City Point developers up tower’s affordable units to 80%

City Point’s Tower 1, which is being co-developed by Washington Square Partners, Acadia Realty Trust and BFC Partners, will flip the 80/20 formula on its head by offering 80 percent of its apartments at affordable rates.

Originally, 50 percent of the tower’s 250 units were slated to be affordable, but now 200 of the units will be affordable to low- and middle-income New Yorkers, with the rest set at market rates. The developer announced the deal with the city to reporters at a hard-hat tour of the site this week, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.

The building, at 7 Dekalb Avenue, is one of three towers that will make up the City Point megadevelopment.

“It was a very amicable discussion,” said Aron Gooblar, a vice president at Washington Square Partners. “We found a way to work with [the Housing Development Corporation] and [the Economic Development Corporation]… Our lender Wells Fargo agreed to change their underwriting for the project.”

Though the units will be below market rates, it is worth noting that the “affordable” rates are not all geared toward truly low-income people.

According to the deal, only 20 percent of the units will be offered at rates affordable to those earning 40 percent of the area median income ($24,200 for an individual to $34,520 for a family of four) while 60 percent of the units only have to be affordable to those earning 130 percent of the area media income ($78,650 for an individual to $112,190 for a family of four).

The projects Tower 2 is a 430-unit market-rate rental being developed by the Brodsky Organization. Washington Square Partners and Acadia Realty Trust recently sold the development rights for Tower 3 to Extell Development for $115.5 million. Tower 3 will include 500 units. [Brooklyn Eagle] — Tess Hofmann