$2 Billion Development in Queens Is Scrapped

Under developers Silverstein Properties, BedRock Real Estate Partners, and Kaufman Astoria Studios, Innovation QNS was unveiled in the middle of 2020, accompanied by renderings showing ODA New York's design of the project's numerous buildings and outdoor spaces. The proposal boasted a dozen buildings filled with 2,700 apartments, 250,000 square feet of office space, and 200,000 square feet of retail, all organized about a spine of open space running east-west in the middle of the blocks.

Although the development team described the project site in the neighborhood of Astoria in northwest Queens as “largely dormant” and “dominated by parking lots, underutilized industrial and commercial buildings, and vacant spaces,” it was met with opposition by local politicians, who pushed for the inclusion of more affordable housing. Following a subsequent increase of the total number of residential units to 3,190 and a concomitant increase in the share of affordable units to 45%, opposition swayed to support and, in November 2022, the NYC Council approved the $2 Billion development and the rezoning of its five blocks for office, residential, and related uses. 

Then last week The Real Deal reported that the developers have abandoned the project in favor of smaller projects across the five sites. Silverstein Properties, most famous for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, is no longer involved, leaving BedRock Real Estate Partners to “[move] ahead on one of the two Astoria sites it controls with a subsidiary of L+M Development Partners,” per the article. The joint venture will develop a 560-unit mixed-use building designed by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects on a site currently occupied by a big-box electronics store and a surface parking lot.

One reason for scrapping Innovations QNS was the expiration of New York State's 421-a tax incentive in 2022. Previously, developers of new multi-family residential projects qualified for the exemption when providing a certain number of affordable units. The program was created in the 1970s but was popularized during the Bloomberg administration this century, when it was seen as the best way to provide much-needed affordable housing in New York City. 

In place of 421-a, the 560-unit building by BedRock and L+M will use the state's 485-x tax incentive, which was created last year and is more stringent than its predecessor in terms of how affordability is defined and in not allowing affordable units to convert to market-rate units after a period of time. If the new project moves forward as described, it will be the largest development under 485-x, which to date has mainly seen projects with fewer than a hundred units.