NEW YORK | Innovation QNS | 19 Buildings | 80 ~ 295 FT | 7 ~ 27 FLOORS

[BuildThemTaller]

After gaining approval from the NYC Planning Commission earlier in September, the developers of Innovation QNS have increased the number of affordable units in the proposed development. The development team now says they will set aside 40% of the 2,800 proposed residential units as affordable hosing. Council Member Julie Won and Queens Borough President had asked for 50% of the units to be affordable. We'll see if moving from 700 to 1,100 units, with 500 of them being for residents making less than 30% of the area median income, is enough to win the support of Won.

https://queenseagle.com/all/2022/9/28/in...to-making-40-percent-of-units-affordable

[BuildThemTaller]

Innovation QNS has passed the City Council's Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee on a 7-0 vote after the developed promised another increase in affordable housing for the project. City Council Member Julie Won has previously demanded more affordable housing, raising the bar to 55% of the proposed 2,800 units. While Borough President Donovan Richards and Mayor Eric Adams have come out in support of the project, Won wrote an op-ed over the weekend further cementing her opposition to the project without the increase in affordable units. This latest bump in units seems to have softened the stance from Won with growing enthusiasm that the project could pass the City Council next week.



https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-...asses-key-vote-affordable-homes-increase

[JMKeynes]

[Busy Bee]

Boost in unit density overall. Boost in affordable units. Win-Win. I never had any doubt this would still be approved but it's great to see it's official. Will be ibyeresting to see in what form the additional market rate units come in. Maybe we'll see some height increases to the tallest buildings?

[chris08876]

Great news.

And that's the key, more affordable units... well... allow a boost in density and make it favorable. One hand washes the other.

[chris08876]

Credit: Jaydayvis

[BuildThemTaller]

The full City Council has approved the rezoning for Innovation QNS.

https://patch.com/new-york/astoria-long-...ementing-transformative-astoria-rezoning

[NYguy]

Good. It's time tables started turning on NIMBYism.



https://nypost.com/2022/11/20/queens-soc...oject-on-different-paths-to-score-goals/

Queens soccer stadium, Astoria project on different paths to score goals


By Steve Cuozzo
November 20, 2022

Two game-changing Queens development projects seem to be in the cards after announcements last week. But how real are they?

Mayor Eric Adams put his clout behind a newly revealed plan for a soccer stadium, hotel and “affordable” residential complex in Willets Point next to Citi Field. Meanwhile, a key City Council subcommittee approved an amended plan for a controversial, five-block, mixed-use project in Astoria called Innovation QNS.

Willets Point looks like an all-but-done deal even though actual buildings have yet to be designed. (The image on this page is conceptual.) Moreover, although the stadium is budgeted at $780 million, no estimates are available for the rest of the project.

But even more important than Adams’ support is the full-on backing of Council member Francisco Moya, a soccer aficionado who represents the district and is cheerleading the stadium plan. Under the Council’s notorious “member deference” policy, the member who reps a district can single-handedly scuttle a project that requires public review — the way Kristin Richardson Jordan did to One45 in central Harlem last summer.

The sexiest part of the Willets Point complex on city-owned land must undergo the tortuous, seven-month Uniform Land Use Review Procedure — namely, the stadium, 1,400 affordable apartments and a hotel. (Plans for Phase I, which will deliver the site’s first 1,100 units and a 650-seat school, were approved in 2013.)

But with Moya on board, the NYCFC, which will pay for the stadium, and Related Companies and Wilpon-owned Sterling Equities, which will jointly develop the rest of the site, shouldn’t have to sweat it out.

But Innovation QNS could be a different story.

The $2 billion proposal by Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios and BedRock Real Estate Partners to redevelop five low-rise blocks scored a win last week when it was approved by the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises.

The step followed major concessions by the developers. Among them, they’ll create twice the number of permanently affordable units (1,436) than originally planned, of which 500 would be priced at 30 percent of the neighborhood’s median income level.

But it might not be enough to satisfy Council member Julie Won. Asked by The Post whether she would seek further modifications, her spokesperson referred us to Won’s statement that, “This vote is only a preliminary approval of the project.”

