Posted Mar 19, 2013, 8:13 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/130319872
Key hurdle cleared in Willets Point redevelopment
A $3 billion makeover of the junk-yard-riddled Queens site can finally begin once developers pass a final public review process over, of all things, a parking lot.
By Annie Karni
March 18, 2013
Quote:
The $3 billion redevelopment of Willets Point in Queens—a barren swath of land between Flushing and Corona best known for its junk yards—received a green light from the City Planning Commission Monday, setting off a long public review process that will give the developers a special permit to allow surface parking and temporary community facilities on the site.
In 2008, the city gained approval for 9 million square feet of land to be developed, before any developer was attached to the project. A joint venture between the Related Cos. and Sterling Equities was designated as the developer of a 23-acre parcel of the site.
But before the clean up and construction there can begin, the developers must pass another hurdle: They need the city to grant them the right to build an uncovered parking lot as an exchange for a lot on the west side of Citi Field, where the plan is to build an entertainment and retail center. Cleanup and redevelopment can't begin without the official approval.
The extra approval is needed because in 2008, the city did not anticipate any of the parking on Willets would be unenclosed. The developer now needs a waiver of that requirement. The progress may sound incremental but the city praised it as a major hurdle that has been overcome.
"This marks a critical step towards beginning the long-needed cleanup of toxic land in Willets Point that for years has damaged the waterfront and been a blight on the community," a spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corp. said in a statement.
The co-developers, the Related Cos. and Sterling Equities, also launched a new website today, NewWilletsPoint.com, which says the official land-use process will begin this spring. The plan now needs approval from the community board. Then the Queens borough president gives approval, before the City Planning Commission votes on the project and sends it before the City Council for final approval.
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http://newwilletspointqueens.com/
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