When the city rezoned Astoria five years ago, the stretch of 31st Street beneath the elevated N/Q tracks got new zoning, which encouraged mixed-use development instead of just residential buildings. Now developers are snapping up small lots along 31st Street and filing plans for moderately sized apartment buildings, incorporating a mix of residential, commercial and community facilities.
Flushing-based builder Wen Ye is planning a seven-story project with retail and a small medical office at 30-63 31st Street, a block south of the 30th Avenue stop. New building applications call for 23 apartments stacked on top of 7,100 square feet of ground floor retail and a 515-square-foot medical facility on the second floor.
Residential will begin on the third story, with five units per floor until the seventh, which will have three units. Those 23 apartments will be split across 15,131 square feet of residential space, with average units measuring just 657 square feet. Those small apartments mean rentals are definitely in the works.
The building will also feature a shared roof deck, 12 bike storage spots, and a 13-car garage in the cellar. That’s slightly more than what zoning requires.
Architect Chan Hwa Tan, also headquartered in Flushing, applied for the permits.
The development site included two garages and a few small vacant lots next door. Demolition plans were filed and approved for the little buildings in March, and it looks like demolition was finished over the summer. Wen Ye picked up the 25-foot-wide plot with the garages for $1,350,000 last year. The smaller empty plots haven’t changed hands since 1995, when they were purchased by the Greek Orthodox Church across the street.
Another developer filed plans for a similar project on the same block last month. That seven development, at 30-13 31st Street, host 17 apartments and even mix of retail and community facilities.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
