Rainier Harris

[email protected]

Bushwick is predicted to see the greatest number of apartments built than any other neighborhood citywide, according to a recent study by real estate website RENTCafe.

An additional 1,103 apartments are coming to Bushwick in 2019, far outpacing any other neighborhood in New York City. Jamaica and Astoria, both Queens neighborhoods, trailed in second and third, at 553 and 508 new units respectively. 

To compile the report, RENTCafe analyzed new construction data across 134 US Metropolitan data related to buildings containing 50 or more units expected to be completed in 2019. 

The RENTCafe study also states the “apartments will possibly be fast occupied by millennial renters.” According to Community Profiles data, only 8.3 percent of Bushwick residents are 65 and older, the fourth lowest for any community district in the city and 22 percent of residents are under the age of 18. Statistics from 2016 show 23 percent of Bushwick residents are between the ages of 25 and 34, a 7 percent spike from 2008. 

One of the most pressing issues facing Bushwick is affordable housing, according to the district’s Community Board’s statement of district needs for the 2020 fiscal year. A whopping 48.6 percent of Bushwick residents spend 35 percent or more of their income on rent alone. It is unsure whether the apartment boom will exacerbate or alleviate the affordable housing issue in the quickly gentrifying neighborhood. 

A rezoning application for Suydam Street, filed by Anne Tirchwell, partner from real estate developer Type A Projects, is set to “facilitate the development of 95 affordable housing units at 1250 Willougby Avenue and 14,000 square feet of new industrial space at 349 Suydam Street” to alleviate the pressing issue. 


Image courtesy of Erik Kantar for Bushwick Daily.

For more news, sign up for Bushwick Daily’s newsletter.