Pols applaud Rockaway homeownership development
/
The original rendering for the proposed eight-story affordable housing project in Edgemere which is now an 89-unit homeownership development. Rendering Via Urban Architectural Initiatives
By Ryan Schwach
Queens electeds are applauding an affordable homeownership project coming to Far Rockaway that was the result of a deal with the developer just before the City Council nearly voted to scrap the project altogether.
The Ocean Crest rezoning, which sits at 29-32 Beach Channel Drive in the Edgemere neighborhood, will bring 89 homeownership units to the area after a push by local elected officials to change it from rentals to homeownership to better address equality issues in the Rockaways.
The project was initially planned to be 100 percent affordable rentals, with eight stories totalling 106 rental units. However, before the project was to come a vote before the City Council it was reported that the local council member, Selvena Brooks-Powers, opposed the project and preferred it be homeownership rather than rentals. The project will be the first 100 percent affordable homeownership development in the Rockaways in over a decade, the councilmember says.
“Homeownership has long been a vehicle for Americans to build wealth,” said Brooks-Powers in a statement sent earlier this week. “But for low-income New Yorkers, investing in a home – and keeping it, such that a family can build equity over generations – has never been more difficult than it is today. So many New Yorkers, especially those in communities of color, are being priced out of the neighborhoods they call home. Affordable homeownership projects like Ocean Crest help ensure more New Yorkers have the ability and the stability to stay.”
Brooks-Powers notes that New York City’s Black population has declined by nearly 200,000 people over the past two decades due to rising costs.
Now, the project which is being developed by The Community Builders, will also hire 50 percent of its new staff from within the confines of the community board, include 35 percent minority and women-owned business utilization, a labor monitor and specific outreach to NYCHA residents in providing details of homeownership opportunities.
However, the project almost didn’t make it to the finish line at all.
Prior to this project, Brooks-Powers had made it publicly clear that she opposed any more high-rise development in her district, which includes the east end of the Rockaway peninsula and parts of Southeast Queens.
Her feeling, which is shared by the local community board, is that Rockaway and Far Rockaway in particular is already inundated with housing, and more would overburden the community.
“While New York City has a housing crisis, Rockaway cannot be the only answer to that crisis,” Brooks-Powers said at a hearing on June 28.
An initial committee vote on the project scheduled for Aug. 1 was rescheduled amid Brooks-Powers reported criticism of the project and moved to Aug. 3, the same day as the Council’s monthly stated meeting.
Prior to the vote, it was announced that the developers and the council member had struck a deal to swap the project to homeownership, and was approved unanimously in both committee and the council.
“This is a major win for New Yorkers,” Brooks-Powers said at the vote. “This is a major win for low-income and middle-income New Yorkers to have a chance to become homeowners in the Rockaway community.”
The Real Deal, a real estate publication, reported that the last-minute deal was the product of last minute phone calls and an 11the hour injection of funding from Governor Kathy Hochul and the state to get the project over the line.
The $2.5 million from the state was negotiated by nonprofit affordable housing developer, Nehemiah HDFC and Rockaway’s state representatives.
“We are excited to expand access to the American Dream of homeownership,” said Jesse Batus, a regional vice president of real Estate development at Community Builders. “The project at 29-32 Beach Channel Drive will provide affordable housing and wealth building opportunities for 89 working families in the Rockaways.”
“We are grateful for the visionary leadership of Council Member Brooks-Powers and the continued support of our City and State partners,” he added. “Together, we are creating a more equitable neighborhood where all people can thrive.”
The Real Deal also reported that the project’s studio apartments were removed in order to make it work for homeownership.
Now with the project approved, other local pols are applauding the plan to bring more affordable homeownership to the Rockaways.
“We are greatly encouraged by the Ocean Crest Affordable Homeownership Project, a herculean joint effort between city and state elected officials to create historic 100 percent affordable homeownership in Far Rockaway,” said State Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson. “Homeownership is the key to prosperity, equity, generational wealth, and upward mobility in America, especially for Black and Brown working-class families who have been pushed out of New York in record numbers.”
“I am proud to have secured a $2.5 million commitment in state funding for this project,” he added.
Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers (middle) along with State Senator James Sanders Jr. and Speaker Adrienne Adams, seen at a recent JFK redevelopment briefing, all applauded the development. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
Rockaway State Senator James Sanders agreed, calling the agreement a “notable achievement.”
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams also celebrated the project.
“Addressing our city’s housing crisis requires an all-of-the-above approach and solutions that will allow New Yorkers to build their legacies for the long term,” she said. “The Ocean Crest Rezoning creates new opportunities for affordable homeownership, which is a critical pathway to building equity and multi-generational communities where families can remain in the neighborhoods they call home.”
Mayor Eric Adams expressed his desire to see the project approved prior to the vote, also called it “another big win.”
“I want to thank Councilmember Brooks-Powers and the City Council for working with us to ‘Get Stuff Built,’” he said.
The project is expected to begin construction sometime in 2024.
