After more than year of controversy surrounding the mega-development Willets Point project, the City Council approved the plans by a 42-2 margin paving the way for $3 billion project that will make Willets Point the city’s next great neighborhood.
The development, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a centerpiece of his second-term agenda, would bring 1.7 million square feet of retail shops and restaurants, 500,000 square feet of office space, 5,500 units of housing, a hotel, a school and a convention center to a site described by many as blighted and an eyesore.
“For nearly half a century, Willets Point has been an environmentally degraded area in the heart of Queens, but today, it finally has a brighter future - one that will create more than 5,000 permanent jobs, thousands of units of affordable housing, and generate $1.3 billion in tax revenue and $25 billion in overall economic activity over the next 30 years,” Mayor Bloomberg said following the City Council’s approval on Thursday, November 13.
In addition to the 5,000 permanent jobs, the project will create 18,000 construction jobs when work on the site begins sometime in 2010.
“It will create a place for people to go that will create jobs and revenue that is in desperate need right now,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “This will be an economic engine right at a time when the city needs it most.”
While the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) sparred with the businesses and property owners at Willets Point for more than a year, with neither side budging much throughout the Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a flurry of activity and land acquisitions occurred in the week leading up to the Council hearing. Round the clock negotiations with property owners resulted in agreements that gave the city control of the majority of the property at the site prior to the vote.
Just hours before the Council vote, the city reached agreements with three of the largest landowners at the Willets Point site - Fodera Foods, House of Spices and Tully - that would allow them to remain in business at the site as the project’s construction begins.
The city’s agreement with Fodera Foods and House of Spices would allow the two businesses to continue to operate for more than 10 years while the western portion of the project is developed. Then, they could sell the property to the developer at a higher price than they would have received today.
Meanwhile, the city purchased the land at Tully Construction, and they reached an agreement with Tully Environmental to purchase their land at an already-agreed-to price at later date. However, Tully will also be able to continue to operate their business until the city needs the land, according to a city spokesperson.
Another major obstacle to the vote was removed one day prior to the vote when Queens City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who had been the most vocal opponent to the project, stood with Bloomberg to announce an agreement that increased the affordable housing quotient included in the plan to 35 percent.
The 35 percent represented a significant increase from the 20 percent the city had previously proposed. In addition, a number of units in that 35 percent will be set aside for low-income residents.
“This new and improved plan reflects the true potential of large-scale development projects,” Monserrate said. “It proves that we can include the best long-term planning and the smartest allocation of resources while keeping our moral responsibility to the families and workers affected.”
Although the City Council overwhelmingly approved the Willets Point plan, a number of property owners whom the city had not reached agreements with vowed to continue their fight.
“My feeling is that I’m more focused now then I ever was before because now I have only one direction and that’s protecting my property,” said Jake Bono, a third generation of Bono Sawdust Supply Co., which has been in Willets Point for more than 75 years.
Bono said that he was disappointed that of the 32 Councilmembers who signed a letter in April denouncing the use of eminent domain, only two - Tony Avella and Charles Barron - voted against the project. Bono reiterated his intention to keep his land by taking his battle to the courts. He also had a message for Mayor Bloomberg.
“I’m going to do exactly what Mayor Bloomberg would do if someone came to take his land,” Bono said. “I’m gonna fight all the way to protect and keep what is mine.”
Meanwhile, the city is still negotiating with other property owners at the site and they hope to reach agreements with all of the property owners, but they would not set a date for when they would use eminent domain if they failed to acquire the remaining property.
WHAT’S NEXT AT WILLETS
