City’s plans for Willets Point include a soccer stadium and affordable housing
Rendering of 126th Street facing north; image courtesy of NYCEDC
City officials have released long-awaited plans to develop the blighted Willets Point section of Corona, Queens. As 6sqft previously reported, the economic development site within the industrial neighborhood east of Citi Field known as the Iron Triangle was at one point slated for a cleanup of its toxic soil and the creation of affordable and senior housing that would replace a jumble of auto shops and industrial businesses. Finally surfacing almost four months after a task force submitted suggestions to the Econonmic Development Corp. (EDC), the plans contain two development scenarios including a soccer stadium and mixed-use scenario that includes residential development, retail and a school.
Willets Point from Citi Field. Image: Wiki Commons.
After Bloomberg-era plans for the project were deemed invalid by a state court Mayor Bill de Blasio chose developers The Related Cos. and Sterling Equities to create a 1,100-unit affordable-housing complex on six acres of the site and put together a task force to decide what to do with the remaining 17 acres. After submission of plans in September and a questionable response from the EDC, the city has now released summaries of two possible development scenarios.
Courtesy of NYCEDC.
The first plan outlines a soccer stadium with up to 25,000 seats as well as retail, open space, a school, police and fire stations and a residential building. The second allows for a more standard mixed-use development that would result in six blocks of residential property as well as a health center, retail, open space, a high school and a fire station. The plans will eventually be submitted to the city and invite further public comment.
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