New Real Estate Developments Galore In the Broadway Section of Astoria

We first got wind of news of what’s up with the Uncle George’s building via Brownstoner Queens, which pointed to a very nice article by the Queens Gazette that wrote about four new developments going up in Astoria. We’ve mentioned some of them before, but they are worth talking about again, along with the others. Interestingly enough, they all seem to be nearby or on Broadway.

The big news is the status of the building that housed the old Uncle George’s—we mentioned earlier that a new Greek restaurant is opening up in its place (33-19 Broadway). As per the Gazette, “Uncle George’s will soon be replaced by a brand new, four-story building featuring a glass-enclosed ground floor restaurant and three floors of high-end residential units, real estate sources said.”

Here’s the rendering:

There will be 5 “high end” units (there were two originally). Too bad those residential units won’t likely be more in the price range for moderate and middle income, as affordable housing is one of the Mayor’s big campaigns. Whoever lives there is going to have to participate in the Great Astoria Parking Scramble™, since there is no off-street parking planned for this development.

Another interesting story in the Gazette piece is about the CTown Supermarket at 29-10 Broadway. It’s going to close while its one-story building will be transformed into five. It plans to re-open up in that space, so Astoria won’t lose a supermarket permanently. 64 new units will be built on the additional four floors.

This is the C-Town that Freddy, our favorite Falafel King has his truck located by, so we wonder if this will disrupt Astoria’s access to their chicken and falafel goodness. We sure hope not.

Anyway, the new residential space will be a bit over 44,000 sqft. Unlike the building that is being developed at the old Uncle George’s space, this development has 32 spaces of off street parking planned. It’ll be just up the street from the new Bonchon, too.

On social media, we’ve talked a little bit about the building that will go up in the parking lot at 31-57 31st Street, and it still seems huge to us. As per the Gazette: “Plans for the mixed-use building include 78,144 square feet of residential space featuring 174 residential units, 19,741 square feet of commercial use space and 41,055 square feet of community use space.” There’s been a vigorous discussion about the development over on Astorians—it’s been very interesting and Astorians are obviously interested in what’s going on here.

The final development of note is on the site that used to be the location for Astoria Finast Windows (no, not a misspelling, that’s what it was called) at 37-01 Broadway. It gained notoriety for having the sign, “America Love It Or Leave It” up in its window, and over the years various Astorians noticed myriad xenophobic messages in its window. The developers tore down the two-story building and have put up a three-story one. Six apartments will be up there instead of the previous one. There will be 2,470 sqft of commercial space and almost 5,000 sqft of residential. No off-street parking is planned.

Feel free to share your thoughts on all these developments with a comment or a tweet!

Astoria To See Housing Boom [Queens Gazette]

7 Comments

Ann March 12th, 2015

I never complained about parking. I disagreed with her saying “if you want parking move to Long Island”.

I am not “pro-car” or for more parking. Our family has decided not to own a car and we bike, walk or take public transportation so I know about getting kids to their doctor appointments w/o a car.

I’m against people stating/deciding why and who should live where according to their OWN beliefs or reasons. I don’t think others have to justify where or why they choose to live somewhere to other people.

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Ann March 6th, 2015

WOW Heather how closed minded of you..
Some people work in areas of the city that aren’t easily accessible to public transportation. People have children that need to get to activities and drs appointments. People need cars for MANY different reasons, just because you and your wife are lucky enough not to need one in your life doesn’t mean everyone else has to do w/o or should move!

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AC March 9th, 2015

I don’t think Heather is being close-minded. She’s being practical. Complaining about parking in NYC is like moving to the beach and complaining about the sand. If you work somewhere that isn’t easily accessible with public transport, you should probably live farther away from public transport in areas where it’s easier to own a vehicle. Or get a new job! Really, why live in Astoria, a neighborhood that’s priced at a premium because of its proximity to public transport, if your lifestyle is such that you have to own a car? That doesn’t make financial, or logical, sense.
Also, plenty of kids take the train to their doctor appointments.

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Heather March 5th, 2015

I personally don’t see why everyone needs to freak about the lack of parking spaces. This is NYC. If you want a parking space, move to Long Island. This is why we have public transportation.

I’m more concerned about the “higher-end” units driving up the cost of living in Astoria. My wife and I were living in Park Slope previously and this is precisely how we ended up in Astoria to begin with. We love it 100x better for myriad reasons, so we don’t want to be driven out because of luxury pricing.

On another note, I’m so glad they’re going to put another Greek place in Uncle George’s spot! I’ve been hoping they would!

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Vahram March 7th, 2015

In my opinion it is not just the question of parking but a question of infrastructure, water, sewer roads and so on. Astoria was built 80-90 years ago with mostly 1-2 family houses in mind and in the plans, now on every block there are at least half a dozen 1-2 family houses that are knocked down and replaced with 4-5 story buildings with many apartments, that is the main problem, Astoria can not sustain this kind of growth.

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Stephanie March 5th, 2015

Whoa, big news about C-Town! That’s my local supermarket, and I know it’s been there for at least 20 years. I hope it stays open at least for another few months, before I decamp out of the city.

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nicole March 5th, 2015

Any idea who to contact regarding apt rentals?

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