Rendering of Beach 21st Street. Image Credit: HPD
Over 1,380 new affordable apartments were added to Far Rockaway since it was rezoned in 2017. On January 15, 2020, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced a new plan to add 793 affordable apartments to revitalize and strengthen neighborhoods in the Downtown Far Rockway area of Queens. Units will be spread across three properties – RadRoc, Beach 21 and Rockaway Village, and will include units set aside for the formerly homeless and individuals with extremely low to moderate incomes. These units will be built in addition to the 590 units financed following the New York City Council’s vote to rezone in Far Rockaway in September 2017.
The RadRoc development features two 10-story buildings and is financed through the Extremely Low and Low Income Affordability (ELLA) program. 10 percent of these units will be set-aside for formerly homeless households and 133 units will be affordable permanently. 19-38 Cornaga Avenue will have 173 rental units and over 14,000 sqaure feet of commercial space in a steel and plank building. 10-18 Beach 20th Street will have 80 rental units, 5,600 square feet of commercial space and 3,400 square feet of community facility space. It will be a modular construction building.
Beach 21, a 10-story development funded under the Multi-family Mix and Match program, will be available to individuals with extremely low to moderate incomes, with 10 percent of the units earmarked for formerly homeless households. 102 of the 224 units will be permanently affordable. The property will be developed on a City-owned land by The Community Builders Inc. following a joint HPD and NYCEDC request for proposals. The development plan also features 7,000 square feet of community facility space and about 21,000 square feet of retail space next to a public plaza.
Rockaway Village will include two multi-family buildings with 316 units, 224 of which are set aside for individuals that are formerly homeless or low-income. The property also includes 13,000 square feet of commercial space, a public plaza and improvements to infrastructure.
HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll stated, “Downtown Far Rockaway has been overdue for strategic investments and careful planning for far too long. Today we announce the coming of nearly 800 new, true affordable housing opportunities. This is in addition to the 590 affordable homes we‘ve financed since 2017, and will go hand in hand with economic and structural developments led by EDC and informed by the community.”
Council Member Donovan Richards stated, “these three projects will provide long overdue needs for the community such as quality housing for a mix of incomes including formerly homeless New Yorkers, good jobs and commercial and community space for local businesses and nonprofits. These projects will also create new public space and improved infrastructure.”
By: Anna Kovalevska (Anna is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, class of 2020.)