Housing and Planning Development

The UJO acts both independently and in concert with other community based organizations to develop affordable housing. The UJO has worked on land use changes to create more opportunities to address the affordable housing shortage with new developments. Locally the UJO is a partner and/or sponsor in several major affordable housing projects that are creating hundreds of units in Williamsburg.

Broadway Triangle

The UJO is a member of the Unified Neighborhood Partners (UNP) development team which won the NYC Housing and Preservation Development RFP to develop close to 400 new affordable housing units in the Broadway Triangle, an area suffering from blight for decades. Units will be available for a range of incomes and unit sizes range from 1 to 4 bedroom units. UNP is made up of an exciting collaboration of local neighborhood organizations including UJO, Los Sures, RiseBoro and St. Nicks Alliance.

640 Broadway

640 Broadway is a seven-unit affordable housing development built by 640 Broadway HDFC, a subsidiary of UJO. Tenants moved into 640 Broadway during the summer and fall of 2016. The building received funding from the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.

907 Driggs Avenue

907 Driggs is a joint development between Los Sures and the UJO. 907 Driggs is comprised of 21 affordable housing units (for households with incomes up to 60% of Area Median Income) and has been occupied since 1999. The building is a mix of bedroom size apartments. 907 Driggs was financed with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. In 2014, 907 Driggs was eligible for Repositioning; the Los Sures-UJO ownership entity applied for and was accepted into the HPD Low Income Housing Tax Credit Portfolio Preservation Program.

Schaefer Housing Development/460-475 Kent Avenue

The Schaefer Housing Development consists of 210 market rate condominiums and 140 units of affordable rental housing. 460 Kent Avenue is 140 units of affordable housing financed with the New York State Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. The UJO was the sole nonprofit sponsor during the pre-development, construction and tenanting periods.

For 460 Kent Avenue, the UJO conducted outreach and eligibility seminars to ensure that the local community was aware of this great affordable housing opportunity. The UJO reinvested its own developer’s fee and worked closely with the developer and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to ensure that Schaefer would have an unprecedented affordable component of 40%, or 140 units. After Schaefer, it became more common for mixed income housing development projects to have a 40-60 split between affordable and market rate units. Schaefer opened its doors in the spring of 2006.