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Dec. 3 - Dec. 9, 2021 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
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THE NEWSPAPER OF JAMAICA, HOLLIS & ST. ALBANS
Jamaica residents support rezoning proposal to
build affordable housing for low-income seniors
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A proposal to build a senior
housing facility and healthcare
center in downtown
Jamaica that would provide
much-needed opportunities
for the community was introduced
during the Queens borough
president’s Public Land
Use Hearing held in November.
Breaking Ground, a nonprofit
developer of senior
housing and affordable housing
for families, is seeking to
construct a 15-story building
at 97-04 Sutphin Blvd. that
would include an on-site clinic
operated by the Community
Healthcare Network.
If approved, construction
will begin in July of 2022 and
is slated for completion and
start of occupancy in 2024.
The proposed rezoning
includes an extension of the
C6-3 zoning district that is
currently adjacent across 97th
Avenue. Rezoning would increase
the number of units for
low-income seniors from from
96 to 173.
The residential component
of the project includes 173
units of senior housing with
60 bedrooms, 112 studios and
one unit for the super. All 172
rental units will be for low-income
seniors, and 52 units will
be supportive housing for formerly
homeless seniors aged
55 and up.
The remaining 120 units
will be for seniors aged 62 and
up with an income up to 50%
of the Area Median Income
(AMI).
“Community Board 12 applicants
will receive a preference
of 60 units. All units will
be subsidized by Section 8,
enabling the project to serve
extremely low-income seniors,”
A rendering of the proposed senior housing development and health center at 97-04 Sutphin Blvd. in
Jamaica. Photo courtesy of Bernheimer Architecture PLLC
David Beer of Breaking
Ground said.
Additionally, social services
will be provided on site and
seniors will be able to access
geriatric care, mental health
and behavioral services, adult
medicine, pediatric and adolescent
medicine, HIV education
and dental care, among
other services.
The Community Healthcare
Network, a nonprofit of
14 Federally Qualified Health
Centers (FQHCs) in the four
boroughs, will operate its new
expanded clinic in the building
to provide those services
to residents and the surrounding
community.
For the proposed zoning,
on-site parking will not be
available, due to the healthcare
clinic’s space needs on
the ground floor, according to
Beer.
“Almost 30% of our units
are occupied by seniors and
very few own vehicles because
almost all of the seniors have
incomes below 30% AMI,”
Beer said. “Breaking Ground
will provide 12 subsidized
parking spaces in a local lot
or garage, where residents can
pay out-of-pocket no more than
$100 a month.”
The Neighborhood Housing
Services of Jamaica (NHSJ), a
47-year-old organization committed
to preserving, protecting
and revitalizing neighborhoods,
will perform outreach
and marketing for the project
and offer financial literacy
training to building residents.
According to Lori Miller, of
NHSJ, of 88% of seniors who
live in CB 12 and have requested
assistance from them, 59%
of those seniors are at or below
the 30% median income level
— which is $25,080.
“In a community where
the average rent for a onebedroom
apartment is going
for $1,700, you’re talking about
someone who has $5,000 left
over at the end of that,” Miller
said.
Several residents, who are
members of Queens Power and
the First Presbyterian Church
in Jamaica, testified in support
of the development.
Reverend Patrick O’Connor
said that it is critical to provide
more access for seniors,
as Jamaica has expanded creating
more opportunities for
some parts of the community,
but not all.
“All of us who lead institutions
in Jamaica and southeast
Queens realize there is a desperate
need for quality housing
for seniors,” O’Connor
said. “If you provided 1,000
units tomorrow, they would be
accessed by local residents.”
According to Mercedes
Clark-Gray, there are over
67,000 seniors in Queens living
in poverty, and many are
in desperate need of housing.
“It’s hard to find housing
and then the rent goes up, and
what happens? You have to
keep moving and that brings
stress and anxiety in their
lives,” Clark-Gray said.
As a senior, Ollie Samuels
says she understands the need
for affordable housing in the
area.
“Whenever we see buildings
starting to go up, we ask,
‘Is it for seniors? Is it affordable?
Will I be able to get an
apartment there?’” Samuels
said. “I know what it’s like
to be out there, knowing you
won’t get an increase in salary,
but an increase in rent.”
Read more on QNS.com.
Vol. 9 No. 49 32 total pages
link
/QNS.com
