Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Phipps Houses looking to get rezoning approval for affordable housing development

 

 

 

  

Queens Post

Phipps Houses has filed plans to rezone its Barnett Avenue property and build a seven-story, 167-unit building.

The non-profit developer applied for a zoning change earlier this year and the application was certified by the Dept. of City Planning on Oct. 5– officially kicking off the public review process. Phipps needs to rezone its site from manufacturing to residential in order to proceed with the project that would go up at 50-25 Barnett Ave.

The plans call for a mixed use building on the north side of Barnett Avenue between 50th and 52nd streets. The building would consist of 167 units that would all be deemed affordable–subject to income restrictions. The units would be 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments and there would be no studios.

The development would also include room for a community facility as well as 170 attended parking spaces, of which 111 would be made available for the public.

The application comes four years after Phipps abandoned a more ambitious rezoning plan for the site after facing fierce community opposition.

The current plans are about to go before Community Board 2 for review. The board is expected to hold a public hearing in November before it renders an advisory opinion. The plans will then go to the Queens Borough President’s office, the City Planning Commission and then the city council for a vote. The whole public review process is expected to take about seven months.

The proposal is smaller than what Phipps put forward in 2016, when it sought a rezoning to build a 10-story, 209-unit building. The units in that plan would have all been affordable, although at higher income brackets.

The affordable units in Phipps’ latest plan would target households earning significantly less.

It does seem nice that Phipps was persuaded to bring down the size and the rents. A welcome change to how they operate their other buildings.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Slumlord v1.0. Financed by Capital One? Great combo.

Anonymous said...

Lets put a building next to a noisy railroad tack with blaring horns from a train every other minute and fill it with people desperate enough to live like that - right next to a building that is considered a model of housing and acclaimed internationally to this day as one of the finest developments in the Progressive Era.

But who needs that when we can create another Elmhurst?

Yet another example that decisions are not made by the best most qualified people, but determined by the accident of birth on ethnicity, skin color, and most importantly, political views.

Anonymous said...

Watch Jimmy howl!

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of Drunk Pelosi telling the people in America "They don't matter."

Anonymous said...

The article stated: "The non-profit developer applied for a zoning change..."
How could a developer be "non-profit"?

Anonymous said...

How could a developer be "non-profit"?

Got to read between the lines. Is like the church-religion business in Falasheng.

Non-Profit = We don't pay taxes.

Clear now? :) :)