Rumors that the Parc Hotel at 39-16 College Point Blvd. in Flushing would become a homeless shelter were just that, according to Councilman Peter Koo and the owner of the hotel herself.
Angela An, the proprietor of the Parc, said she did not know where the rumors began, but denied the company would consider signing a contract with the city Dept. of Homeless Services considering the amount they had recently invested to update the four year old building to drive profitability.
“We never had the contract or signed a contract… There’s never going to be any homeless [housed] at our hotel,” An said.
The city pays about $170 per day to house the city’s homeless population in hotels, which they are working to phase out.
An said they had hired a Chinese designer to direct the renovations of the building, which they will do floor by floor to offer better service to their cliental.
The Parc Hotel was built over four years ago from the ground up and is consistently at 90 percent occupancy, according to An.
An anonymous source told QNS that there had been a deal with the city for a shelter at the hotel, but it had been recently terminated.
The city Department of Homeless Services has yet to respond to multiple calls and emails from QNS requesting comment on the matter. QNS also tried reaching out to An and has yet to receive a response.
A spokesman for Koo told QNS on Tuesday the councilman had spoken with An, who said that there are no plans for homeless individuals to be housed there.
The rumor came amid an ongoing battle between College Point residents and the city over a proposed homeless shelter in the neighborhood. Residents have held two rallies against the proposal, and are in the process of suing the city to stop it.
Carlotta Mohamed and Robert Pozarycki contributed to this report.
