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Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 2021
CITY TO TRANSFORM ASTORIA PARKING
LOT INTO AFFORDABLE SENIOR HOUSING
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
The city has announced it
will turn a city-owned parking
lot into a 100 percent affordable
senior housing development
in Astoria.
The planned mixed-use
development will be located
at 31-07 31st St., and will feature
135 affordable homes for
seniors, a community center
and commercial space. Housing
will be paired with social
services, with 30 percent of
available units to be dedicated
to formerly homeless seniors.
The project ensures the
homes will be affordable for
households with seniors 62
years of age or older with incomes
between $0 and $45,500
for a family of two, or the
equivalent of 0 to 50 percent of
Area Median Income (AMI).
It will be financed through
the Senior Affordable Rental
Apartments (SARA) program.
Plans for the new building
will include amenities such as
a backyard, a rooftop terrace
area for recreation, a standalone
community center for
programing and retail space.
It will be located just steps
from the Broadway subway
station on the N and W lines.
The New York City Department
of Housing Preservation
and Development (HPD)
selected development team
HANAC and Mega Development
LLC in 2019 for their
proposal of the location, advancing
the Senior First initiative
to serve 30,000 senior
households through the city’s
housing plan by 2026.
“This administration has
made meeting the needs of
our city’s seniors a top priority
in advancing our ambitious
affordable housing plan,” said
HPD Commissioner Louise
Rendition of new affordable senior housing coming to 31-07 31st Street in Astoria.
Photo courtesy of NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
Carroll. “This project promises
to transform this cityowned
site into a thriving,
affordable community for aging
New Yorkers and a hub of
activity for the neighborhood.
I want to thank HANAC and
Mega Development for their
incredible work on such a dynamic
development plan.”
HANAC is an Astoriabased
nonprofit described as
a mission-driven developer,
property manager and social
service provider for the city’s
most vulnerable populations.
“HANAC was founded in
Astoria in 1972, it is our Ikos,
our home. With the evergrowing
older adult population,
HANAC is delighted and
proud to provide Senior Affordable
Housing to the Astoria
Community and throughout
NYC,” said HANAC Inc.
Executive Director Stacy
Bliagos. “Affordable housing
is essential for our older community
members to age with
dignity, respect and in place.
This project will offer residents
a community center and
open space for outdoor activities,
something that COVID-19
has highlighted as essential.
We are thrilled and honored
to work with our partners
Mega and SLCE and we thank
HPD for this opportunity.”
Councilman Costa Constantinides,
who advocated
for the parking lot to be converted
into senior housing
since 2018, is glad to see the
project is moving forward.
“In 2018, I stood with our
neighbors and senior services
providers at the Broadway
parking lot to say it’s more
important to house people
than cars. Now, in 2021, we’re
living that virtue and transforming
a parking lot into
135 units of deeply affordable
senior housing,” said Constantinides.
“HANAC is a
trusted community partner
with decades-long experience
in Astoria. Their IKOS Senior
Living development will continue
that tradition. While
I won’t be the City Council
member when this building
opens its door to residents, I’ll
still be a neighbor enjoying
the new community center
and feeling proud of just how
much our neighborhood can
do when we work together. I
want to thank the entire HPD
team and Commissioner Carroll
for making our vision a
reality. I look forward to the
work ahead, till there’s shovels
in the ground and residents
ready to move in.”
Vol. 9, No. 4 28 total pages
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