A developer’s plan to build a lofty hotel structure in College Point has come to a halt after a city audit.
Locals were alarmed last month after discovering that developers had filed plans with the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) to build a six-story hotel at 14-61 127th St. The plot of land is currently the site of a one-story building and is located in a M1-1 zoning district, which allows for hotel use.
According to a Community Board 7 member, the site is located in the vicinity of 127th Street and 18th Avenue.
Upon receiving complaints from community members, state Senator Tony Avella sent a letter to DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler asking for an audit of the plans. The lawmaker called the development “totally inappropriate” for the area.
“I find it amazing that the Department of Buildings would approve an alteration of a one-story building, which is not a hotel, into a six-story hotel,” he said in a statement.
Avella also said the expectation that the neighborhood’s notoriously narrow streets could manage the additional traffic flow from a hotel is “absurd.”
“How much more development can the residents of College Point take?” he added.
Local civic leader Joe Femenia, who first brought the proposed project to Avella’s attention, claimed the project was approved “without community involvement or knowledge.”
A spokesperson for the DOB told QNS that the agency issued a permit to the owners to enlarge the existing building into a six-story building and community facility on Dec. 18. The spokesperson also confirmed that DOB officials began receiving complaints from residents and subsequently conducted a “full audit” on the plans.
On Dec. 29, DOB officials noted that a nursery was planned for the second floor of the building, which would not be allowed under current zoning, and issued an intent to revoke the permit.
Developers are now required to revise their construction plans and come back to the DOB with new plans in order to proceed, the spokesperson said.
