Far Rockaway will get 670 affordable apartments following rezoning

Following the rezoning of Downtown Far Rockaway in September last year, the city has now announced the first new affordable housing developments that have come about as a result of that rezoning. Together these two projects will bring 670 affordable apartments to the neighborhood.

The first of the two projects will rise at city-owned lot at Beach 21st Street. The city has picked The Community Builders, Inc, a housing nonprofit, to develop 224 apartments at the site, 130 of which will be offered to those making 60 percent of the area median income. The rest of the apartments will be offered at different levels of affordability. In addition to the apartments, the project will also have 90 parking spots, 8,000 square feet of community facilities including an early childhood education center, and 24,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

For the second project, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Housing Development Corporation have secured construction financing for affordable housing developer Phipps Houses to build 457 apartments in the Far Rockaway Village. There, Phipps Houses is transforming an abandoned parking lot into housing, public space, and retail.

In addition to the affordable apartments, the first phase of this redevelopment will also include 92,000 square feet of commercial space and 23,000 square feet of public plaza space. Construction on this redevelopment is expected to wrap in 2021. The Beach 21st Street development meanwhile will launch construction next year, and wrap in 2021.

• Far Rockaway rezoning is a go with City Council approval [Curbed]