Flushing rezoning would put 296 apartments, 75 of them affordable, on an industrial block on Linden Place

A low-slung commercial lot in north Flushing could become one of the neighborhood's bigger new apartment buildings. Renderings released through the city's planning process show a 10-story mixed-use building at 32-02 Linden Place with 296 apartments, 75 of them affordable, QNS and New York YIMBY reported.

The affordable units would go to households earning 40% to 60% of the area median income, according to both outlets. The building would also have ground-floor stores, a parking garage and bike storage. The application lists 194 parking spaces and about 33,000 square feet of commercial space, Commercial Observer reported when it was filed in June.

The site

The L-shaped property is bounded by Linden Place, Farrington Street and 32nd Avenue, just south of the Whitestone Expressway and a block from the athletic fields of Leavitt Park, according to YIMBY and Commercial Observer. It is now a one-story commercial building and a surface parking lot. The nearest subway is the 7 at Flushing-Main Street, about a 15-minute walk south, YIMBY said. QNS reported that the Q16, Q20, Q25, Q44 SBS, Q50, Q61, QM2 and QM20 buses stop nearby.

The renderings show stepped setbacks with terraces on the upper floors, gray panels around floor-to-ceiling windows and stacks of balconies, and earth-toned corners. The applicant on file with the Department of City Planning is Vernon 298 LLC. Commercial Observer, citing the filing, identified Queens developer Gary Chen as being behind the plan.

What still has to happen

The block is zoned for light manufacturing, and the project can't go forward unless it's rezoned from M1-1 to R7A/C2-4, a residential district with commercial use allowed on the ground floor. That requires the city's land-use review: the local community board, the City Planning Commission and, finally, the City Council, QNS and YIMBY reported.

The project is moving faster than it would have a year ago. In a Sept. 17 memo, City Planning determined that the rezoning is a "Qualified Action" that doesn't need further review under the state and city environmental review laws. YIMBY and QNS credited this year's changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, part of the state budget Gov. Kathy Hochul signed May 27, for the faster timeline. Public review began Sept. 23, about a year ahead of schedule, they reported. No construction date has been announced.