She added, “I am diligently finalizing negotiations for commitments from the developer and the Mayoral administration. As the Council Member, I will utilize every accountability measure to ensure that our community wins are actualized.”

Still cast doubt until the end, but glad it was finally approved.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2023/11...s-he-might-never-see-queens-megaproject/

Larry Silverstein doubts he’ll ever see $2B Queens project
With Innovation QNS in purgatory, 92-year-old developer laments lack of 421a





By Kathryn Brenzel
November 30, 2023

One year after his development team reached a deal with the City Council for Innovation QNS, developer Larry Silverstein is doubtful the housing project will get off the ground during his lifetime.

“I’m now 92 years of age. I’d like to see it happen. Honestly, at this rate, I don’t think I will,” he said during a speech at NYU’s Schack Conference on Capital Markets in Real Estate. “But it is a tragedy because the city needs it, and it needs it desperately.”

The City Council approved the 3,200-unit housing project in November 2022, touting that about 45 percent of the apartments would be affordable.

“The problem is, we have $10 million in that thing, [but] because of no kind of 421a program, we can’t build it. I don’t know how long it is going to take to get this thing going,” the Silverstein Properties chairman said, recounting a conversation with his former CEO Marty Burger moments earlier.

The tax break’s expiration last year loomed large during Thursday’s event. Gov. Kathy Hochul emphasized the need for 421a to make rental projects pencil out. In remarks heavy on sports analogies, the governor lamented that her ambitious housing agenda did not garner enough support in the last legislative session.

“It was a big shot, I didn’t get an assist. A lot of people sat on the bench,” she said.

City & State reported Wednesday that the governor does not plan to revive her proposed housing targets next year after they faced fierce opposition in the suburbs. On Thursday, she told the crowd of real estate professionals that if legislators step up on housing, she will be a willing partner.

...In the meantime, she is turning to executive-level actions, which have included creating a 421a alternative in Gowanus. If that pilot program succeeds, it could be expanded to rescue Silverstein’s project as well as Boris Aronov’s 1,400-unit Halletts North in Astoria.

Burger was ousted as Silverstein Properties’ CEO in October and replaced by Silverstein’s daughter, Lisa. He was coy about his plans for the future, though he indicated that he wants to stay in the same line of work.

“Development is the lifeblood of New York City,” he said. “I’m excited about figuring out what I’m going to do next, but more importantly what’s going to happen in New York City.”

[NYguy]

Back from the dead, with new developers...


https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/domain-cos-vorea-group-plan-massive-astoria-project

Prominent Gowanus developers plan sprawling Astoria project


Eddie Small
October 13, 2025

A real estate team known for a massive Gowanus project is now planning a similarly huge one with more than 400 residential units across two towers in Astoria.

Entities linked to the Domain Cos. and the Vorea Group intend to build a project spanning almost 400,000 square feet on 41st Street in the trendy Queens neighborhood, according to plans recently filed with the Department of Buildings. The development would be split between a 330-unit tower and a 99-unit tower. It would rise at 35-42 and 35-45 41st St. between 35th and 36th avenues, sites that were originally meant to be part of the now-scuttled Innovation QNS megaproject.

The larger tower at 35-45 41st St. would stand 18 stories and 305 feet tall with 330 residential units and ground-floor retail space across about 283,000 square feet.

The smaller tower at 35-42 41st St., meanwhile, would stand 12 stories and 124 feet tall with 99 residential units and ground-floor office space across about 97,000 square feet.

The fact that the development has been split into at least two buildings seems to be yet another nod to the way real estate firms are navigating 485-x. The program requires a $40-per-hour minimum wage on projects with 100 or more units, which has seemingly caused several developers to build projects with slightly fewer than 100 units or build multiple projects rather than a single big one that would take more hours to complete.

The firms recently filed demolition permits for the low-rise commercial buildings at the sites, along with one at 35-33 41st St., although no new building plans have been filed yet at that address.

The sites were previously envisioned as part of the 3,200-unit, $2 billion Innovation QNS megaproject, although developer Silverstein Properties withdrew as a partner from the development team earlier this year, effectively killing it. BedRock Real Estate Partners, the remaining partner, filed plans in September for a 560-unit project at 35-19 Steinway St., another of the megaproject's original addresses.

