The Hallets Point development project reappears in the public eye on the Queens waterfront like a Circle Line ship taking a slow meandering cruise around the Harbor and up the East River. We last saw the Lincoln Equities Group proposal back in 2009, when groundbreaking for the seven-tower project on the Astoria waterfront was scheduled for mid-2010. Two and a half years later, people are still debating the attractiveness of adding 2,300 units (1,900 market rate / 400 affordable housing) to the nubby peninsula guarding Hellgate. One person who will be a hard sell is Curbed reader Jason S., who commented in 2009:
As a resident of the neighborhood (who just confirmed by the map that his Midtown view won't be blocked *whew*) I must say on the one hand, "Oh please, oh please, oh please!" A supermarket! Instant transportation to Manhattan! Whoopee! On the other hand, I can't imagine who the *hell* would want to live in that miserable desolate neighborhood. There's a lot more crap there than they're planning to build over. The projects are, well, the projects, and some 5-year-old was shot there a week or so ago. And if that water taxi doesn't pan out, it's a long, miserable, infrequent ride on the Q102 bus to get back to civilization.
Some people are even debating themselves! In 2009, City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. told the Daily News, "It's an area sorely in need of development. It's been in bad shape since before I was born." Now that he's had a few years to think about it, Vallone Jr.?whose former Council Speaker father is a consultant to the developer?is a little more ambivalent. He now tells the News that while more amenities like a planned supermarket would be great additions to the area, "something that big is going to put a drain on the resources of that neighborhood.” It sounds like Vallone Senior might need to have a talk with Junior about his change of heart if this Hallets Point project is ever going to get off the ground!
· Ambitious residential and commercial project proposed for Astoria waterfront [NYDN]
· Return of the Megaproject: Astoria's Hallets Point Unveiled [Curbed]
· Official site: Lincoln Equities Group: Hallets Point [Lincolnequities.com]
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