In 2003, North Corona was the site of one of the Bloomberg administration’s most relentless downzonings. The neighborhood’s incremental post-war densification was halted, with R5 and R6 zones downgraded to R4 and R5 zones. Growth was choked off in one of the city’s last remaining markets that could sustain affordable, market-rate construction, contributing to the evisceration of the city’s small builders and rising housing costs for the neighborhood’s fast-growing population of Mexican and Ecuadorian immigrants.
But amidst the sea of restricted development in the 2003 rezoning, there was a silver of hope: Northern Boulevard was actually upzoned, with allowed densities nearly doubling.
Now, well over a decade after the rezoning, one developer is seeking to become one of the handful to take advantage of the increased development rights along Northern Boulevard. Suffolk County-based Filippo Pedalino is seeking to erect a seven-story, 26-unit apartment building at 103-10 Northern Boulevard, just to the east of 103rd Street, on the south side of the boulevard and near the border with East Elmhurst. GKA Design Group, led by Emanuel Kambanis, is listed as the architect.
The apartments would be spread over nearly 20,000 square feet of residential space, for an average unit size of 760 square feet (five per floor from the second through the fifth, with four on the sixth and two penthouse units on the seventh floor). Two retail spaces totaling nearly 3,000 square feet would also be included on the ground floor, along with 14 open air parking spaces.
If the building at 106-02 Northern Boulevard is any guide, one-bedrooms should rent for around $1,750 a month – significantly cheaper than units in trendier neighborhoods near the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts.
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