Rego Park has one of the strongest rental markets in central and eastern Queens, and developers are finally starting to take notice. Last week, YIMBY spotted plans for a 12-story, mixed-use building at 63-98 Wetherole Street, a couple blocks south of Queens Boulevard.
The city has approved plans to renovate and bring up to code the seven-story, 216-unit former Pan Am hotel, which was turned into a homeless shelter back in June of 2014. The building, at 79-00 Queens Boulevard, in Elmhurst, is located five blocks west of the Grand Av – Newtown stop on the M/R trains. DNAinfo reports Samaritan Village, the facility’s operator, will file plans with the city by June for the construction work. Some upgrades include a children’s playground, a day care facility, and a cafeteria. Samaritan will receive roughly $23 million in funding from the city over the next couple years to carry out construction. The city’s Department of Homeless Services will help in the relocation of families during the renovation.
Chris Xu’s Century Construction and Development Group is slowly transforming Queens with huge mixed-use projects. Last month he filed plans for a 79-story skyscraper next to One Court Square in Long Island City. Now, YIMBY has renderings for his ambitious 14-story tower at 134-03 35th Avenue in Flushing.
In 2014, King’s USA Group acquired the two-story, 100,000-square-foot commercial building – dubbed Assi Plaza and located at 131-01 39th Avenue, in Downtown Flushing – for $54.6 million. Now, the developer is filing applications for a new two-story, 165,337-square-foot building with 58,349 square feet of commercial space, a storage component, and staging areas for transporting goods. Perkins Eastman would design the 51-foot-tall structure, but the new filings come just before the area could get rezoned. Last fall, YIMBY brought you the latest details on the Flushing West Rezoning and the site in question, located between College Point Boulevard and Flushing Creek, is at the center of the proposal’s special waterfront district. In other words, the site could eventually accommodate mixed-use buildings of up to 10 or 14 stories. Plans for the site are probably not set in stone, and the rezoning’s public review process is expected to kick off this spring. Permits to demolish the existing commercial building were filed in February.
Confusion over the future of the 421-a tax exemption has slowed down new residential construction, but commercial development is alive and well across New York City, particularly in the outer boroughs. Yesterday, YIMBY spotted plans for a 16-story hotel in the industrial area just north of Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.
