Next phase of affordable Far Rockaway development breaks ground

Construction is set to begin on an affordable residential building within a new development in Far Rockaway. As first reported by Commercial Observer, Tishman Speyer’s TS Communities announced it secured financing and will break ground this month on Edgemere Commons A2, a 100 percent affordable building at 337 Beach 52nd Street and the second all-affordable development within the larger Edgemere Commons complex. The building will rise 18 stories and deliver 244 affordable apartments ranging from studios to three bedrooms, for households earning between 40 and 80 percent of the area median income.

“The Rockaway Renaissance continues in real time, and I couldn’t be more excited to soon be breaking ground on the next phase of the revolutionary Edgemere Commons project, delivering hundreds of affordable homes in the midst of our city’s generational housing crisis,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., said.

“Together, we are transforming the Rockaway Peninsula from a far-flung, forgotten community into a blueprint for responsible, revolutionary community development for the rest of the city to follow.”

Developed by The Arker Companies and Slate Property Group and designed by Aufgang Architects, the 11-building project is poised to deliver more than 2,000 affordable homes, retail, community space, health care facilities, and outdoor public space to the area. Approved by the City Council in 2019, the development will be built in five phases over 10 years. It replaces the former Peninsula Hospital, which closed in 2012 after over 100 years in operation following Hurricane Sandy.

In 2021, Tishman Speyer entered an agreement to acquire and develop 10 of the 11 building sites of the project, as 6sqft previously reported.

Edgemere Commons A2 includes 244 studio to three-bedroom apartments, all of which will be affordable to those earning between 40 and 80 percent of the area median income. An additional 73 apartments will be designated as supportive housing, managed by Breaking Ground.

Amenities will include a second-floor community room, a fourth-floor outdoor space with a recreation room, a 14th-floor sky deck with ocean views, a shared laundry room, a supportive services office, on-site parking, and street-level retail.

Additionally, this phase of the project will include the construction of Peninsula Way, a private landscaped street connecting the public Beach 53rd Street to the private Beach 52nd Street. This street will be accessible to both pedestrians and vehicles and will extend to Beach 50th Street in future phases of Edgemere Commons.

The building will be the third multi-family development at Edgemere Commons. The first building was completed in 2024 and launched a housing lottery in April for 134 affordable apartments. The second phase is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal is leading the $166 million financing for phase two of the project. Citi Community Capital will provide the letter of credit, while Hudson Housing Capital will secure an equity investment through the purchase of low-income housing tax credits, according to a press release.

Construction of Edgemere Commons was briefly delayed due to a stop work order issued by DOB in February 2024. Inspectors found out that the site’s safety coordinator had an expired license after being brought to the site following an incident where a worker fell from the seventh to the sixth floor of the building while carrying materials, as reported by Rockawave.

According to the incident report, the worker suffered a “minor back injury” and required a “technical rescue” from the FDNY. Construction resumed four days later when Joy Construction, the project’s general contractor, brought in a new site safety coordinator.

The incident occurred just two weeks after local officials, construction workers, and members of Laborers’ Local 79 gathered outside the development, demanding the removal of Joy Construction from the project.

A month earlier, a construction worker at the project site suffered a knee injury that Joy Construction failed to report, resulting in a violation and a $10,000 fine from DOB. According to Rockawave, six workers have died on job sites linked to Joy Construction since 2004.

Construction on Edgemere Commons broke ground in May 2022.

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