46 welcome to flushing s THE QUEENS COURIER • WELCOME TO • JULY 16, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com The Flushing Commons project: the future of Flushing BY ANTHONY GIUDICE Downtown Flushing is building for the future. A former city-owned municipal parking lot located on a 5.5-acre swatch of land in downtown Flushing is in the process of being transformed into Flushing Commons, which will become a mix of affordable housing units, commercial space, retail units, a recreational facility, a public parking garage and downtown Flushing’s fi rst—and only—public open green space. “Flushing Commons is a joint venture of F & T Group, the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation and AECOM Capital to redevelop a 5-acre site in downtown Flushing,” said Michael Meyer, president of F&T Group.”The project will transform what was a municipal parking lot into a vibrant new mixed-use development, creating approximately 2,600 construction jobs and 1,900 permanent jobs.” “The site is the former Municipal Parking Lot 1, built circa 1954. It had 1,104 surface parking spaces. The lot was owned by The City of New York, which had previously tried to sell it as a development site,” Meyer explained.“In the 1980s, the predecessor to the NYCEDC New York City Economic Development Corporation provisionally designated the site to Zeckendorf, but the deal later fell apart. We were awarded the site in 2005 by the city.” This project will be constructed in two separate phases, in an effort to reduce the level of construction as well as the traffi c congestion in and around the area. The phasing plan was developed in consultation with the NYCEDC and approved in 2013. Phase one is comprised of approximately 219,000 square feet of offi ce and retail space, 150 units of housing and a 982-space parking lot. Phase two will include approximately 242,000 square feet of offi ce and retail space, 450 residential units, 618 additional parking spaces, a state-of-the-art recreational facility, and a 1.5-acre town square of open space, including a fountain plaza, dubbed The Green at Flushing Commons. “In addition to preeminent residences, offi ce, retail and community space, Flushing Commons will debut the fi rst and only open public space in downtown Flushing,” Meyer said.“We anticipate that Flushing Commons will become a destination, and the epicenter of downtown Flushing.” In response to community concerns about parking spaces and traffi c congestion, and as a main aspect of the phasing plan, over 1,100 parking spaces will be maintained on-site at Flushing Commons throughout its construction. Construction of the initial phase began in the spring of 2014. “We have completed all the foundation and excavation work,” Meyer said. “We have now commenced the above-foundation slabs, and we are looking to begin the erection of structural steel.” Phase one is expected to be completed by early 2017, while phase two is slated to begin construction in 2018, with a completion date sometime in 2021. Flushing Hospital looks toward the future Flushing Hospital, set in one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the country, was founded in 1884 and was the fi rst hospital to operate in the borough of Queens. Today, it is a 293-bed not-for-profi t teaching hospital with a full-service emergency department, a New York State Designated Stroke Center, and a NYC Hypothermia/Cardiac Destination Facility. Robert Levine, executive vice president and chief operating offi cer of the hospital, said the hospital is employing a new strategy called population health to provide wellness and prevention services for the community. To fulfi ll that strategy, the hospital recently hired Dr. James Giglio as the chairman of their Emergency Medicine Department, which treats more than 40,000 patients every year. “We’re so proud of having him on board because his philosophy is exactly the same as Flushing hospital and that the goal is to improve the community’s health,” Levine said. “He’s going to add to our growing accomplishments of serving the community.” The hospital also has a new on-site ambulatory care center and recently expanded the hours to evenings and weekends to become more accessible to the community, he said. The center provides primary and specialty care for Queens residents and is also a resource for those who do not have a primary physician. Centering Pregnancy, a program that encourages women receiving prenatal care to learn how to improve the health of themselves and their babies, was also put in place to fulfi ll the hospital’s mission to improve community health. “It’s really a rather unique prenatal care model that we offer and this is something that again is really directed to improve the health and well being of women, children and their families,” Levine said. As part of the hospital’s mission to improve and update equipment, they began offering robotic surgery with the implementation of the da Vinci robotic surgical system, an instrument that allows surgeons to operate through a few small incisions known as robotically assisted minimally invasive surgery. The device reduces the length of a patient’s time in the hospital and reduces pain after the surgery. In the future, Levine said the hospital will look to add three new programs including a dental center, an observation unit and a geriatric surgery unit. The observation unit will provide services to patients on the fi rst fl oor of the hospital for up to 48 hours. The goal of the unit is to treat patients and release them without admitting them. Levine said this unit will help the hospital address new manage care strategies and hopefully treat patients more effi ciently. The geriatric surgery center will help people who want to take an extra step to combat weight problems and a new team of specialists has been recruited to provide this service to the community. The dental center and observation unit should be completed by the end of the year and the geriatric surgery unit is still in the planning process. “That adds to the services we provide for the community and as a community hospital our mission continues to grow as the changing needs of the community grows,” Levine said.
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