Astoria Sports Complex To Become Self-Storage, Report Shows

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Instead of a new ice skating rink and soccer field, Astorians are getting a giant self-storage facility in their neighborhood — ending a years-long zoning battle between a sports complex owner and city agencies, a report shows.

The Astoria Sports Complex, located at 34-38 38 Street, closed in July, and was sold to Storage Deluxe the following month, according to property records first reported by the Real Deal. The company plans to open storage space by early 2023, a representative told the real estate site.

While the new deal isn’t out of the ordinary in New York City, which over the last decade saw the second-largest increase in storage space compared to cities nationwide, it is, however, “heartbreaking,” according to attorney Mitch Ross.

Ross was on the front lines of the years-long zoning battle to build two full stories atop the current building, complete with a hockey rink and soccer field.

The plan quickly received an outpouring of community support, including from the Queens borough president’s office, the Queens Chamber of Commerce and Kaufman Astoria Studios, but approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals, or the BSA, proved more challenging.

Steve Poliseno, the complex’s original owner, spent many years trying to get BSA approval for the zoning exemption necessary to add stories to the building. By the time he got the agency’s tacit approval, however, he wasn’t able to receive the BSA economic hardship exception, which rendered his building plan financially unfeasible, the Real Deal reported.

Storage units, by contrast, can more easily accommodate the area’s zoning rules, according to the Real Deal, which reported that Storage Deluxe plans to add seven stories atop the existing structure.

For Poliseno, the reported $20 million property deal marks the end of bureaucratic “frustration and exasperation,” but also the end of a years-long dream.

“I’m 72 years years old and it’s been a 43-year goal of mine to expand this place to give the people of Astoria a wonderful place to bring their families,” he told QNS last year.

Read the full Real Deal article here.