July 12, 2020 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
LOCAL
CL ASSIFIEDS
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Developers unveil plan to bring $2B hub to Astoria
BY BILL PARRY
A consortium of developers
has unveiled an ambitious $2 billion
plan to remake a five-block
section of Astoria in a neighborhood
focused initiative dubbed
“Innovation QNS.”
Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silverstein
Properties and BedRock
Real Estate Partners presented
their working plan to Community
Board 1 Land Use Committee
Wednesday detailing the project’s
2,700 units of mixed-income housing,
some 700 of which will be
permanently affordable, as well
as 200,000 square feet of retail
and 250,000 square feet of space
for creative industries and other
small businesses. There was considerable
concern from committee
members over the density and
scale of the complex especially
a series of towers, the tallest of
which would be 26 stories high.
“I am proud that Kaufman Astoria
Studios has acted as an economic
driver, rejuvenating our
immediate neighborhood through
smart, thought-out development,
and look forward to what we
started,” KAS President and CEO
Hal Rosenbluth said. “Working together
with our partners and our
community, which is filled with
vibrant cultural institutions, fastgrowing
creative industries, and
diverse hard-working neighbors,
we can continue to mature, assuring
the sustainability of what has
been created.”
The project, funded by private
investment, centered on five
blocks at the intersection of Steinway
Street and 35th Avenue south
to Northern Boulevard, will replace
a “dormant and unwelcoming”
section of the neighborhood
with a “vibrant and walkable”
one with nearly two acres of open
space, pedestrian walkways and
plazas, community health and
wellness facilities, dedicated senior
housing, an arts and culture
hub, a state-of-the-art multiplex
cinema, a new full-service grocery
A $2 billion plan to build a mixed-use district in a “dormant” section of Astoria would jumpstart the economy impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to
developers. Courtesy of ODA Architecture
store and enhanced streetscapes.
“I’m very excited by the opportunity
to work with such great
partners and local stakeholders
to reactivate this part of Astoria
as a district that will improve the
quality of life, not just for the people
who will live, learn, shop and
visit there, but for everyone who
currently lives in the immediate
surroundings,” Silverstein Properties
Chairman and Founder
Larry Silverstein said. “This is
a time when people desperately
need jobs, and this project will
serve as an enormously important
stimulus for Astoria and
New York City. Astoria embodies
the audacity and determination
that has defined our city time and
time again. We will meet this moment
with resolve, ambition and
ingenuity, and emerge stronger
than ever, just as we have always
done.”
The project will create 5,400
onsite jobs, 3,700 construction
jobs and 1,700 permanent jobs; it
will not displace residents or take
away parking, but some businesses
will be relocated.
“The havoc created by COVID-
19 hit Queens harder than any
community in the nation. As we
look to rebound, the partnership
behind Innovation QNS is well-positioned
to contribute meaningfully
to our recovery, as its partners
have led historic revitalization
initiatives before, including here
in Astoria,” Queens Chamber of
Commerce President and CEO
Tom Grech said. “Through the
substantial private investment
in Astoria, it is proposing, this
uniquely experienced team will
benefit the residents of Queens
County. To ensure our communities
emerge from this crisis
stronger than before, I would encourage
all to support this effort
to revitalize a key economic corridor
in western Queens along
Steinway Street.”
The partnership will continue
to broaden its dialogue with
neighbors, other community
stakeholders and the Department
of City Planning to advance the
plan with a goal of beginning public
review in 2021. Construction is
anticipated to start in 2023 with
an initial activation in 2025. The
developers believe Innovation
QNS could be completed within a
decade and complement and build
upon the Kaufman Arts District
that was established in 2014.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
Vol. 98 No. 28 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT QNS.COM
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