New York City Mayor Eric Adams was joined by elected officials and community leaders to break ground last week on 880 new affordable homes in Willets Point, Queens ― the first phase of the city’s largest 100 percent affordable housing development in 40 years. In partnership with the Queens Development Group (QDG), a joint venture formed by Related Companies and Sterling Equities, the groundbreaking marks the start of construction — more than one year ahead of schedule — for a project that will deliver the first of more than 2,500 affordable homes, roughly 35,000 square feet of new public open space, and significant infrastructure upgrades. The project is projected to generate $6.1 billion in economic impact over the next 30 years, creating 1,550 permanent jobs and 14,200 construction jobs.
“What we are seeing in Willets Point is the future of New York City — a future in which all New Yorkers can afford to live in a safe apartment that is close to a good school, good-paying jobs, outdoor space, and great public transportation,” said Mayor Adams. “Today, we are breaking ground on a once-in-a-generation project and building the largest 100 percent affordable housing development in our city in 40 years. This is all part of our administration’s commitment to tackling our city’s housing and affordability crisis to ensure no child should have to feel the way I did while growing up on the edge of homelessness. I want to thank Borough President Richards, Councilmember Moya, and Queens Community Board 7 for helping us break barriers and cut every extra inch of red tape to build more affordable housing for New Yorkers.”
“Over the decades, many plans for the transformation of Willets Point have been developed but the Adams administration is proud to celebrate what has, for too long, been elusive: rapidly turning those plans into actions that benefit New Yorkers,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “This groundbreaking delivers on our promise to accelerate the creation of affordable, new homes on the site as we move full-speed ahead in building a whole new neighborhood with acres of open space, thousands of job opportunities, new retail amenities, major infrastructure upgrades, and a state-of-the art soccer stadium. I want to thank NYCEDC, HPD, and HDC, as well as our partners at Queens Development Group for working tirelessly to finally turn this generations-long dream into reality.”
“With the groundbreaking of Willets Point, we celebrate many overlapping wins: the creation of affordable housing and retail, essentially the delivery of a brand-new neighborhood in New York with affordability at its center; the shoring up of an area in the crosshairs of climate change; and the collaboration of every level of government, along with the private sector, to make it all possible,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “This is a model of economic development, urban planning, and infrastructural preparedness that we will be able to take lessons from for a long time.”
The groundbreaking marks a historic milestone in the transformation of Willets Point — a neighborhood that will be anchored by a total of 2,500 new affordable homes, a 650-seat standalone public school, New York City’s first-ever soccer-specific stadium, over 100,000 square feet of public open space, a 250-room hotel, and neighborhood-serving ground-floor retail space that will create good-paying jobs for community residents. The first phase of Willets Point features two mid-rise buildings that will include 880 units of 100 percent affordable homes, with 40 percent of the units at or below 60 percent of area median income, including 15 percent of the units set aside for households for those formerly experiencing homelessness. Amenities will include a landscaped inner courtyard, in-building laundry, tenant lounge space with access to outdoor terraces, bicycle storage, ground floor retail shops, and other community facilities. Additionally, the buildings will be all-electric, achieve LEED Gold certification, and comply with Local Law 97 through high-performance glazing, high-efficiency HVAC systems, an electric hot water plant, an insulated envelope, energy star appliances, and low-emission mobility options for residents, such as bike storage and electric vehicle charging.
Construction on the first 880 units is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, and 220 additional affordable homes set aside for low-income seniors are expected to break ground next in the Willets Point transformation. The city and its development partner, QDG, have undertaken significant environmental remediation of the formerly contaminated soil, which has been completed across a majority of the project site as of July 2023. Wells Fargo’s Community Lending and Investment arranged a total of $360 million in financing for phase one of the project with a $236.5 million construction loan and $123.5 million Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investment.
While the first phase of housing construction is underway, the city and QDG have already commenced the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) certification process for the second phase of neighborhood transformation, which will bring an additional 1,400 units of affordable housing, the new hotel, and the soccer stadium that will be 100-percent privately financed and seat up to 25,000 spectators.
The neighborhood will additionally feature infrastructure investments, including new streets, signage, sidewalks, curbs, trees, lights, draining, stormwater management, water main/hydrants, sewers, utilities, and will elevate the site out of the flood plains. Once complete, the Willets Point transformation will bring significant long-term economic opportunity to a community that has long been underserved.
