This week, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development released a request for proposals for the 5 million square foot Hunters Point South complex. The complex will have 5,000 apartments, of which 60% will be affordable units.

On Monday June 7th, the city will begin accepting proposals for a 1,000-unit middle income apartment complex in Queens. Sixty percent of the units will be for annual incomes ranging from $63,000 to $130,000 with the remaining forty percent set aside for market rates units. The development will receive a $90,000 per unit subsidy from the city. The subsidy will cover 600 units.

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.

Although the odor emanating from the Queens West site may be annoying to the community, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has said that it is not harmful. The odor is coming from a tent located nearby to a playing field, which was recently opened. The DEC has agreed to take precautionary measures to lower the offensive odor, but has not agreed to a more through health testing...

A 1.1-acre recreation space opened to the public as part of the Queens West development earlier this month. The site houses baseball, basketball and soccer facilities and a running track. More parkland and open space are in the works for the area, totaling about 14 acres. Queens West is presently operating the site but is expected to turn over the land to the City.

Over the past few weeks, some residents in Long Island City have complained about an offensive, petroleum-based odor, which is especially pungent near an old oil refinery site that is being remediated for the Queens West development. Measures have been taken by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to restrain the odor but some residents and elected officials are still concerned, citing...

A community meeting concerning the Queens West development, moderated by Community Board 2 Chair Joseph Conley, focused primarily on the development's affordable housing component. Community members voiced concern about the availability of affordable housing in their neighborhoods for households earning less than than $50,000/year. With waiting lists for public housing reaching the 10-year mark,...

At a recent meeting of the Long Island City Business District Corporation, Paul Januszewski, president of the Queens West Development Corporation, confirmed that development progress is happening in Queens West. Januszewski confirmed that he expects all 20 buildings to be completed by 2012 as he hopes that construction on a new building will commence every six months. Queens West, a 74 acre area...

The city has trimmed down its plans for extensive affordable housing along the waterfront in Long Island City. Plans were underway for the city to purchase a large plot of land from the Port Authority and build housing for public sector employees such as teachers, police officers and firefighters. Some have expressed frustration about the pace of the development and the more modest projections...

The Pratt Center for Community Development, an affordable housing advocate, is opposing the city’s use of federal tax credits to develop a housing site with only middle income and market rate housing. The city is developing and financing the Hunter’s Point South development through federal tax-exempt bonds that are usually demarcated for community facilities. The municipal bonds require 20% of low-income...