In what was arguably the longest meeting in Community Board (CB) 7 history, local residents got a chance to speak about proposed developments in downtown Flushing, on Municipal Parking Lot No.1, known as “Flushing Commons.”
Two separate but adjacent projects have been certified by the Department of City Planning (DCP) and are now going through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).
Between them, there will be more than 1.5 acres of open public space, mixed use towers with roughly 750 units of both luxury condos and affordable housing; 500,000 square feet of commercial/office space and 96,000 square feet of community facility space.
With combined investments of well over $850 million, the projects should create more than 2,600 construction jobs and 1,900 permanent jobs.
This requires an advisory vote by the board, followed by Borough President Helen Marshall’s advisory vote, review by DCP and a vote by the City Council, before the plan goes to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has called the project “a great example of what can be accomplished when the public and private sector collaborate,” for his signature.
Nearly 250 people overflowed the CB7 meeting at Union Plaza Nursing Home on Monday, March 22. After a hearing on a smaller project, they moved on to what has been a bone of contention since the 1940s, when bulldozing a roughly 14-city-block area in the heart of Flushing for development was first proposed.
At issue is the 5.5-acre parcel originally taken by the city under eminent domain in the early-1950s. The area had been a concentration of black-owned homes, businesses and land belonging to the Macedonia AME Church, which has stood on Union Street between 37th and 39th Avenues since 1811.
In 2005, TDC Development/Rockefeller Group was chosen to develop the site and a 2006 letter of agreement between then Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff and then-City Councilmember John Liu outlined the scope of the project.
Since that time, the proposed development, with more than 600 condo units, has gained a showpiece YMCA and lost a planned movie theater, bookstore and critics say, some 400 parking spaces.
Along with the TDC/Rockefeller project, Macedonia church wants to build more than 140 units of affordable housing with retail space, but no parking.
After detailed presentations concerning each project, board members questioned the respective developers. The questions related to infrastructure, including water, sewer, schools, transportation and parking.
Although the current lot has 1,101 parking spaces, a significant number are metered for 12 hours and are considered “commuter parking.” In 2006, 2,000 spaces were to be provided.
Citing spiraling construction costs as well as extensive traffic and usage studies, TDC/Rockefeller is proposing1,600 spaces – which they point out is more than was called for in the original solicitation.
City Councilmembers Peter Koo and Dan Halloran, who represent CB7, generally supported the projects but promised to heed public concerns.
As is CB7 procedure, public speakers were afforded time (2 minutes each) to speak on the issue after the presentation. Although it was nearly 11 p.m., most of the 72 people who registered to speak stayed and either supported both or supported only Macedonia Plaza.
The meeting finally adjourned at about 12:45 a.m. on Tuesday.
The matter will be heard before a CB7 committee on Thursday, March 25 before the board votes on the developments at a special meeting on Monday April 5.
