A 620-unit complex and neighboring 140-unit affordable housing project would replace a 5.5-acre municipal parking lot. On May 12, 2010, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation and TDC Development Corporation’s joint proposal to build a 1.89 million sq.ft. mixed-use project in downtown Flushing, Queens. The City Economic Development Corporation selected the proposal, known as Flushing Commons, through a formal RFP process. It would replace a 5.5-acre, 1,101-space municipal parking lot bounded by 37th and 39th Avenues and Union and 138th Streets. A mid-block lot on the Union Street side of the parking lot is occupied by the Macedonia AME Church.

Rockefeller and TDC would replace the lot with five buildings along the site’s perimeter, with 1.5 acres of open space in the middle. The project would provide 620 units of market rate housing, more than 500,000 sq.ft. of commercial space, a new YMCA facility, and a 1,600-space underground public parking garage. The developers submitted multiple applications, including requests to transfer ownership of the City-owned lot, to rezone the site from C4-3 to C4-4, and for special permits to modify height and setback regulations. (read more…)