So the Hunters Point South first residential building ground breaking happened yesterday

Yesterday  was the ground breaking on a residential building in the Hunters Point South Development – Bloomberg tweeted about it:

The Long Island City Facebook page posted some images (artist’s renderings) of the development, too.

Looks like streets might be reconfigured to make them bike-friendly.

Looking north (note Gantry Park is the green space on the left)

Right on the waterfront – you can see the new WTC in the distance.

This ground breaking was on the first two residential buildings of the Hunter’s Point South development on the Queens. waterfront. This is cited as the first affordable housing development in NYC in some time – about 35 years (that’s when Co-op City and Starrett City were completed). This first phase will be comprised of two residential buildings containing 925 permanently affordable apartments. There will also be about 17,000 square feet of new retail space, a new five-acre waterfront park, a new 1,100-seat school, and key infrastructure installations will also be implemented.

Bloomberg said this about the development:

“After years of planning and partnership, we’re breaking ground on the first large-scale middle-class development to be built in our city in more than three and a half decades. In just a few years, Hunter’s Point South will have all the makings of a great community – affordable homes, new transportation links, beautiful parks with sweeping views, and a brand-new school.”

Other Queens folks present at the ground breaking include Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, and Queens Community Board 2 Chair Joseph Conley.

We mentioned a while back that the building at 1-50 50th Ave got its zoning approved in January – this is considered Site A:

Site A, a 37-story building to be located at 1-50 50th Avenue, will be comprised of 619 permanently affordable units, approximately 13,739 square feet of retail space, and a parking garage with approximately 220 spaces. There will be 165 studio, 205 one-bedroom, 214 two-bedroom, and 35 three-bedroom units.

Sites A… will have a variety of tenant amenities including public terraces, a fitness center, children’s play room, tech center, bike storage and party rooms in each building. Site A will also have a community garden. All of the two- and three-bedroom units … will contain in-unit washers and dryers.

It was designed by SHoP Architects, the same firm behind the MLS stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park that has gotten so much attention lately.

If you’re curious as to if you will qualify for one of these units, read on:

At Site A, 21 units will be targeted to low-income households with an annual income of up to 40% of the area median income (AMI) or $33,200 for a family of four and 103 units will be targeted to low-income households with an annual income of up to 50 percent of AMI or $41,500 for a family of four, 288 units will be targeted to moderate-income households earning up to a maximum of 165 percent of AMI or $148,010 for a family of four, and 206 units will be targeted to middle-income households earning up to 230 percent of AMI or $190,900 for a family of four, with one unit reserved for the superintendent.

Would you like to live here? Leave us a comment or tweet via @queensnycity.

Breaking Ground on First Two Residential Buildings at Hunter’s Point South on Queens Waterfront [Mike Bloomberg]
Hunters Point South building at 1-50 50th Ave moves forward with approved zoning [QNYC]