During Bloomberg’s years in office, the Department of City Planning was fairly ruthless in stamping out densification in affordable single-family neighborhoods in the outer boroughs. North Corona, north of Roosevelt Avenue near the end of the 7 train, was downzoned quite aggressively in 2003. Before, zoning on most lots allowed builders to replace single-family detached homes with small apartments.
But after the rezoning, new construction in North Corona – where from 2000 to 2010, the Chinese, Mexican, and Ecuadorian populations boomed – was for the most part halted, as planners and the community board prioritized preservation of the neighborhood’s “character” over accommodating a fast growing population of immigrants. The building boom that flooded the neighborhood with some of the most affordable new construction in the city, with new three- and four-family buildings selling for well under $1 million, was put to an end.
Except, curiously, for a few buildings, including a gap on 37th Avenue, that affects just two single-family homes. And now, they’re being redeveloped.
112-08 37th Street, one of two properties spared by the rezoning
At 112-08 37th Avenue, in North Corona, a permit application was filed on behalf of Corona Park View LLC, to build a new six-story apartment building. The architect is listed as Kew Gardens-based Tabriz Group Design, headed by Bakhtiar Shamloo.
The building would have 18 apartments spread over nearly 14,000 square feet of space (four on floors two through five and two units on the sixth floor), with a space at the base of more than 4,000 square feet to meet eastern Queens’s strong demand for commercial space catering to doctors and other eligible “community facility” users.
The LLC is backed by Lin Guang, based in nearby Flushing. While the Latinos population that dominates North Corona continues to grow, new buildings are mostly built and owned by individuals with Chinese names, though we can’t be sure about the makeup of renters.
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