Richards rejects Innovation QNS
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Innovation QNS, a massive proposed development in Astoria, was rejected by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. Rendering via Innovation QNS
By Jacob Kaye
The future of Innovation QNS, an enormous five-block development proposed for Astoria, grew murkier Thursday after the Queens borough president told the project’s developers they don’t have his support, the Eagle has learned.
Richards, reviewing the project as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, issued his formal – and advisory – recommendation on Innovation QNS less than an hour before his mandated deadline, urging the city to shoot down what amounts to the largest development project proposed for the borough in at least a decade.
The lack of approval from the borough president marks the second time in two months Innovation QNS, which would bring in over a dozen new buildings, nearly 3,000 apartments, offices, community, retail and open spaces to a corner of southeast Astoria if built, has been rejected by a local government body.
The conflict, previous rejections of the project and the ultimate reason for Richards’ disapproval was the developers’ commitment, or lack thereof, to increasing the number of affordable units.
“Despite serious discussions with the Applicant, they did not commit to increasing the total number of affordable units or affordability levels to thresholds that would make this project feasible for Queens residents,” Richards said in his decision.
The negotiations over the $2 billion project, which is led by developers Silverstein Properties, BedRock and Kaufman Astoria Studios, centered around affordable housing.
“The Innovation QNS development team is disappointed that despite significant progress in addressing the Borough President’s concerns – including agreeing to a substantial increase in the number of affordable homes and to deliver a meaningful number of those homes at the deeply affordable ‘extremely low-income’ band – we were unable to win his support in advance of his recommendation,” Tracy Capune, the vice president of Kaufman Astoria Studios said in a statement.
“We’re proud of the plan for Innovation QNS – a $2 billion investment in creating affordable homes; family-sustaining jobs; open space; support for small businesses, working families and immigrant communities; and hundreds of millions of dollars in public revenue all at a time when it is needed most – and look forward to refining the plan further in collaboration with Council Member Won to ensure it addresses her concerns,” Capune added.
In their pitch to Queens Community Board 1 – which voted against the project in late July – developers said Innovation QNS would include 700 affordable units, or about 25 percent of the approximately 2,800 total units. At the time, developers committed to setting the most affordable units at 40 percent of the area median income, or $37,360 for a single person and $53,360 for a family of four.
Throughout the month-long negotiation between the borough president and Innovation QNS’ developers, Silverstein, BedRock and Kaufman agreed in writing to set aside an unspecified number of units at or below 30 percent AMI, or $28,020 for a single person and $40,020 for a family of four.
However, further negotiations appeared to have stalled.
In his advisory opinion, Richards urged that the Department of City Planning and the City Council – the two bodies that will issue binding votes on the project – require the developers to commit to making 50 percent of the units affordable, with a number of them renting at 30 percent AMI.
“While 25 [percent] of the proposed residential floor area would yield approximately 711 affordable units, and some percentage of those units would be deeply affordable, the Astoria community has made it clear that more and deeper affordability is essential to stabilizing the neighborhood,” Richards said.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards rejected plans from developers to rezone five blocks in Astoria to make way for nearly 3,000 apartment units, office space, retail space and open space. Photo via the office of the Queens borough president
The fight over the number and types of affordable housing offered in the development is not new. Affordable housing has driven the debate over whether or not to rezone the five-city blocks from 37th Street to Northern Boulevard between 35th and 36th Avenues for well over a year.
It was the reason behind Community Board 1’s 24-to-8 vote against the project. It also was a major motivating factor for hundreds of community advocates who testified and rallied against the project during the multiple public hearings on Innovation QNS held over the past several months.
Brian Romero, the Community Board 1 member who initiated the board’s no vote in July, said that he was pleased to hear of the borough president's similar recommendation.
“I know he was trying to be a bridge builder and help us all sort of get to a yes and negotiate something that we could work with,” Romero said. “But he's right, we absolutely cannot settle when it comes to affordability.”
But the affordable housing commitment has also driven much of the support for the project. At those same hearings, a coalition of residents of the nearby Queensbridge Houses and representatives from labor unions urged officials to support the project, citing the need for housing in the city overall, but especially in a neighborhood with one of the lowest vacancy rates in the five boroughs.
Supporters have also rallied behind the project’s potential for bringing in over 5,000 jobs, its economic benefits and its commitment to developing an area that even opponents of the project say is in need of change.
Should the project be withdrawn by its developers, or be voted down in later stages of the ULURP process, the area, which is currently home to six apartment units, a number of warehouses, a movie theater, a park and a P.C. Richard and Son, will have no plan for development attached to it.
However, opponents of the project say regardless of the housing potentially lost, the long-term effects, including pricing out nearby residents, could be more harmful.
“I think we have to stop looking at things in a binary,” said Evie Hantzopoulos, a member of Community Board 1 who voted against the project. “We can do something better.”
“Why do we have to accept something that is really not going to serve the community in the long-term,” she added.
However, those opposed to Innovation QNS have said they don’t think it will mesh with the blocks directly west of the proposed rezoning. The area is mostly home to three-to-four story residential buildings, many of which are home to immigrant families.
The market rate units inside the 13-building development are expected to go for $2,430 on the lowest end to over $5,100 per month on the high end, while the median gross rent in the area is around $1,700, according to the borough president.
“The influx of new residents who can afford to pay these rents, and the sheer density of the proposed 13 buildings, will drastically alter the character, demographics and housing stability of Astoria and CD1,” Richards said.
“Again I ask, who will benefit?” he added.
The proposed are for Innovation QNS from 37th Street to Northern Boulevard between 35th and 36th Avenues. Rendering via Innovation QNS
The no vote from Richards could potentially spell doom for the project.
In 2014, then-Borough President Melinda Katz recommended the city not move forward with a development proposed for Astoria Cove. Developers of the project proposed erecting five buildings, ranging in height from six to 32 stories.
Though the City Council ultimately voted in favor of the project, Katz’s concerns – which centered around affordability – played out in the legislative body’s contentious decision. The project stalled for over half a decade. The site remains vacant, although in April of this year, the project’s developers submitted plans for four new buildings at the site with the Department of Buildings, Patch reported.
Innovation QNS will now head to the City Planning Commission, which will have 60 days to hold a public hearing and issue a vote on the application.
At that point, it will move to the City Council and the mayor for a vote.
City Councilmember Julie Won, who represents the area Innovation QNS is proposed for, will likely play a large role in determining which way the City Council votes. She has previously been critical of the developers’ alleged lack of outreach about the project to the neighborhood’s Bangla and Spanish speaking residents. However, Won has, for the most part, stayed away from commenting on the project itself.
Recently, Won uploaded a list of “land use principles,” to her City Council website, City Limits first reported. Though affordability is one of the three principles – the others being community engagement and community investment – she does not list specific guidelines for AMI or the percentage of units a developer must make affordable. Won does note, however, the percentage must exceed 25 percent.
When asked whether or not Innovation QNS had met her guidelines, Won said they had already missed the mark on two of three of her principles.
“They have already failed community engagement and affordability,” Won told the outlet. “I don’t know if it’s too late.”
In a statement released Friday afternoon, Won said that “[s]ecuring more affordable housing for this district is my top priority.”
“We will use the borough president’s recommendations and our own land use guidelines we released earlier this week to meet that goal,” she said.
Update: This story was updated at 4:05 p.m., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022.
