Flushing Commons took another big step to approval as the New York City Planning Commission overwhelmingly approved the proposed development in downtown Flushing.
“The concept for the Flushing Commons project emerged from a community visioning and planning process…and it exemplifies sustainable, transit-oriented development,” said City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden, after the board approved the project by a 10-to-1 vote on Wednesday, June 23.
The privately-financed Flushing Commons project will be a vibrant, mixed-use, 1.1- million-square-foot, LEED-certified urban center with over 600 upscale residential condominiums, 275,000-square-feet of new retail space, hotel and/or office uses, a 1,600-space parking garage and a new state-of-the-art home for the Flushing YMCA.
Flushing Commons is going through Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) together with Macedonia Plaza, a proposed 140-unit all affordable housing project being developed by the Macedonia AME Church. The Macedonia Plaza project will be located in the northeast corner of Municipal Lot 1, adjacent to Flushing Commons.
“The New York City Planning Commission undertook a comprehensive, detailed review of every aspect of this project and its planning, so their stamp of approval is incredibly important and gratifying,” said Michael Meyer of TDC Development, who is developing the site in partnership with the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation.
While there are some local businesses still protesting the project, arguing that it does not provide enough affordable parking spaces, it will now go before the City Council who will debate the project in committee and then take a full vote on it. If approved, the project will come before Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supports it.
“The transformation of an underutilized five-acre parking lot into a mixed-use urban center will establish a new center of activity for this vibrant community,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Additionally, the Macedonia Plaza project will create a new, state-of-the-art YMCA to serve the community, anchored by one and a half acres of landscaped open space.”
