Mayor Bloomberg released plans for a 5,000-unit affordable housing complex to be built in Hunters Point South in Long Island City with 3000 of the units going to families with incomes between $55,000 and $158,000. The complex will be built on 30 acres of land purchased for $100 million from the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Empire State Development Corporation transferred 30 acres of land in Western Queens along the waterfront to the City of New York to make way for the planned Hunters Point development.

Two developers have gotten around new zoning laws in Dutch Kills that limited heights to three to five stories where sixteen stories had previously been permitted. The City Board of Standards and Appeals granted an exemption for a Marriott Hotel after the developer argued that $7 million had already been spent on the hotel under the old zoning rules.

Long Island City condo developers are offering a number of mortgage incentives to buyers in an effort to sell unsold units. L Haus is offering reduced mortgages for three years, a rent-to-own option and a “price protection” plan.

Queens officials are reviewing the new Waterfront Text Amendment, which “would allow developers who build along waterfront areas to provide more lush promenades, better seating and improved lighting.” Currently, developers who build along the waterfront are required to provide access areas but must follow strict guidelines.

A quarterly report released by Newmark Knight Frank shows that Long Island City office vacancy rates rose and asking prices fell in the last quarter of 2008. The vacancy rate rose to 8.6% in the fourth quarter of 2008 from 7.8% in the third quarter and 6.7% in the last quarter of 2007, and rents fell to $25.11 per square foot in the last quarter of 2008 from $25.80 in the first quarter.

Brokers have credited the holiday lights along Vernon Avenue with increased sales and interest in Long Island City residential units. Avalon Bay and Rockrose Corp provided funding and the Hunters Point Community Development Corp was responsible for carrying out the decorations.

The City Council recently passed Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to create moderate income housing in Hunter’s Point South. However, housing experts are questioning whether the project can obtain sufficient funding and receive necessary federal approval.

City Council approved the Hunters Point South project by unanimous vote. The project will turn a 30-acre site on the Queens waterfront into the largest affordable housing complex in New York City since Starrett City. Mayor Bloomberg wants to use the plan as a model for middle-class housing. Sixty percent of the development’s 5,000 apartments will be set aside for households with annual incomes...

The City Council is expected to approve the Hunters Point South affordable housing complex, despite criticism that the project will not be affordable to the majority of Queens residents. The Bloomberg administration is touting the complex as a model for affordable housing that will prevent middle-class residents from leaving the city. The development plan includes 5,000 apartments, 60 percent of which...