After the City agreed to set aside $6 million for a small business assistance program, the Council approved the redevelopment of a 5.5- acre municipal parking lot. On July 29, 2010, the City Council approved two proposals related to the development of a large mixed-use project on a 5.5-acre municipal parking lot in downtown Flushing, Queens. The 1,101-space lot is bounded by 37th and 39th Avenues and Union and 138th Streets, and is also occupied by the Macedonia AME Church, which faces Union Street.

The 1.89 million sq.ft. development, known as Flushing Commons, is sponsored by the City’s Economic Development Corporation, Rockefeller Group Development Corporation, and TDC Development Corporation. Rockefeller and TDC will construct five buildings around the lot’s perimeter, create a 1.5-acre town square-style open space, and provide 620 market- rate apartments. The project will also include a new YMCA, commercial space, and a 1,600-space underground parking facility.

Under the second proposal, Macedonia AME Church will build a fourteen-story, 140-unit affordable housing project, known as Macedonia Plaza, on the northeast corner of the parking lot. (read more…)

Image: NYCEDC

Municipal parking lot would be replaced with multi-building development offering market-rate and affordable housing and 1.5 acres of open space. On June 23, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved two separate but related proposals that would facilitate the redevelopment of a 5.5-acre, 1,101-space municipal parking lot bounded by 37th and 39th Avenues and Union and 138th Streets in downtown Flushing, Queens. The Commission approved the City Economic Development Corporation, Rockefeller Group Development Corporation, and TDC Development Corporation’s proposal to build a 1.89 million sq.ft. mixed-use project, known as Flushing Commons, on the parking lot. The Commission also approved the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s proposal to allow the Macedonia AME Church to build an affordable housing project, known separately as Macedonia Plaza, on a portion of the lot not set aside for the Flushing Commons project.

In 2004, the City’s Downtown Flushing Task Force targeted the 5.5- acre municipal lot for redevelopment. After a formal RFP process in June 2005, EDC selected Rockefeller and TDC to redevelop the lot. The proposal would include replacing the lot with a five-building complex, ranging in height from five to seventeen stories, surrounding 1.5 acres of publicly accessible open space. The project would provide 620 units of market rate housing, 405,000 sq.ft. of commercial space, a YMCA, and a 1,600-space underground garage. (read more…)

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…)