First Tenants Move Into Bedford Union Armory Affordable Housing

CROWN HEIGHTS, NY — The first group of tenants moved into affordable units near the former Bedford Union Armory facility in Crown Heights, a project long roiled with community disappointment.

The redevelopment of the Bedford Union Armory property includes two apartment buildings on President Street with a combined 450 homes — 250 of which were designated affordable housing, according to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The buildings' first residents moved in this week, marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday. The affordable housing was reserved for tenants earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income, or between $23,178 and $72,060 for a family of three, according to the department of housing.

“Meeting the urgent need for affordable housing is no small task. We congratulate BFC Partners and the many New York City agencies that brought these apartments to life,” said Brenda Rosen, President and CEO of Breaking Ground, which provides voluntary social services at the new buildings. “As the project continues to welcome families who are exiting homelessness into their beautiful new homes, we are proud to provide social services that help them remain stable in housing for the long-term.”

The lottery for the larger building, located at 1101 President St., opened in July 2022 and the lottery for the smaller, located at 1089 President St., opened in June 2021.

The Bedford Union Armory project, which also includes a recreational facility, has been years in the making with development going as far back as 2013. The 60,000-square-foot development, now named the Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center, takes up an entire block and has faced sustained community critique, Brooklyn Paper reports.

Since the facility opened in 2021, some 40,000 youth and adults have visited, "showing how it addresses a great need for affordable recreational, afterschool, and youth programming in a high-quality facility," the NYC Housing said in a Tweet Tuesday.

But multiple elected officials, including Brooklyn-based New York City Council member Crystal Hudson, called the development a "failure" before its opening.

The Legal Aid Society in 2017 sued the city over the project, arguing the project should be 100 percent affordable housing and attempting to avoid potential resident displacement, according to the New York Daily News. The lawsuit was one of many continued community outcries about the affordability of the development.

In 2021, then-council member Laurie Cumbo called the community center the "biggest failure New York City's ever experienced" after the developer announced the recreational facility would offer only 250 low-income memberships with prices like $50 per 30 minute swim lesson, THE CITY reported.

Cumbo had previously championed the project to the dismay of her constituents, claiming the project would drive down neighborhood crime and benefit the community, THE CITY reported.

Cumbo, now the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for NYC, spoke at Tuesday's ribbon cutting ceremony, celebrating the opening of the new housing and the potential for the development to improve local children's lives.

"This is a dream for every elected official — the opportunity to be able to deliver a project of this magnitude, of this caliber, of this scale," Cumbo said. "Major Owens Health and Wellness Center is a dream come true."

The developer of the health and wellness center in 2021 responded to criticism by saying it would offer discounted rates and scholarships for Community Board 9 residents, which covers Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Wingate and part of North Flatbush.

Memberships to the wellness center cost $10 per month for Community Board 9 residents, $30 for a "standard membership" and a "signature membership" costs $90 a month, according to its website.

There are a "limited number of discounted memberships" available for Community Board 9 residents who live in "income eligible households," according to the center's website. These memberships include similar access to the top-tier membership, but exclude certain perks and are available on a first-come-first-served basis.