Nov. 24, 2014 By Michael Florio
The City Council is set to vote on the Astoria Cove development Tuesday and its passage is almost a certainty.
The deal that was struck between the developer – Alma Realty – and Councilman Costa Constantinides earlier this month has assured its safe passage. Alma entered into a pact with Constantinides where it agreed that 27% of the 1700 units would be made affordable.
The development is almost a certainty as Constantinides will be holding a press conference with Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to celebrate the deal prior to the vote.
Under the agreement with Alma, the maximum an applicant for an affordable apartment can earn is up to 125 percent of the AMI—although most of the affordable units are for those earning less than 80 percent of the AMI.
The agreement requires 5 percent of the 1,700 units to be rented to households earning up to 60 percent of the AMI; 15 percent to those earning up to 80 percent of the AMI; and 7 percent for households up to 125 percent.
With the new agreement, 20 percent (of the 27 percent affordable units) of the development will be reserved for low income households, with monthly rents being as low as $800 per month, Constantinides said.
At this month’s Community Board 1 meeting, Constantinides’ Chief of Staff Nicholas Roloson said that “there will be a 50 percent preference in the affordable units for CB1 residents.”
“We wanted to make sure that the people who live in the area benefit,” he added.
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