NEW YORK | Innovation QNS | 19 Buildings | 80 ~ 295 FT | 7 ~ 27 FLOORS

[BuildThemTaller]

After gaining approval from the NYC Planning Commission earlier in September, the developers of Innovation QNS have increased the number of affordable units in the proposed development. The development team now says they will set aside 40% of the 2,800 proposed residential units as affordable hosing. Council Member Julie Won and Queens Borough President had asked for 50% of the units to be affordable. We'll see if moving from 700 to 1,100 units, with 500 of them being for residents making less than 30% of the area median income, is enough to win the support of Won.

https://queenseagle.com/all/2022/9/2...its-affordable

[BuildThemTaller]

Innovation QNS has passed the City Council's Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee on a 7-0 vote after the developed promised another increase in affordable housing for the project. City Council Member Julie Won has previously demanded more affordable housing, raising the bar to 55% of the proposed 2,800 units. While Borough President Donovan Richards and Mayor Eric Adams have come out in support of the project, Won wrote an op-ed over the weekend further cementing her opposition to the project without the increase in affordable units. This latest bump in units seems to have softened the stance from Won with growing enthusiasm that the project could pass the City Council next week.



https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-l...homes-increase

[JMKeynes]

[Busy Bee]

Boost in unit density overall. Boost in affordable units. Win-Win. I never had any doubt this would still be approved but it's great to see it's official. Will be ibyeresting to see in what form the additional market rate units come in. Maybe we'll see some height increases to the tallest buildings?

[chris08876]

Great news.

And that's the key, more affordable units... well... allow a boost in density and make it favorable. One hand washes the other.

[chris08876]

Credit: Jaydayvis

[BuildThemTaller]

The full City Council has approved the rezoning for Innovation QNS.

https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-l...toria-rezoning

[NYguy]

Good. It's time tables started turning on NIMBYism.



https://nypost.com/2022/11/20/queens...o-score-goals/

Queens soccer stadium, Astoria project on different paths to score goals


By Steve Cuozzo
November 20, 2022

Two game-changing Queens development projects seem to be in the cards after announcements last week. But how real are they?

Mayor Eric Adams put his clout behind a newly revealed plan for a soccer stadium, hotel and “affordable” residential complex in Willets Point next to Citi Field. Meanwhile, a key City Council subcommittee approved an amended plan for a controversial, five-block, mixed-use project in Astoria called Innovation QNS.

Willets Point looks like an all-but-done deal even though actual buildings have yet to be designed. (The image on this page is conceptual.) Moreover, although the stadium is budgeted at $780 million, no estimates are available for the rest of the project.

But even more important than Adams’ support is the full-on backing of Council member Francisco Moya, a soccer aficionado who represents the district and is cheerleading the stadium plan. Under the Council’s notorious “member deference” policy, the member who reps a district can single-handedly scuttle a project that requires public review — the way Kristin Richardson Jordan did to One45 in central Harlem last summer.

The sexiest part of the Willets Point complex on city-owned land must undergo the tortuous, seven-month Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — namely, the stadium, 1,400 affordable apartments and a hotel. (Plans for Phase I, which will deliver the site’s first 1,100 units and a 650-seat school, were approved in 2013.)

But with Moya on board, the NYCFC, which will pay for the stadium, and Related Companies and Wilpon-owned Sterling Equities, which will jointly develop the rest of the site, shouldn’t have to sweat it out.

But Innovation QNS could be a different story.

The $2 billion proposal by Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios and BedRock Real Estate Partners to redevelop five low-rise blocks scored a win last week when it was approved by the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises.

The step followed major concessions by the developers. Among them, they’ll create twice the number of permanently affordable units (1,436) than originally planned, of which 500 would be priced at 30 percent of the neighborhood’s median income level.

But it might not be enough to satisfy Council member Julie Won. Asked by The Post whether she would seek further modifications, her spokesperson referred us to Won’s statement that, “This vote is only a preliminary approval of the project.”

She added, “I am diligently finalizing negotiations for commitments from the developer and the Mayoral administration. As the Council Member, I will utilize every accountability measure to ensure that our community wins are actualized.”

Still cast doubt until the end, but glad it was finally approved.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...s-megaproject/

Larry Silverstein doubts he’ll ever see $2B Queens project
With Innovation QNS in purgatory, 92-year-old developer laments lack of 421a





By Kathryn Brenzel
November 30, 2023

One year after his development team reached a deal with the City Council for Innovation QNS, developer Larry Silverstein is doubtful the housing project will get off the ground during his lifetime.

“I’m now 92 years of age. I’d like to see it happen. Honestly, at this rate, I don’t think I will,” he said during a speech at NYU’s Schack Conference on Capital Markets in Real Estate. “But it is a tragedy because the city needs it, and it needs it desperately.”

The City Council approved the 3,200-unit housing project in November 2022, touting that about 45 percent of the apartments would be affordable.

“The problem is, we have $10 million in that thing, [but] because of no kind of 421a program, we can’t build it. I don’t know how long it is going to take to get this thing going,” the Silverstein Properties chairman said, recounting a conversation with his former CEO Marty Burger moments earlier.

The tax break’s expiration last year loomed large during Thursday’s event. Gov. Kathy Hochul emphasized the need for 421a to make rental projects pencil out. In remarks heavy on sports analogies, the governor lamented that her ambitious housing agenda did not garner enough support in the last legislative session.

“It was a big shot, I didn’t get an assist. A lot of people sat on the bench,” she said.

City & State reported Wednesday that the governor does not plan to revive her proposed housing targets next year after they faced fierce opposition in the suburbs. On Thursday, she told the crowd of real estate professionals that if legislators step up on housing, she will be a willing partner.

...In the meantime, she is turning to executive-level actions, which have included creating a 421a alternative in Gowanus. If that pilot program succeeds, it could be expanded to rescue Silverstein’s project as well as Boris Aronov’s 1,400-unit Halletts North in Astoria.

Burger was ousted as Silverstein Properties’ CEO in October and replaced by Silverstein’s daughter, Lisa. He was coy about his plans for the future, though he indicated that he wants to stay in the same line of work.

“Development is the lifeblood of New York City,” he said. “I’m excited about figuring out what I’m going to do next, but more importantly what’s going to happen in New York City.”