Rendering of future senior affordable housing development at 31-07 31st Street in Astoria. Image Credit: HPD
The development is next to a subway station and local retail and grocery stores. On January 13, 2021, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced the development team for an affordable senior housing development at 31-07 31st Street in Astoria, Queens. The development will be mixed-use, with 100 percent affordable housing for seniors, a community center and commercial space. The site is currently a city-owned parking lot for the Department of Transportation.
The development will include 135 units of affordable housing for seniors. Thirty percent of the units will be reserved for formerly homeless seniors, and will be paired with social services. The building will include a backyard and rooftop terrace, a stand-along community center with programming like technology training, job skills development, LGBTQ counseling services and substance abuse support. There will also be dedicated retail space. The development is next to a subway station and near retail, grocery stores and other services.
The development will be financed through the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) Program which ensures affordable housing for seniors 62 years old and up with incomes up to $45,000, the equivalent of 50 percent AMI.
The team consists of HANAC, a non-profit property manager and social services provider, and Mega Development LLC. Mega has previous experience with senior affordable housing development. Both members of the development team have experience integrating services with housing to help residents maintain stability. HANAC was founded in Astoria, and Mega Development has a history of working in Astoria.
The development helps advance the City’s Seniors First initiative, which aims to serve 30,000 senior households citywide throughout 2026.
HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll stated, “This Administration has made meeting the needs of our city’s seniors a top priority in advancing our ambitious affordable housing plan. This project promises to transform this City-owned site into a thriving, affordable community for aging New Yorkers and a hub of activity for the neighborhood.”
Council Member Costa Constantinides, who represents Astoria, stated, “In 2018 I stood with our neighbors and senior services providers at the Broadway parking lot to say it’s more important to house people than cars. Now, in 2021, we’re living that virtue and transforming a parking lot into 135 units of deeply affordable senior housing. HANAC is a trusted community partner with decades-long experience in Astoria. Their IKOS Senior Living development will continue that tradition. While I won’t be the City Council Member when this building opens its door to residents, I’ll still be a neighbor enjoying the new community center and feeling proud of just how much our neighborhood can do when we work together. I want to thank the entire HPD team and Commissioner Carroll for making our vision a reality. I look forward to the work ahead, till there’s shovels in the ground and residents ready to move in.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)