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Posted Aug 29, 2015, 1:43 AM
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NYC/NJ/Miami-Dade
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Riverview Estates Fairway (PA)
Posts: 45,926
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In Flushing: Upscale Condos and Retail
Quote:
For much of the city’s Asian community, the center of New York City is not in Manhattan, but in downtown Flushing, Queens, the bustling shopping district at the end of the No. 7 subway line. Soon this crowded commercial hub will grow even busier as sales start early next month at Flushing Commons, a mixed-use development that has been in the works for a decade.
The first phase of the 1.8 million-square-foot project will be finished in 2017, delivering 148 residential condos as well as office condos and retail. Eventually, the complex of more than five acres will house a total of 600 residential condos, an outdoor plaza and a new Y.M.C.A. facility. Completion is scheduled for mid-2021.
Construction began last year on the site of a municipal parking deck between Union and 138th Streets and 37th and 39th Avenues, snarling traffic and isolating small businesses. Although the previously existing parking was consolidated at an undeveloped portion of the site, prices have jumped to $3 an hour from $1, vexing drivers and merchants. But supporters of the development see the arrival of the glassy contemporary complex as a welcome addition to a rapidly changing neighborhood, one that will deliver much-needed open space — and ultimately increase parking spots to 1,600 from 1,100.
“Flushing is coming of age,” said Michael Meyer, the president of F & T Group, which is developing the $1 billion project with the Rockefeller Group and Aecom Capital.
Flushing Commons will certainly alter the character of an area full of mom-and-pop shops selling pork buns, noodle soups and herbal remedies. Prices start at $650,000 for a one-bedroom with Swedish oak floors, quartz countertops and Italian porcelain tiles. Among the amenities for condo residents: a dog park, a reading room and Zen walking gardens. Two-bedrooms start at $850,000, three-bedrooms at $1.2 million and four-bedrooms at $2.5 million.
The project is being marketed to Chinese buyers, particularly new arrivals. The glossy residential brochure, translated into Chinese, highlights the area’s rich Asian culture, describing a place “where deep-rooted traditions and the authentic foods and flavors of your homeland blend seamlessly with a multigenerational community.”
“Somebody that’s moving from China, they’re not going to want to live in the West Village and eat at the Spotted Pig,” said Helen Lee, an executive vice president of F & T Group, referring to the popular Manhattan restaurant. “It makes no sense. They don’t speak English.”
But the merchants toiling in the mostly Korean-owned shops along Union Street see Flushing Commons as a threat to their livelihoods. Foot traffic has dwindled since construction began, according to Ikhwan Rim, the president of the Union Street Small Business Association, which represents about 150 businesses.
Shopkeepers also worry that once the project is complete, customers will favor the upscale Flushing Commons shops and restaurants over the older businesses nearby. Turnover has spiked since construction began, with about a third of the 150 businesses along Union Street replaced by new ones, said Mr. Rim, who owns Rim’s Fine Jewelry on Union Street. “We’re sitting ducks just waiting for businesses to close down,” he said. “Your neighbors are one by one leaving and it’s not a good sight.”
Merchants also worry that the higher parking fees have cost them the customers who plan to buy only inexpensive items like pastries or dumplings. But the lot is now privately owned and rates were set according to an agreement between the developer and the city. According to Mr. Meyer of the F & T Group, they are below current market rate.
To alleviate the strain of years of construction, the city provided local businesses with $2.25 million for marketing and other support. And the Department of Transportation has taken steps to ease traffic congestion in a transit hub that includes a subway station, a Long Island Rail Road station and 22 bus routes.
“The impact is there, so then the question becomes: How do we try to minimize that or bring the community together to take on the challenge?” said Christopher Kui, the executive director of Asian-Americans for Equality, which is managing the city funds for the businesses and has also provided about $1.5 million in microloans to 32 local businesses.
The temporary inconvenience, said Peter Koo, who represents Flushing on the New York City Council, is a worthwhile price to pay for the addition of more housing, a new Y.M.C.A. and a 1.5-acre plaza to the neighborhood. “This is an exciting development in our area,” he said. “It will create a lot of jobs and a lot of tax revenue for the city.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/re...s&emc=rss&_r=1
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