Williamsburg Houses’ New Look

Renovations complete and 100% lead free!

On October 29, Williamsburg Houses celebrated their new look, inside and out, at a ribbon cutting. The renovations and rehabilitation of Williamsburg Houses took three years and the patience and hope of its tenants as they had to be relocated while the work on their homes was being done. Although a majority of the work has been completed, there are tenants still waiting for their homes to be completed before they return home.

Corey Terry, founder of Our Brothers Guardian, spoke on behalf of the residents, “We can talk about apartments, we can talk about the grounds, we can talk about all the beautiful things that’s been done here, and they are remarkable, but the relationships, the communication, the transparency is the most important thing on any of these projects. We have to stay together as a family and work together even in difficult times, even when we don’t even like each other, we have to stay together for the better goodness of what’s going on in Williamsburg.”

One of the more important steps was the removal of all of the lead on the campus. The lead problem was so bad at Williamsburg Houses it was one of two NYCHA developments named in the 2019 HUD-NYCHA Agreement. At the ribbon cutting it was announced that Williamsburg Houses were 100% lead-free.

NYCHA’s Williamsburg Houses came to be in 1938 and was originally named Ten Eyck Houses; as such it has been designated one of the earliest housing developments on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City Landmark.  Its twenty buildings house 1,620 units.  Time passed and years and divestment took their toll. To preserve and rehabilitate the site RDC Development, a joint venture between Wavecrest Management and MDG Design and Construction partnered with the Williamsburg Resident Association, NYCHA, New York City Housing Development Corporation, and JP Morgan Chase and closed on $490M in financing.  Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit and the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) programs were also utilized.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso explained why this project had a high price tag, “The social housing experiment, which is the greatest social housing experiment in the world, NYCHA, was established in a meaningful and earnest way. Thereafter year after year after year the federal government decided that the residents of NYCHA were expendable and that we can cut funding from them for other things. Because it’s not about a lack of resources it’s about a lack of political will. We have a Space Force in the U.S. government. We care more about the stars and the moon than we care about the residents of Williamsburg Houses.  So we spend decades underfunding and divesting from NYCHA and then we get into a hole that is untenable. Then the hole gets so large — half a billion dollars just here at Williamsburg Houses, half a billion dollars.”

Historic aspects were preserved. Apartments and common areas were upgraded. The buildings received new roofing systems, safety and security systems, enhanced lighting, improved energy efficiency, free Wi-Fi access, robust security systems, and more. The basketball court and playground was renovated.

“Since June, when I moved back here, it is the best! No mold. You smell nothing and there are no flies. The apartment is clean and beautiful,” said Williamsburg Houses Resident Clover Moore. “Change is good! To other residents I say: The only change you are going to experience is the change in the interior of your apartment. Don’t be afraid of the change.”

St. Nicks Alliance and Grand Street Settlement will directly provide social services to all residents.  These services include elder care, skills training and job placement, and adult education.