Thousands of housing units are planned for Queens.
Just this week, city officials advanced two plans that call for a massive amount of new housing in the borough. One is heading to the final stages of the city’s land use review process, while the other is preparing to begin it.
On Monday, Mayor Eric Adamas announced that Cirrus and LCOR will redevelop the Flushing Airport, which was decommissioned in the 1980s and has since reverted to wetlands that you can’t access. (You can, however, peer through a chainlink fence along Linden Place, which is how I spotted a great blue heron midflight.)
The plan calls for 3,000 housing units and around 60 acres of open space. Part of the site is deed-restricted and will likely be home to a new NYPD police station. This week’s announcement just signaled the selection of the development team. There’s a long road ahead: The project will need to go through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
The same day, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards recommended approval of the Long Island City rezoning, which could pave the way for 14,700 residential units to be built over the next decade. The proposal awaits review by the City Planning Commission and City Council.
During a press conference Monday, Richards indicated that an announcement about the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center will be made in a few weeks. The state wants to build 2,800 homes on 58 acres of the state-owned property in eastern Queens. The state is expected to issue requests for proposals seeking developers to build the housing in phases.
Meanwhile, construction of the first phase of Willets Point is underway. That project is expected to eventually net 2,500 affordable housing units.
What we’re thinking about: Has your building ramped up security or changed any protocols following the fatal shootings Monday at 345 Park Avenue? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: To kick off “Housing Week,” Mayor Eric Adams posted a short video tour — à la “MTV Cribs” — of Gracie Mansion on social media. It’s really something.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Mayor Eric Adams announced a new plan with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development that requires developers to make at least 20 percent of their units into two-bedrooms if they want to qualify for the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments program, Gothamist reports. Adams says the new rule will help low-income seniors who want to live with family members or caregivers.
— Nearly 200 cannabis dispensary owners will need to move their businesses farther from schools after the Office of Cannabis Management miscalculated their location, according to City & State. According to state law, dispensaries must be 500 feet from a school’s property line, but regulators misjudged the distance in the early days of the program. Owners of existing dispensaries must relocate storefronts before their license can be renewed, and those still in the application process will need to change plans.
— Affordability concerns are driving working-class New Yorkers to leave the state at far higher rates than their wealthy counterparts, according to New York Focus. Research from the Fiscal Policy Institute found that 90 percent of the state’s population loss came from New York City, where the average New Yorker is four times more likely to leave than someone in the top 1 percent of income. — Quinn Waller
Closing Time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Tuesday was $13.2 million for a 4,017-square-foot, sponsor-sale condominium unit at DDG’s 180 East 88th Street property in Carnegie Hill. Brown Harris Stevens’ Lisa K. Lippman had the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $13.5 million for a 12,000-square-foot retail property at 1317-1319 36th Street in Kensington.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $25 million for a 3,300-square-foot house at 220 77th Street in Bay Ridge. Alexander Boriskin, Ammanda Espinal and Michael Lorber of Douglas Elliman have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a proposed 18,321-square-foot, three-story mixed-use project at 226 64th Street in Sunset Park. Joseph Wasserman filed the permit on behalf of developer John Calise.
— Matthew Elo
