After some hold ups on the large, city-owned plot along the Long Island City waterfront, the second phase of the Hunters Point has finally started to pick up steam. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has selected two developers, Gotham and RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc., to build a 1,120-unit apartment complex on the southernmost tip of the massive community.
The team plans to develop two parcels at the intersection of 57th Avenue and Second Street, part of a swath of formerly industrial waterfront property rezoned under former Mayor Bloomberg to accommodate housing. The first phase of development brought in Related Companies, Phipps Houses and Monadnock Construction, a team that developed Hunter’s Point South Commons and Crossing, two affordable buildings that opened in 2015.
This $500 million, two-towered development will hold 1,120 apartments total, of which 900 will be designated permanently affordable. Those will be available to residents with incomes ranging from 30 to 145 percent of the area medium income; 93 units will be reserved for seniors among varying income levels. There will also be as much as 40,000 square feet of retail and community facility space. According to the WSJ, there may be a medical facility, grocery store, or space dedicated to arts and culture.
The towers are adjacent to the riverfront park that wraps around the Hunters Point South development sites. Another one of those parcels will be developed by TF Cornerstone, which is planning a 1,197-unit building with a 600-seat elementary school. That particular parcel has faced delays due to an Amtrak tunnel and power lines running under the site, but it's said to be getting back on track.
Next year, the city plans to keep working with the community to shape a request for developers to build on the last two available sites in Hunters Point South.