Flushing Commons cleared its first major hurdle in the City Council with the Land Use Committee and Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee giving the green light for the project and setting up the final vote before the entire Council on Thursday, July 29.
The unanimous support of the Land Use Committee at a morning meeting on Wednesday, July 28 came after a deal was struck to give local businesses up to $6 million worth of mitigation relief – three times more than they were originally going to receive – likely paving the way for the full Council’s passage.
“We are honored and gratified that Flushing Commons earned such strong support today from the Subcommittee on Zoning Franchises and the full Land Use Committee,” said Flushing Commons spokesperson Jamie Van Bramer, who praised the leaders of the committees, Mark Weprin and Leroy Comrie, as well Councilmember Peter Koo, who represents the district of the proposed project. “We look forward to tomorrow’s full City Council vote.”
Flushing Commons is a privately-financed joint venture of TDC Development and Construction Group and the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation that 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.
The project is currently going though the 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.
On Tuesday, July 27, the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee declined to issue a recommendation on the proposal because a number of questions about parking and how the current businesses would be impacted still remained.
After negotiations between councilmembers and the administration, a deal that includes a nearly $6 million “small business assistance” package was reached. The deal includes $2.25 million for marketing and advertising, up to $1.5 million in loan assistance, $200,000 in-kind contributions from the city’s Small Business Services (SBS) and $50,000 for signage to tell people how to get to the Union Street businesses.
In addition, the agreement also extends the cap on parking rates to five years after construction is completed from the three years that was originally proposed. There are also plans in the works to provide 75 more parking spaces at the Queens Crossing that could be used for the local Union Street businesses.
“As a result of everyone working together, we made the Flushing Commons/Macedonia Project a reality, and we have ensured that the future of downtown Flushing is bright, energetic and vibrant,” Koo said.
