An affordable housing lottery is open for placement into a seven-story housing complex in the Longwood section, with preference for members living in the housing-needy Community District 2, which spans the Hunts Point and Longwood neighborhoods.
The Home Simpson apartments on 1210 Simpson St. is a mixed-used housing complex comprised of 72 units, with 60% of the units reserved for formerly homeless individuals. The other 40% are up for grabs in the housing lottery, which apartment-seekers can apply for until June 5.
According to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), roughly 50% of the units will be awarded to members of CD2, while another 5% will be awarded to city employees. A new percentage of units are also reserved for those with limited and affected mobility and vision and hearing issues.
The eligible income criteria for applicants is between $33,326-$99,300, however, CD2 is one of the poorest community blocs in the borough, where 36% of its residents live below the poverty line.
At 60% of the AMI, the housing complex has one studio with a monthly rent of $972 for incomes ranging from $33,326-$64,080; 11 one-bedroom units with a monthly rent of $1,215 for incomes ranging from $41,658-$72,060; 14 two-bedroom units with a monthly rent of $1,459 for incomes ranging from $50,023-$86,460; and one three-bedroom unit with a monthly rent of $1,685 for incomes ranging from $57,772-$99,300.
Community District 2 has seen two decades worth of population growth and development, but much of the responding housing stock has seen once-vacated buildings turn into low-density housing, single-family homes or buildings with very few units.
Low-income and affordable housing remains an evergreen need for CD2. Housing availability is slim — the local community board reports that no city-owned apartment building in the community stands vacant — and residents are increasingly housing-insecure.
Additionally, rent is increasingly high around Southern Boulevard where 61% of all renter households are rent burdened, meaning they pay more than one-third of their income toward rent and utilities. A large chunk of buildings in CD2 were also built before 1947 and lack elevators and other accessibility features.
The 1210 Simpson St. site was formerly a single-story church. The project to transform the space was a collaborative effort by designer Urban Architectural Initiatives and developed by St. Peter’s Deliverance Ministries and nonprofit Help USA, which does homelessness outreach projects.
St. Peter’s Deliverance Church, a Christian ministry, also expanded its space around the corner from the Home Simpson project to include offices and a full-service kitchen alongside a second story Fellowship Hall. Amenities include a landscaped rear yard, recreation room and a lounge, as well as a sunlit fifth-floor green terrace providing views of the surrounding areas of the Bronx.
