As federal recovery money has slowly flowed into the Rockaways, YIMBY has noticed plenty of new building permits for one- and two-family homes, but very few for multi-family developments. However, it seems like the tide may be starting to turn for the flood-damaged peninsula in eastern Queens: plans have just been filed for a four-story apartment building at 11-30 McBride Street in Far Rockaway.
The little 16-unit project would fill an empty lot between Regina and Mott Avenues, two and a half blocks from the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue stop on the A train. There will be four apartments per floor, spread across 14,625 square feet of residential space. The units will be fairly large, at 914 square feet a piece, indicating that they may be condos.
Joseph Gans of 1030 McBride LLC is developing the building, and engineer Marc Chiffert, of Chiffert Engineering, is the applicant of record.
The 8,800-square-foot lot could even accommodate a second new building. But like most of eastern Queens, zoning requires yards on every side of the building and parking for 85% of all units, making it hard to build multiple buildings on a single tax lot.
Even with the area’s restrictive zoning, it’s encouraging to see small multi-family projects return to the Rockaways. The area’s real estate market suffered a major blow after Hurricane Sandy, but developments like this offer hope that these waterfront neighborhoods and their property values are slowly bouncing back.
Last year, we revealed a four-story project in an even more flood-prone area of Far Rockaway, at 133 Beach 5th Street. Unfortunately, the DOB disapproved the plan exam application, and new permits haven’t been filed.
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