by Brianna Crandall — April 10, 2013—The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced on March 12 the approval of a construction phasing for a $850 million redevelopment of a five-acre municipal parking lot in the Flushing neighborhood of the borough of Queens in New York City that has been many years in the making, reportedly to address community concerns.
NYCEDC announced that the new plan for Flushing Commons will maintain over 1,100 spaces of existing parking on the site during construction, and that groundbreaking on the project is expected this fall. According to NYCEDC, the new project will begin to transform downtown Flushing, creating thousands of jobs and a major mixed-used destination, complete with retail opportunities, modern residential space, public green space and a brand-new YMCA.
While the original proposal called for the development of the entire site at once, which would have created the need to move the existing parking to elsewhere in the neighborhood, the new plan breaks the project into two stages to allow the surrounding businesses and their customers to continue to have the same access to parking spaces during the construction of the project as they do today. Upon completion of the entire project, an additional 500 parking spaces will be added, for a total of 1,600 spaces.
Along with the announcement of a fall groundbreaking, NYCEDC announced that both parts of the community facilities will be built as part of the first phase of the project: the 62,000 square foot YMCA center, which will feature two pools, a full-size gymnasium, and an indoor running track, and the 1.5 acres of open public space, complete with a fountain plaza and amphitheater that will be maintained by the developer.
Phase 1 will also produce approximately 160 units of residential space and some 350,000 square feet of commercial space, in addition to the YMCA and open space described above. Phase 2 will result in approximately 450 units of residential space; some 150,000 square feet of commercial space; and 15,000 square feet of additional community space.
NYCEDC has also set aside $2.25 million for a business interruption program to mitigate the impact of construction on the site to surrounding businesses. The project is expected to create more than 2,600 construction jobs and 1,900 permanent jobs. Flushing Commons is a joint venture of The Rockefeller Group and TDC Development and Construction Corporation, a local Flushing developer.
