Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

91,000 Households Applied for 235 Affordable Hell's Kitchen Apartments

By Gwynne Hogan | October 2, 2015 11:29am | Updated on October 2, 2015 6:19pm
 91,000 applicants are gunning for a shot to live in just 235 subsidized units in a luxury residential tower on 42nd Street, the city's Department of Housing Preservation said.
Sky the Moinian Group
View Full Caption

HELLS KITCHEN — 91,000 applicants are gunning for a shot at 235 subsidized units in a luxury residential tower on West 42nd Street, the city's Department of Housing Preservation said.

The window to apply to live in Sky at 605 W. 42nd St. ended in July and now the leasing agents are embarking on the laborious selection process, a spokeswoman for HPD said.

Qualified households making between $31,132 and $51,780 will end up paying $868 for studios, $931 for one bedrooms and $1,124 for two-bedroom apartments.

Subsidized tenants have access to a lawn and children's playroom but have to pay extra to use any of the building's three pools, the Turkish-style hammam and spa, the putting green, the full-service restaurant, the fitness club and the regulation basketball court, according to the application and reports

The 71-story building's 939 market-rate apartments are running at around $3,000 a month for a studio, around $4,000 for a one-bedroom and nearly $6,000 for two bedrooms, according to a listing.

Construction on the $850 million project is nearing completion, according to reports, and some of the market-rate apartments on lower levels will be available in late October. Those on higher floors will be ready in the spring, a worker at Sky's leasing office said.

The 235 affordable units were funded through the state's controversial 421-a tax abatement, where developers get tax breaks for building a certain amount of affordable units. 

Sky is the pet project of 27-year-old Mitchell Moinian, son of developer Joe Moinian, according to Real Estate Weekly.

Moinian likened the development to having children and watching them mature.

“I don’t have kids but I imagine this is what it’s like to see your kid go to college,” he told Real Estate Weekly

The Moinian Group did not respond to a request for further comment.