Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for the South Bronx’s Tallest Building

An affordable housing lottery has been launched for the South Bronx’s tallest building which is nearing completion.

The luxury development called One River Park, is located at 355 Exterior Street at E 144th Street and is literally wedged between the Major Deegan Expressway and the Harlem River in the quickly gentrifying South Bronx neighborhood of Mott haven.

At 400 feet, it is now the South Bronx’s tallest building with over 700 units of which 227 have been set aside for the lottery but there’s one catch: Your household income must be at least $73,783 to even qualify for one of the units. The median income in Community Board 1 where the development is located was $27,360 as of 2024 making the minimum required income for these so-called affordable developments more than 2.5x than what the average family in the area makes.

And yet somehow, a luxury development can get away with calling a portion of its units affordable despite not being affordable to the overwhelming majority of residents in the community where it is situated.

63 one bedroom units renting for $1,936 a month and 13 two bedroom units at $2,297 a month have been set aside for applicant’s with household incomes at 70% of the area median income (AMI) which means a minimum of $73,783 to a maximum of $128,240 depending on number of people in your household and size of unit one is applying for.

The remainder of the units are for households making 130% of AMI, or $91,475 to a maximum of $238,160 depending on the total number of people in your household and whether you’re applying for a studio, one or two bedroom unit.

According to data from New York University’s Furman Center, almost 71% of households in CB1, which covers Mott Haven and Melrose where One River Park is located, make under $60,000 a year with 32.5% making under $20,000 a year.

The development offers a host of amenities such as Lobby Lounge, Sky Lobby, Bike Storage, Storage Lockers, Package Room, Fitness Center, Pet Spa, Yoga Studio, Spin Studio, Game Room, Golf Simulator, Movie Theater, Indoor Pickleball Court, Party Room, Kids Room, Outdoor Pool, Rooftop Terraces with Grill Stations, and more.

Developments such as One River Park in the South Bronx continues to create a further division and a tale of two cities within the poorest congressional district in the nation. Much like the over 4,000 luxury units that have been constructed in Mott Haven and Port Morris in the past five years, they are out of reach for the majority of local residents who desperately need quality and truly affordable housing.

While we exist within a free market system and where developers can construct whatever they choose as long as it’s within zoning, there is something extremely perverse about what is happening in the South Bronx. Billions of dollars have been invested in the construction of new, luxury housing within a district where almost three quarters of the households make less than the city median income of $83,970. Where the poverty rate is 42.6%—more than double the city’s 18% rate.

We need to do better.