Developer Seeks Astoria Rezoning For Big Mixed-Use Cultural Space

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A portion of five city blocks near Kaufman Astoria Studios may be redeveloped to make way for a mixed-use cultural space, dubbed Innovation QNS, according to plans by the developer.

The $2 billion redevelopment project, which spans from 37th Street to Northern Boulevard between 35th and 36th avenues, would bring more than 2,8000 units of mixed-income housing, office space for the creative and tech sectors, arts and culture venues, outdoor space, a grocery store, and more to the “underutilized” area, according to the proposal.

To move forward with the project, however, the developers need the city to change the area’s zoning code, which is mostly zoned for commercial and manufacturing use right now, to allow for more high density residential use, including several, 200-foot-plus high rise buildings that the project proposes bringing to the area.

According to an article in QNS, the Innovation QNS plan takes into account three years of conversation with local stakeholders, many of whom told the site that the development would facilitate Astoria’s post-pandemic recovery by bringing jobs and housing to the area.

Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement Executive Director Chris Hanway told QNS that the project “is not overlooking the residents of western Queens. It’s actively engaging us. It’s not looking to replace our neighbors,” he said.

While Innovation QNS would not displace 500 or more current area residents, it would displace more than 100 currently working employees and lead to the demolition of a couple of auto repair shops, a warehouse and parking structure, and one multi-family residential home, according to the environmental impact study.

But to proponents of the project, those losses pale in comparison to the jobs, housing, and amenities that this project would bring to the neighborhood, which Astoria Tenants Association President Claudia Coger described as “desperately needed.”

For HANAC Executive Director Stacy Bliagos, the addition of 700 affordable housing units for individuals earning an average of $50,000, is especially impactful, since it includes dedicated units for seniors.

“Innovation QNS will allow our parents, grandparents and older neighbors to age in place with dignity,” Bliagos told QNS, pointing not only to the units for seniors, but the wide range of facilities that would be within walking distance for residents of the area.

According to the project’s initial proposal, developers hope to complete the project in 10 years, assuming that it is approved through the city’s lengthy land use review process, known as ULURP, by 2022.

The public will get to weigh in on the proposal at a remote meeting starting at 2:00 p.m. on June 14.