The City Planning Commission on Monday certified a proposal by The Flushing Willets Point – Corona Local Development Corporation (FWCLDC) to begin the ULURP process of the redevelopment of the Special Flushing Waterfront District.
The proposals were drafted in collaboration with Langan Engineering and Environmental Services and contain new renderings from Hill West Architects offering a first look at the future redeveloped site, according to New York Yimby.
The project area is bound by 40th Road to the south, College Point Boulevard to the east, 36th Avenue to the north, and Flushing Creek to the west. The proposal includes nine buildings spread across four neighboring sites.
“This is a very good project and will benefit the neighborhood,” said Claire Shulman, of The Flushing Willets Point-Corona Local Development Corporation.
The Flushing Willets Point – Corona Local Development Corporation aims to transform the underutilized, vacant, and environmentally-challenged areas into a vibrant, new mixed-use community.
New York Yimby reported that the overall project will comprise of 1,725 apartments, 1,397,040 square-feet of commercial area, and 21,913 square-feet of community facilities. Commercial components will include 298,811 square-feet of retail, a 714,588 square-foot hotel, and 383,641 square-feet of office space. There will also be 1,533 parking spaces and a total of 3.14 acres of publicly accessible open space.
According to Shulman, they are also working on a project to construct a promenade from Roosevelt Avenue to Northern Boulevard that will eventually connect to the Skyview Flushing Creek promenade.
“The 40 acres will be developed and we’re doing a lot of things to clean up the water so we can have modest maritime use off the promenade,” Shulman said.
In 2010, The Flushing Willets Point – Corona Local Development Corporation received a $1,505,700 grant under the New York State Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program (BOA) to develop plans to revitalize the Flushing waterfront area, according to Schulman.
In 2018, The Flushing Waterfront BOA received official BOA Designation from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. The New York Department of State, which administers the program, determined if the project met the necessary requirements and criteria for designation.
According to the City Planning Department, now that the project has begun public review, it will go to Community Board 7 for a a public hearing and vote, followed by the Borough President. Both Community Board 7 and the Borough President will issue advisory recommendations on the proposal. After that, the proposal will return to the City Planning Commission for a public hearing and a binding vote. If the CPC votes to approve or modify the application, it will then go to the City Council for a public hearing and vote.
