More than 80 brand-new affordable housing units are coming to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Developers broke ground on a project called the 'DeKalb Commons' on Wednesday.

Stakeholders say this project will help the city get an inch closer to overcoming the housing crisis. The project is a collaboration between the Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation and St. Nicks Alliance. 

"This effort is about making sure the most vulnerable members of our community have access to housing stability and can build better lives," said Blondel Pinnock, president and CEO of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. "Our neighbors cannot thrive without stable housing and if our neighbors are not thriving, then none of us are."

Once complete, the new development will consist of three separate buildings along DeKalb Avenue near Nostrand Avenue. It will offer 85 affordable housing units including 13 set aside for formerly homeless individuals. It will also feature more than 1,100 square feet of commercial space.

Developers say this will help ease the burden for dozens of families in Brooklyn who are struggling to make ends meet. "I think it will do a whole lot if they take every lot around here...they need to do something within," said Roger Montgomery, a resident who lives near the site. "And then all of us will be able to live in peace and quiet. Maybe it will cut down on all of the crime and violence going on around here."

Construction is expected to start in the next week and the three new developments are expected to be completed in two years.