John Liu says area projects on slow pace

Although many major development projects in the Flushing area are on the horizon, they may not go up as quickly as originally intended, according to City Councilmember John Liu, who represents the area.
Liu specifically mentioned three separate development projects, Willets Point, Flushing Commons at the site of Municipal Lot 1 and the RKO Keith’s theater, at a recent meeting with members of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, and afterwards addressed specific issues that each project is facing.
“The Willets Point redevelopment has obviously slowed down considerably,” said Liu, who pointed to recent city Economic Development Corporation (EDC) timelines as targeting the fall of 2007 to begin the Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). “At this point, I don’t expect that to start until January or February [of 2008],” Liu said.
Plans for the 60-acre site include more than 1 million square feet of retail shops and restaurants, 500,000 square feet of office space, 5,500 units of housing, a school, hotel and convention center.
In addition, Liu expressed concern amongst the council about attaching an eminent domain authorization to the land use application as well as the lack of a Request For Proposals (RFP) or more specifics about what would go at the development site.
“I can understand why the administration would want to approach it that way, but I find it hard to support the use of eminent domain to condemn private property for the purpose of creating more private property,” Liu said.
Former Borough President Claire Shulman, who is leading the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation, a group of private and public stakeholders seeking to develop a comprehensive set of economic goals for the area, said the ULURP should not experience delays.
“Time is of the essence on this project and we have to move it along as quickly as possible,” Shulman said. “Everyone will have plenty of opportunity to talk about the project.”
Meanwhile, Liu had an even gloomier outlook about the Flushing Commons project, a mixed-used development project at Municipal Lot 1 that would bring 325,000 square feet of retail space, 500 residential units, office space, a hotel, 1,600 parking spaces as well as 50,000 square-feet dedicated to community space with a focus geared to youth activities.
“The project appears to be dead in the water, although it could be resuscitated,” said Liu, who believes that the developers are backtracking on promises centering around a youth center, the number of parking spaces and permanent price structure for those spaces. He also said he did not expect the ULURP application for this development to come before the council until sometime next year.
“As more time elapses, the likelihood of this [project] ever becoming a reality drops off exponentially,” Liu said.
However, Jamie Van Bramer, a spokesperson for the Flushing Commons project said that the developer remains fully committed to making the project a reality.
“We have been working diligently with our partners at (EDC) to work out the details on a development plan that we are confident both respects our original Flushing Commons vision and is wholly achievable within this ever-changing economic environment,” Van Bramer said in a statement. “We expect to be able to share the results of these productive discussions in the near future and we look forward to getting to work on the transformation of Downtown Flushing.”
Finally, Liu talked about his disappointment that Boymelgreen Development, who bought the RKO Keith site in 2002 and failed to develop it, announced plans to put the site back up for sale.
“The RKO has been a blight in the community for 20 years now,” Liu said. “People want to see that site be taken back from the dead.”
Liu said that other developers have already expressed interest in the site, the community has already approved for housing, office space and a senior center.
“When someone else takes possession of that property, the building plans will remain intact.”