By Madina Toure
A project seeking to build affordable housing in Municipal Parking Lot 3 in Flushing will be presented to Community Board 7 in March with the hopes of breaking ground by the end of the year, after the necessary approvals are granted.
The 43,200-square-foot development at 133-45 31st Ave. will have 208 affordable housing units. The site is surrounded by College Point Boulevard, Main Street and the Flushing-Main Street Long Island Rail Road station.
The ground floor will be used for commercial purposes. The upper floors will be residential, with studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. The second floor will be a community facility space.
In April, HPD Commissioner Vicki Been selected a development team for the project. The team, which consists of Asian Americans for Equality, HANAC Inc. and Monadnock Development, has named its plan One Flushing.
John Napolitano, HANAC’s director of community development and planning, said the team has been meeting with CB7’s Land Use Committee.
The project is supposed to go before the full board at its next meeting March 14 at 7 p.m. at the Union Care Plaza Center at 33-23 Union St., Napolitano said. The team has also been in contact with Borough President Melinda Katz, the City Planning Commission and the City Council for the final vote.
“We’re hoping these approvals will be buttoned up by summertime so we can get in the ground by the end of the year,” he said.
He stressed that the project is in the pre-development pipeline and said he could not speak about construction costs as they have not been finalized yet.
“The marketplace is quite high in terms of construction costs for any type of residential housing in the city,” Napolitano added. “It’s just a very challenging environment.”
An HPD spokeswoman confirmed that the project continues to be in its preliminary stages and that information about the total cost of the project will be available once the project is financed.
The team is partnering with New Hyde Park-based Parker Jewish Center Institute for Healthcare and Rehabilitation, which provides long-term care to seniors. The institute will use the space on the second floor.
The roof will have solar panels that will harvest photovoltaic solar energy that will mainly be used for heating, hot water and a small urban farm. The people operating the building would run the farm, which would be used by tenants.
The project will be funded through Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 10-year affordable housing plan, which aims to create and preserve 200,000 affordable housing units.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
