Owner would replace Northern Boulevard auto-parts store with seven-story mixed-use development. On May 25, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved Mark Solow’s proposal to facilitate the construction of a 52,570 sq.ft. mixed-use development at 135-05 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens. The proposal would rezone three lots currently occupied by Solow’s Crown Auto Parts store at the northeast corner of Northern Boulevard and Prince Street from M1-1 to R6 with a C2-2 commercial overlay. The majority of the properties northeast of the site are zoned R6/C2-2 and developed with a mix of retail, community facility, and residential uses. Nearby properties along Prince Street are zoned M1-1 and are developed with low-rise commercial buildings and warehouses.

Solow plans to replace his auto-parts store with a seven-story mixed-use project. The building would provide 34 market-rate apartments, ground floor retail space fronting Northern Boulevard, community facility space, and a landscaped outdoor area on a second-floor roof at the rear of the building. The project would include a 62-space underground parking garage which would be accessible from Prince Street.

Queens Community Board 7 and Borough President Helen M. Marshall supported the proposal. No one opposed the application at the Commission’s April 2011 public hearing. In response to a Commissioner question, Solow’s attorney, Eric Palatnik, testified that Solow was uncertain about whether the apartments would be offered as rentals or available for purchase.

The Commission unanimously approved the proposal. The Commission found that the M1-1 zoning had been in place since 1961 and no longer reflected current land use patterns in the area. Noting that the proposed development would be appropriate, the Commission pointed out that it had approved an eleven-story mixed-use project along 35th Avenue in June 2010, and that the Board of Standards & Appeals in 2005 approved a seventeen- story building at the nearby RKO Keith’s Theater at 135-35 Northern Boulevard.

ULURP Process
Lead Agency: CPC, Neg. Dec.
Comm. Bd.: QN 7, App’d, 31-2-0
Boro. Pres.: App’d
CPC: App’d, 13-0-0
Council: Pending

CPC: Solow Center (C 070210 ZMQ –rezoning) (May 25, 2011) (Architect: Anthony Morali Architect PLLC).