Silverstein Properties purchases 44-01 Northern Boulevard, where an auto-dealership was based.
Oct. 9, 2020 By Christian Murray
Silverstein Properties has bought yet another property in Astoria as it continues its expansion into the area.
The company announced Wednesday that it had bought 44-01 Northern Blvd. on Sept. 29 from a Long Island City-based business. The amount paid was not disclosed.
The real estate company plans to build an 11-story, 310-unit building on the site. The company said 95 units will be “affordable,” all of which will be offered to residents earning 60 percent of the Area Median Income.
The property, which is currently vacant, is two blocks east of the company’s proposed mega development Innovation QNS. That project– which it plans to build with Kaufman Astoria Studios and BedRock Real Estate–would bring 2,700 apartments, a school, as well as retail and office space across five blocks. Silverstein bought many of the lots at the beginning of 2019.
Silverstein, unlike with Innovation QNS, does not need to get the 44-01 Northern Blvd. site rezoned. The site, which was in a manufacturing district, was rezoned last year after getting the support of the city council. The site is in Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer’s district.
44-01 Northern Boulevard (City Planning)
The 2019 rezoning also allowed for approximately 25,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and on-site parking spaces.
“We’ve gotten to know so many incredible people in this community over the past several years, and that is why we believe so strongly in Astoria,” said Brian Collins, executive vice president and director of development for Silverstein Properties. “We are excited to bring affordable housing and jobs to Northern Boulevard and to be part of this neighborhood’s bright future.”
Silverstein aims to break ground on the Northern Boulevard site in fall 2021 and complete the project by spring 2024.
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7 Comments
Stay out of Astoria!!!
310 more apartments, plus retail and a school. Any parking spaces to go along with that?? What will the impact of the additional vehicle traffic on Northern Blvd and surrounding streets be? School buses, etc.
Queens has always been the most crowded borough and it keeps getting worse! More people means more crowds on the trains. “Affordable”? Does that mean Section 8 or people who have no papers to be here getting a place to live? My grandparents came here through Ellis Island and had to take every test imaginable and if anybody waiting for days to be allowed entry to this country even had a cold, they were sent back. Build structures where small businesses can come in and put people to work.
LOL walk down any street in Astoria and all you see is furniture from abandoned apartments on garbage days. Streeteasy has over 800 available apartments in Astoria. Some studios in RS buildings are now below $1300. And these guys want to add 310 “luxury” apartments in the middle of nowhere on Northern Blvd. Good luck with that.
Why are some people so doom and gloom when someone wants to spend some money to make improvements to the neighborhood?
This covid thing will soon be history and people will get back to complaining about how hard it is to find an apartment.
Doom and gloom? We are in the middle of a pandemic still. Record unemployment. People who haven’t been paying rent for the past 7 months and counting will be facing eviction in the New Year. There is no chance that all of those impacted will ever get out of the crushing debt they now find themselves in. Those who are fortunate to have jobs are probably saving whatever they can to leave the city. Broadway shows are not returning until June of 2021 at the earliest. Those who live here for those jobs related to that industry are broke and are leaving. Parts of the city have shut down yet again. If and if this covid thing is history in the not-too-distant future, the economic fallout will take many years to turn around. Crime is getting out of control. quality of life is on the downward spiral. The apartment inventory will be extremely high and projects like this may not get off the ground as a result. They may get the property for a good price but who would move there? A corner on congested Northern Blvd? Not a chance.
One man’s doom & gloom is another man’s reality. If you think once “this covid thing” is gone everything will be history, you don’t understand how the globalists do things. Only a certain percentage of jobs will ever “come back” to the point they were before the pandemic. Of course, this was going to happen due to technology anyway but it has greatly accelerated now. If someone can do their job remotely from an apartment in Astoria, why can’t someone do it remotely from Bombay at a cheaper price? This “pandemic” has many employers thinking of offshoring and that is exactly what they will do wherever they can. Add in flying UBERs in a few years (LOL) and there is absolutely zero reason to pay outlandish rents in the outer boroughs. Rental real estate as an asset class in NYC will greatly underperform in the years ahead. Mark my words.