Related, Sterling File Plans for Willets Point Apartments
Joint venture to build two 12-story buildings next to Citi Field.
Related Companies and Sterling Equities have filed plans to build a pair of affordable housing towers on land next to Citi Field in the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens, an area once filled with auto body chop shops.
Queens Development Corp., a joint venture of the partners, is planning to build two 12-story mixed-use developments at 126-43 and 126-55 39th Avenue in Willets Point.
Sterling Equities is owned by the Wilpon family, former owners of the New York Mets, who play at Citi Field.
The 521K SF building at 126-43 will encompass 534 affordable units and include 74K SF in ground-floor retail. The sister building will encompass 329K SF and 347 units, including 43K SF of commercial space. Each building will feature a parking garage.
The two apartment buildings will be part of a sweeping redevelopment of the Willets Point neighborhood known as that has been in the planning stages since Citi Field was built in 2007.
The Queens Borough Board approved the Willets Point redevelopment plans last year, including 1,100 affordable housing units in three buildings, a 650-seat elementary school and a community center. The project will include a standalone building with 220 units reserved for low-income seniors.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2024 on a six-acre lot next to Citi Field.
A 25,000-seat soccer stadium for the MSL club NYCFC has been proposed on land leased by Related and Sterling in the 61-acre Special Willets Point District.
The redevelopment project for Willets Point was delayed for several years while a comprehensive environmental cleanup was completed. Initial off-site infrastructure work started in 2011 and was completed in 2014 with the construction of a sanitary sewer main and a storm sewer and outfall, a $50M upgrade.
According to NYC’s Economic Development Corp., more than half of the housing in the new development will be reserved for families of three earning less than $57,660 annually.
The Willets Point project was approved by the Queens Borough Board last year, shortly after the Wilpons sold the Mets to hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen for $2.4B.
Several other apartment projects are moving forward nearby in Queens, including Broadway 32nd Realty Corp.’s 15-story, 255K SF tower at 141-46 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, which will have 121 luxury units.