Plan for affordable housing in Flushing

A Flushing-based organization has come up with a plan to lessen the affordable housing crunch in northeast Queens - rezone a 28-acre area now occupied by parking lots and small factories so that light industry and apartments could co-exist.
On Thursday, April 5, Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) presented an initial plan - along with two other options - to community leaders and local politicians.
AAFE had been asked to study the area by City Councilmember John Liu, who was contacted by property owners about whether the area - bounded roughly by the Van Wyck Expressway to the west, Long Island Rail Road tracks to the north, College Point Boulevard to the east, and Fowler Avenue to the south - could be rezoned.
As Flushing grows, the value of land rises, AAFE Director of Policy Robert Weber told the crowd.
“Something like this allows the community to benefit from the change in value,” he said, explaining AAFE’s suggestion to rezone an area comprised of 125 land parcels and owned by private companies.
Currently, the area is zoned for M1-1, M1-2, and R6 with commercial overlay - all allowing for light industry. Home Depot owns 8.5 acres of the land, GAMCO 2.75 acres, NY Sign City 2 acres, and Scharf Assemblage 1.3 acres. In total, the area contains about 800 jobs, 400 residents, and 250 businesses, AAFE found during its investigation.
“We hope to engage the property owners shortly,” Weber said, adding that he planned to meet with several property owners within the coming weeks.
The two other choices presented by AAFE were to leave the area as is in terms of zoning or to allow private owners to request rezoning over time to build residential units - possibly using the city’s inclusionary housing model, which gives incentives to developers who build low-income apartments.
Nearby, in downtown Flushing, growing industry and development are calling for an exponentially increasing workforce, Weber said. However, existing and new housing - about 2,000 units are expected to be completed within the next decade - are more often than not priced at market rate.
If the average single-parent family should expect to spend no more than 30 percent of their income on housing, then they should look for a rental unit or mortgage to cost $466 monthly.
“As we know prices are going way beyond that,” Weber said.
In order to create workforce housing, the City could rezone the 28-acre area for mixed-use development and create a model for economic integration, combining moderate- and low-income housing, Weber said.
“You rarely see different economic levels in the same building,” Weber said.
Because plans are in the very early stages - last week’s meeting was the first public one - AAFE and Liu plan to further investigate rezoning options before making any applications for zoning changes. Nevertheless, Liu, as well as other politicians in attendance - State Senator Toby Stavisky and Assemblymember Ellen Young - agreed that Flushing needs affordable housing for local workers.
“This is one of the greatest unmet needs, not just in Queens, but in the city,” Stavisky said.