Industrial Astoria Block To Become 152-Unit Building, Plans Show

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A corner lot in Astoria that has long been home to trucks and forklifts will soon be redeveloped into an eight-story apartment building, according to plans filed with the city.

Owner Moses Freund filed plans last week for the new building at 35-10 12th St., on the corner of 35th Avenue and across the street from the Ravenswood Houses in western Astoria.

Covering a large chunk of the intersection's southwest corner, the site is currently occupied by United Crane & Rigging Services, which has a brick warehouse and a fleet of vehicles parked on the site. The parking lot is surrounded by corrugated metal fencing, adorned with colorful murals about tenants' rights and police harassment.

The site was purchased for $4.8 million in 2015 by an LLC associated with Freund's company. By February, Freud filed plans to demolish the warehouse on the site.

The new building will stand 80 feet tall, including 152 apartments that average out to roughly 674 square feet each. The first floor will include 69 parking spaces and no retail space, according to the plans.

Freund, the developer, is a managing partner at The Vaja Group, which has been responsible for a handful of buildings in the Bronx.

The project is the latest residential development to make inroads in the industrial blocks of western Astoria, which are steadily being redeveloped into housing amid Western Queens's population boom. Half a mile north on Broadway, for example, an auto body shop and taxi medallion leasing office are set to be replaced with a nine-story apartment building.