Durst Organization
April 20, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
The Durst Organization, which is currently developing just one of the seven-buildings planned at Halletts Point, is about to start working on the other buildings as a result of the passage of a new tax abatement program contained in the state budget.
The project, which will bring about 2,400 residential units to the area, stalled last year when the old 421-a program expired, which gave tax breaks to developers in exchange for a percentage of affordable housing in their projects.
However, a new version of the program passed in the state budget earlier this month called the Affordable New York program, which has help make the development more economically feasible .
The first building in the development, which broke ground the day before 421-a expired, is already under construction and is expected to open in the spring of 2018. It will be 20 stories tall with 405 units, 81 of which will be affordable, and will have a supermarket on the bottom floor. The building qualified for the tax break since Durst broke ground before the 421-a program expired.
With the program back in effect, construction will restart on the other six buildings. Durst plans to break ground on three of the buildings this summer, and aims to complete the entire development by 2022. It will break ground on buildings 2, 3 and 7 on the development map this summer, which include two waterfront buildings and one on the NYCHA Astoria Houses campus.
The Affordable New York program offers developers a 35-year property tax break, in exchange for a certain amount of affordable units, which must remain affordable for at least 40 years.
The new tax break will require Durst to add more affordable units than previously planned for the development, increasing the number from 20 percent affordable to 25 percent affordable units, said Keith Dumanski, a Durst representative. The development will have nearly 600 affordable units.
Nearby Astoria Houses residents will have first dibs on half of the affordable units.
Once completed, the Halletts Point development will add a total of 2,400 rental units, as well as 65,000 square feet of retail space, a public elementary school, and a waterfront park, which will be owned and maintained by Durst but open to the public.
“We are excited the project is now fully underway and look forward to helping to transform a neglected stretch of the Queens waterfront into a thriving community with a supermarket, a vibrant mix of retail, an extended and enhanced waterfront esplanade, parklands and renovated playgrounds,” Dumanski said.
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13 Comments
Hi am single mother with disabilitie daughter i like to do application. …
i’m not trying to be discriminatory in any way when making this statement.
The Astoria Houses had a bust of 100 people recently who were arrested in a sting operation for weapons and narcotics charges.
The Astoria Houses get first dibs on the building units…….what about the rest of the residents in the area? They’ve already been getting affordable housing, albeit not the nicest and most well maintained.
i can’t believe we’re finally getting a good grocery store and it goes in the ground floor of a building that no one can fucking walk to
Who cares
If Robert Durst is released maybe he can move in?
How can I get an apartment here, id love to live there
i’m pretty sure i see you say that on every single forum where affordable housing is ever mentioned
Affordable for who? A few years ago some of us asked this question at an information rally in L.I.C. re new buildings there- that you literally needed to “win the lottery ” to get into. Several of us long-time Astoria apt dwellers were taken aback by the actual rents listed for the “affordable” apts- way more than expected. The answer was”Compared to Manhattan, this IS affordable.” I regret there wasn’t more outrage at the time: so many of us sat there holding glossy brochures& looking wide eyed at presentations, hoping to be the lucky ones..Now it feels like we were all passengers on the “To Serve Man” episode of the Twilight Zone, for those old enough to remember..Does anyone know what this new development’s rents will be??..
What would you consider affordable?
I’ve never been able to get someone to give me a number,
The average income for a single person in Queens is little over $54,000. So maybe $1700-$2000 for a one bedroom?
$2000?! For a one bedroom….affordable is what the rents used to be about 7years ago, before gentrification and developers put their eye on Astoria….aka $1100-1500 tops, for a one bedroom. $2000 for one person, no added square footage, but merely the “amenities” andblocation..BS.
So, you are saying rents should have never gone up in 7 years?
I don’t think you can get a one bedroom anywhere in Queens for $1100 anymore. NYC is the second most expensive city in the country next to San Fran.
..
I hear you. Sometimes I have my cleaning person come only every other week.
“long-time Astoria apt dwellers” if youve been in Astoria for so long why didn’t you buy something when you saw that the price of everything was going up (And don’t tell me because you can’t afford blah blah blah because you shouldn’t be paying rents in a neighborhood you can’t afford to live in) move to PA or FL