14-Story Building With 201 Units Planned Off 48th Street and Northern Boulevard

47-15 34th Ave. as seen today, where a developer plans on building a 14-story, 201 unit building at the site. (CPC)

Dec. 27, 2018 By Meghan Sackman

A 14-story development with 201 apartments could soon be taking over a busy Northern Boulevard corner in Long Island City currently home to a string of businesses.

The development, proposed by Ashley Young LLC, is planned for 47-15 34th Ave., a commercial block at the corner of 48th Street and Northern Boulevard that sees businesses like Popeyes, Kumon and more.

47-15 34th Ave., the development site, outlined in red. (Google Maps)

The proposed building would span roughly 183,500 square feet, with 30 percent of the units, or 61 apartments, to be set aside for affordable housing.

The affordable units would be available to families earning 80 percent of the Area Median Income. A family of three, for instance, would need an income of $75,120 to qualify.

The development would also allow for commercial spaces to take up the ground floor, which would stretch from 34th Avenue and along 47th and 48th Streets.

An enclosed parking garage for 77 cars, to be accessed from 48th Street, would also form part of the project.

A rendering of 47-15 34th Ave., a proposed 14-story building off Northern Boulevard in Long Island City. (CPC)

The plans require that the site be rezoned to allow for a taller building with a dense residential component. Without the rezoning approval, which requires a lengthy public review process, the developer would be limited to a project similar to the one and two-story commercial buildings at the site today.

The rezoning approval would also allow the planned building to reach a maximum height of 145 feet, but the development would taper off in height to 45 feet toward the back of the site, which would fit in with the low rise residential homes there.

The proposed rezoning area also extends to parts of the adjacent development block between 46th and 47th Streets, a decision that the the City Planning Commission, the agency that oversees rezoning applications, said was integral to the project moving forward in the review process.

The CPC said during its November review session, when the project was presented, that adding sections of the neighboring block to the application, while not forming part of the development site, constitutes good planning.

The block next door, which looks similar to the development site, would effectively have an isolated, out-of-place zoning if left out of application, the CPC said.

“Without the inclusion of the additional parcels in the rezoning area, the department would not be recommending creating a donut-hole situation in our land use plan,” said Marisa Lago, CPC chair, at the hearing.

The public review process for the upzoning, which kicked off after the application was certified by the CPC during the November hearing, now heads to Community Board 1 in January before eventually reaching the Borough President and the City Council for review in subsequent months.

Ashley Young LLC purchased the property in 2008 for $6.6 million, and its rezoning application comes as another developer is eyeing a rezoning to a Northern Boulevard property just four blocks away.

The proposed 47-15 34th Ave. development as seen from 47th Street. (Hill West Architects via CPC)