[Busy Bee]

Good news I guess.

I'm still bummed the original plans fell through - they would have been awesome.


Also...

18 stories and 305 feet tall

Even if it's 10 foot ceilings over 3 vase/commercial floors of 20 generous feet, that's still 100 feet or so taller than what one would think it would be. It will be interesting to see some diagrams and renderings when they come out.

[NYguy]

It’s also probably just a phase. We’ll see.

[BuildThemTaller]

The neighborhood could have gotten green space and tons of subsidized housing units from the Innovation QNS. Instead, it will be piecemeal development like this that will offer a much smaller share of affordable units. Whatever, maybe a couple of NIMBYs will figure it out eventually.

[NYguy]

It won't be a singular development, but rather come together in pieces...



https://qns.com/2025/09/innovation-qns-scrapped/

$2 billion Innovation QNS development scrapped, developers to pursue smaller projects

By Shane O’Brien
September 5, 2025

Innovation QNS, a proposed $2 billion development that aimed to bring more than 3,000 housing units to 35th Avenue in Astoria, has been scrapped after the developers behind the proposal shelved their plans for the megaproject.

However, the $2 billion development is now likely to yield to several smaller developments in the original project area, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the Real Deal also reported that BedRock has filed plans with the city for a 498,000-square-foot, mixed-use building at 35-18 Steinway St., which includes 560 units. A subsidiary of L+M Development Partners is also funding the smaller project.

A spokesperson for the project said the smaller development will deliver 25% affordable housing at an average of 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH).

Rezoning framework agreed by the Innovation QNS development team in 2022 included making 45% of all units affordable, with 15% of units available to households earning 30% AMI. However, the project spokesperson said the development team will continue to pursue opportunities to deliver additional affordable housing – beyond what is required by MIH – by making use of existing city and state financing programs.

Council Member Julie Won, who voted in favor of the original Innovation QNS proposal only after developers committed to doubling the number of affordable housing for the project, said it is “no surprise” that the project has “fallen apart.”

“Since its conception, Innovation QNS was a controversial project with many ailments—an array of often misaligned 20+ landlords, hundreds of community resistors, and no political support,” Won said in a statement.

Won added that the developers who move forward with the smaller portions of the original development are still expected to fulfil the same community benefit obligations agreed in the original rezoning framework, including a commitment to affordable housing.

“The Astoria community is ready to keep landlords accountable and those who don’t respect community agreements will be met with severe backlash,” Won added.

She also described the original rezoning of the area as “ill-fated.”

A spokesperson for Council Speaker Adrienne Adams similarly stated that the development team is expected to uphold its commitments made as part of the rezoning framework.

“We expect the development team, the mayoral administration, and all stakeholders to uphold their commitments as the different phases of this project move forward. The Council will continue to prioritize fighting for housing affordability and community benefits that meet the needs of our communities,” a Council spokesperson said.

Officials close to the Council Speaker said it is “misleading” to state that the project is “dead,” noting that Silverstein may be out of the project but that BedRock remains invested in the project alongside L+M.

Officials further noted that Innovation QNS was “always going to built in phases” and insisted that this remains the case. A Council spokesperson said the Council secured “unprecedented levels of affordable housing” when it green-lighted Innovation QNS in 2022.

“When the Council passed Innovation QNS in 2022, we secured unprecedented levels of affordable housing and public benefits, delivering significant wins for the local community and all New Yorkers amidst a severe housing crisis.”

City Hall spokesperson William Fowler said in a statement Friday that the administration is now pursuing wider neighborhood rezonings so that it is not reliant on individual developments to “meet the city’s housing crisis.”

Fowler pointed to the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, which is currently moving through ULURP and aims to create 14,700 units in nearby Long Island City. He also said the Adams Administration will continue to work with the remaining Innovation QNS development team on a “revised plan” for the site.

“In light of the City Planning Commission’s recent vote in favor of the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, we look forward to continuing discussions with the City Council and other stakeholders to open the door to nearly 14,700 new homes in this same district,” Fowler said in a statement.