor recreation area and on-site laundry. The building owners have established a full recycling program that includes composting of organic waste. The City announced the opening of the development on Oct. 4, 2022.

The building incorporates Passive House standards and New York City Active Design Guidelines to promote energy efficiency, health and lower operating costs. Dattner said the project's energy savings could support a return on investment over an estimated 10- to 15-year period.

Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation Community Center

The building's roughly 35,000-square-foot, two-story community center is intended to function as a service hub for the neighborhood. According to MHANY, it offers CHLDC programs in workforce development, college success and youth and family services. Other occupants and programs include:

• A satellite campus for CUNY Kingsborough Community College
• Support services for homeless families from HousingPlus
• Music instruction from Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
• Advanced IT training from Per Scholas
• A café run by Collective Fair

Development Team and Financing

MHANY Management, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation and Urban Builders Collaborative jointly developed the project. MHANY credited a design team at Dattner, public partners at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), local elected officials, supportive-service provider Housing Plus and construction partner Lettire. MHANY said it negotiated with HPD and HDC on the income levels targeted for East New York families.

Financing for the project includes HDC tax-exempt bonds, HDC and HPD subsidies, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Brownfield Cleanup Program tax credits, Bank of America financing and Reso A funds.

In its announcement, MHANY said the project gave the organization an opportunity to positively impact East New York, the neighborhood of its origin. The organization wrote that it believes "where there is a will based on deep understanding of the community within which we are building and a respect for and towards each other the outcome is not only beneficial to the occupants but a cornerstone and beacon available to and embraced by the entire community."

East New York Housing Context

Chestnut Commons is among the early completed projects associated with the East New York Neighborhood Plan, the city's rezoning initiative intended to increase housing production while directing substantial development toward income-restricted homes. A later assessment reported that nearly 5,966 units tied to the East New York rezoning had been completed or were under construction, with more than 60%, or about 3,700 units, permanently affordable.

Other large projects are planned for the area. Innovative Urban Village is planned to deliver nearly 2,000 permanently affordable homes across 10 buildings, alongside child care, workforce programs, retail, arts facilities and open space. Chestnut Commons combines housing, community services and commercial space in a single building, an approach that larger neighborhood projects are also pursuing.