8 The Courier sun • april 16, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com The Department of Buildings approved amended construction plans for the proposed homeless shelter at 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Glendale. BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT APPROVES REVISED GLENDALE SHELTER CONSTRUCTION PLANS BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@queenscourier.com/@robbpoz While the battle over the proposed Glendale homeless Jamaica revitalization to benefit from state Brownfield Opportunity Area designation BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com/@LiamLaGuerre In a sign that the state is looking to help spur Jamaica’s revitalization, 132 acres near the LIRR and JFK AirTrain transit hub have been designated as a Brownfield Opportunity Area, meaning development projects there could receive public funds. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the designation on April 9 along with 11 others at sites around the state. The Brownfield Opportunity Area Program is a state initiative that seeks to transform potentially contaminated or polluted places to better utilized areas. The downtown Jamaica area has 224 potential brownfield sites near the rail station. Being located in the newly designated area now gives property owners and developers access to Brownfield Cleanup Program tax incentives and they have priority to state grants for projects. “By designating these sites as Brownfield Opportunity Areas, we are helping to reimagine their potential as vibrant parts of the surrounding communities,” Cuomo said. “This distinction allows us to put their rehabilitation on the fast track with additional state resources, and that means new development, jobs and opportunities in the future.” Downtown Jamaica, especially near the transit hub area, has seen a lot of real estate development action recently as the market is heating up. Huge projects, including a 210-room, 24-story hotel nearby the LIRR and AirTrain station at 93-43 Sutphin Blvd. and a $225 million mixed-use, 29-story residential and commercial tower at 93-01 Sutphin Blvd., are coming to the area soon. Also, massive properties were sold or listed in downtown Jamaica recently, including a 90,000-squarefoot building and parking garage at 163-05 and 163- 25 Archer Ave. that sold for $22 million in October last year. shelter is far from over, the Department of Buildings (DOB) gave its blessing to the shelter’s revised blueprints. The DOB approved on April 2 amended building plans to convert a long-defunct factory at 78-16 Cooper Ave. into a hotel with 70 dwelling units. In March, the agency approved plans for 103 units but quickly reversed course and withheld them for further review. Issues stemmed from the previous classification of the site as “lodging,” but the revised plans approved on April 2 describe the building as a class B hotel. This change would allow operation of a hotel as-of-right, without requiring changing the location’s manufacturing zoning, which would involve a public review process. The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) previously reached a five-year, $27 million agreement with the nonprofit Samaritan Village to operate a homeless shelter for up to 125 families at the factory site. Its owner, Michael Wilner, is reportedly leasing the site to Samaritan Village and is responsible for the factory’s renovation. While construction may take place at the shelter site, the contract itself must be approved by City Comptroller Scott Stringer before it can be used as a homeless shelter. A spokeperson for Stringer told The Courier his office has yet to receive the contract, and therefore has yet to make the decision. Meanwhile, the fight goes on for community activists opposed to the shelter’s opening. Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano said in a phone interview the advisory body would file a formal challenge of the plans with the Buildings Department. The public has until about May 11 in order to officially file a challenge with the agency. “We will do some consultations with attorneys and try to make the best of it,” Giordano said. The Glendale Middle Village Coalition, a group of civic and business organizations, continues to raise funds for its legal challenges to the plan. It previously filed an Article 78 proceeding against the DHS’ environmental assessment which determined that 78-16 Cooper Ave. — used for industrial manufacturing for decades and located adjacent to a chemical storage facility — is safe for reuse as a shelter. The coalition hopes a judge’s ruling will force the DHS to perform an environmental impact study on the site, which could cost millions and take several years to complete. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre
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