Construction Begins At Once-Contested Forest Hills Key Foods Site

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Construction on a once-contested 11-story rental building began this Thursday in Forest Hills.

The 166-unit project at 69-65 Yellowstone Boulevard was first introduced in 2107, when the developers behind the project, Slate Property Group (of Rivington house infamy) filed demolition permits at the then-site of a Key Foods, reported the Real Deal.

City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, who represents District 29 where the Forest Hills project is located, did not support the development when it was first proposed.

"The infrastructure in this community is beyond capacity and taking away a supermarket in that location which has so many seniors and so many huge buildings surrounding it, is really going to be harmful to the community," she told DNAinfo, adding that she hoped the building would include a supermarket if it came to fruition.

The project was initially slated for completion in 2020, but after Thursday’s groundbreaking the project is now expected to be completed by 2023, according to a press release.

Although Slate did not immediately respond to comment as to why they decided to proceed now, Richard Grobman, President of Dan’s Supreme Supermarket and a partner in the project alongside the supermarket company’s Executive Vice President, Ira Gross, described it as “a long time coming.”

“We are proud longtime partners of this community and excited to take on this new project to continue our support here,” he said in the release.

Instead of buying the site, Slate collaborated with the existing owners, Dan’s Supreme Supermarkets — a move that the two groups also made in 2015 at a Key Foods in Clinton Hill, despite community pushback on that project, too, reported DNAinfo.

Then-Public Advocate Letitia James told the site that she feared the development would destroy the only grocery store where older neighbors could “safely walk and buy groceries.”

At the time Slate Principal David Schwartz said he would try to keep a grocery store in the bottom floor, where there is currently a Food Emporium.

When asked by Patch if the Yellowstone building will include a grocery store in their bottom floor a spokesperson said “Slate Property Group is actively searching for a retail tenant for the retail space.”

According to a press release, the building in Forest Hills will feature a rooftop and terraces for tenants, 186 parking spaces, 50,000 square feet of retail space and 50 affordable apartments.

Of the apartments in Slate’s Clinton Hill venture, 20 percent were also designated as “affordable” through the city’s affordable housing lottery, and were ultimately rented at $2,030 per studio.