Innovation QNS Increases Affordable Apartments In Bid For Approval

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The developers of Innovation QNS will significantly increase the number of affordable apartments included in the massive five-block development, they announced Wednesday, in an eleventh-hour effort to win approval for the controversial rezoning.

About 40 percent of the project's 2,800 apartments will now be permanently affordable, or about 1,100 units altogether — up from the previous total of 25 percent.

Developers are also deepening those units' affordability levels, with 500 of the apartments to be available for people making 30 percent of the area median income — or about $28,000 for a single person.

The commitment, first reported by the Queens Eagle and confirmed by Patch, was made via a letter sent by developers on Tuesday to local Councilmember Julie Won, who will likely decide the fate of Innovation QNS.

"By a significant margin, Innovation QNS will deliver more affordable housing and more deeply affordable housing than any other recent rezoning in New York City," wrote the developers — a joint team of Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios and BedRock Real Estate Partners.

The new changes bring Innovation QNS closer to meeting the standards set by Won, who previously said it would need to be at least 50 percent affordable to secure her support.

Won did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Innovation QNS is now awaiting a final vote by the City Council after being approved by the City Planning Commission, and Won's colleagues will likely respect her stance on the rezoning under longstanding tradition.

The new affordability commitments have already swayed one former naysayer: Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who had recommended rejecting the project unless it were upped to 50 percent affordable, praised the changes in a series of tweets Wednesday afternoon.

"With this compromise on Innovation QNS, I'm confident we're making real progress to bring true and deep affordable housing to Queens," he said.

The developers, in their own statement, cited a "productive dialogue" with Richards and Won, and said Innovation QNS would more than triple the number of affordable homes created in Astoria in recent years.

"[We] look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Council Member to deliver this urgently needed $2 billion investment in Astoria," said Tracy Capune, a vice president at Kaufman Studios.

In total, Innovation QNS would construct more than 12 new buildings and two acres of green space across five blocks between 37th Street and Northern Boulevard, bounded by 35th and 36th avenues — a low-rise area now home to auto repair shops, a P.C. Richard store, and the Regal UA Kaufman Astoria movie theater, which would be rebuilt on a new block as part of the development.

Supporters have said it would help alleviate the city's housing crisis and enliven the neighborhood with new retail and recreational space, while opponents have long charged that the project would indirectly displace longtime residents and be unaffordable for the people who already live in Astoria.

Won, who has also said the developers did not do enough to inform neighbors about the project, still sounded critical of Innovation QNS following this month's yes-vote by the City Planning Commissison.

"The developers continue to disregard the community’s voice, choosing to move forward with a project that received major backlash at town halls this spring and the overwhelming disapproval by Queens Community Board 1," Won said at the time.

Related coverage:

• Innovation QNS Rezoning OK'd By Planning Commission, Heads To Council
  
• Huge Innovation QNS Rezoning Gets Thumbs-Down From Borough President
• Huge Innovation QNS Rezoning Rejected By Board, But Battle Continues
• Despite Changes, Innovation QNS Voted Down By Astoria Board Committee
• Astoria's Innovation QNS Opponents, Supporters Clash At Public Hearing