Project approved. Actually, project overwhelmingly approved.
On Thursday, July 29, the City Council voted 45-2 with zero abstentions in favor of the Flushing Commons development project, leaving only Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s signature as the final piece of the puzzle.
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.
“I think this is great win for Flushing,” said Michael Meyer, President of TDC Development. “Of course we’re happy for us, but I think more to the point I think it’s really a victory for the community. I think this is going to transform Flushing.”
The overwhelming support of the City Council was not surprising after the Council’s Land Use Committee unanimously approved the plan the day before after reaching an agreement with the city that nearly tripled the amount of aid delivered to local businesses that would be impacted by the construction of the project.
However, some of the local businesses were still upset and expressed their displeasure with the Council vote after the meeting.
“As a small business owner and flushing resident, I have been concerned about the impact of the construction and pleaded to the city to provide a safety net for our businesses,” said Daniel Kung, Co-President of the Union Street Small Business Association. “However, we are disappointed that the city and developer have failed to finalize a concrete and workable solution for our small businesses.”
