HPD's Vision for Hunter's Point South Parcel E
We need to coordinate with the One LIC Plan and advocate for increased affordability
In last night’s Queens Community Board 2 (CB2) meeting, the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) discussed its plans for a parcel of land (Parcel E) in Hunter’s Point South. Hunter’s Point South overall is a sprawling 30-acre site comprising seven city-owned parcels, a private site, and a waterfront park. While neighboring parcels A, B, C, F, and G, have already been developed strides, the spotlight now shifts to the eagerly anticipated Parcel E (Parcel D will be developed separately at a later date).
HPD’s vision for Parcel E is a development of multiple buildings in a mixed-use configuration – offering a total of 850 to 900 homes (with 60% of them affordable), ground floor retail spaces, community facilities, and a publicly accessible open space. HPD has initiated the Request for Proposals (RFP) process, a lengthy journey that can span five to eight years.
The first step of this journey is the community visioning process (reaching out to key stakeholders, garnering preliminary input on the site, and formulating an effective engagement plan), which is underway from now until early spring. An in-person visioning workshop, scheduled for late February or early March, will provide a platform for community members to share their priorities for Parcel E. The culmination of this public input is the Community Visioning Report, which will be published and attached to the RFP that goes out to developers.
I have a few thoughts on HPD’s plans for Parcel E (some of which were also shared by other CB2 members):
Hunter’s Point South is in the context area for the One LIC plan that is currently underway. We need to ensure that HPD and the Department of City Planning are coordinating their efforts here.
The decision to separate the Parcel D and E RFPs is shortsighted. It would have been better to discuss both parcels in totality.
We need to do better than 60% affordability. The specific breakdown of affordability by AMI will be important, and there have to be deep affordability options.