Kew Gardens Hills mixed-use building garners mixed response
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The corner lot at 77-39 Vleigh Pl., is currently zoned for a two-story building. Developers are looking to turn the building into a six-story mixed-use development. Screenshot via Google Maps
Kew Gardens Hills is split on a new mixed-use building potentially coming to the neighborhood.
A Queens Borough Board land use hearing, hosted by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards earlier this month, featured details on the development and testimony from a number of community members worried about congestion in the neighborhood.
VP Capital Holdings LLC, the developer for a vacant lot at 77-39 Vleigh Pl., is looking to expand the footprint of the space from an as-of-right two-story commercial building into a six-story building with rooms for shops, apartments and parking.
Since first applying, the developer adjusted the designs to reduce the size of the building from eight floors with 119 apartments to the smaller footprint, with higher floors set back from the sidewalk and the neighboring building. Though the changes were made in response to community concern, some members remain unsure.
Alan Sherman, a 47-year resident of the neighborhood, spoke in opposition to the rezoning he said is too large for Kew Gardens Hills.
“We are overpopulated already… stop squeezing people in,” he said. “This will open a can of worms; other developers, like cockroaches, will want to come out and build.”
The development team used Census commuting data to help determine the impact the new residents would have on traffic in the neighborhood, where about half of commuters use public transit.
Kevin Williams, the managing director of equity environmental engineering for the developer, said a “unique aspect” of the location of the building is that there are multiple ways to get out of the site, which he said would limit congestion.
“When judged by the standard as described… traffic generation would not result in a significant impact,” he said, acknowledging that though the numbers do not replace lived experience, their broad research showed no negative impacts.
Jane Keane, from nearby Stepping Stone Day School across the street from the site, serving
200 students with and without special needs, said that the traffic issues on Vleigh existed with even the smaller building that used to exist in the space.
“We completely understand the need for commercial access in this neighborhood [but] we’re concerned,” she said. “This is a walkable neighborhood, children walk to school, to the playground. It's not so much about traffic, it's about volume of traffic.”
Not everyone sees the proposal’s impact as outweighing the benefits, and a number of residents spoke in favor of the development.
Alan Zacheter testified that he was excited about the project for the future of his family and newly married daughter, who left the area after not being able to afford an apartment. He said the developer deserves some due for responding to community comments and that the project could be “refreshing.”
“Seems like he makes sacrifices … and I think the community needs something like this building to bring young families in, [for] older generations who can’t take care of a house anymore and need somewhere to go,” he said. “This could be a perfect place for them.”
The project will move forward after a recommendation — or not — from the Queens Borough Board to the City Planning Commission for approval in the next step of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
