A 13-acre property in Whitestone is up for grabs — the largest single parcel of land for sale in Queens — and it’s attracting the attention of developers but also causing concern among community leaders.
The former industrial site, located at 151-45 6th Rd., was re-zoned for 52 one-family homes in 2008. The waterfront property comes with an additional five acres that is submerged underwater.
Local leaders worried about overdevelopment in the community said they are concerned that a new owner could build many more homes or even multi-family dwellings.
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said the community wants the buyer to stick to the original plan for 52 one-family homes. “If a developer intends to do something else, they can expect to get a huge fight,” he warned.
The property hit the market in early December after the owner ran into financial difficulty, said real estate agent Stephen Preuss, of Massey Knakal Realty Services, who is handling the site.
“It’s probably going to be a few months before we have any type of sale,” Preuss said. But “it’s one of the most desirable areas to live in Queens.”
Prospective buyers must submit overviews of what they plan to build on the site, Preuss said. He added it will “probably sell for a very deep discount.”
Marlene Cody, vice president of the Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Civic Association, said she’s concerned that a large influx of new residents could overburden the area’s infrastructure.
“We have to be careful what they want to put there,” she said. “The community’s being overbuilt.”
Nelly Andrushenko, owner of Power Realty in Whitestone, said the land is worth about $40 million — but it won’t be an easy sale.
“It’s very difficult to tell the value of this property because the developers don’t want to touch it right now,” she said. “In order for [developers\] to build the luxury homes that were intended, they need to spend $600,000 minimum to build each house.”
Whitestone homes typically sell for about $1 million, she said.
A nearby shopping center, anchored by a Waldbaum’s, was sold to the New Jersey real estate company Onyx Equities for $17.6 million on Dec. 27. It is located at 153-01 10th Ave.
“We want to improve the physical quality of the center,” said Onyx Senior Vice President Steve Sullivan. The company also wants to improve “the quality of the existing tenant roster.”
ctrapasso@nydailynews.com
Malba Gardens Civic Dedicated to the Safety and Preservation of our Community.
Showing posts with label AVELLA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AVELLA. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Whitestone property brings overdevelopment fears
http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2011/50/wtpropertyhitsmarket_wt_12_15_q.html
From Whitestone Times;
Whitestone residents are wary after a prime piece of real estate hit the market last week that offers developers a crack at the largest residentially zoned vacant property in Queens, but a lawmaker set up legal barricades to guard against overdevelopment years ago.
The 15-acre property, at 151-45 6th Road, is approved for 52 single-family homes, according to Stephen Preuss, of Massey Knakal Realty Services.
Pruess’ company is currently accepting offers on the site and has received dozens of bites from both local and national developers, he said, although he would not divulge how much the original mortgage was worth.
The area was formerly a trucking depot that was also used to store industrial materials, according to Preuss, and somewhere along the line the soil was contaminated and the area was declared a brownfield site.
Bayrock Group, a Manhattan-based developer, was the last owner of the site and performed remediation on the toxic soil.
Bayrock still has a rendering on its website from 2005 showing the 52 homes and public park it planned to build before a bank began foreclosure proceedings on the property several years ago, Preuss said.
Bayrock Group’s development plan for the property, which it estimated carried a pricetag of between $100 million to $200 million back in 2008, was approved by Community Board 7, Borough President Helen Marshall and ultimately the City Council Land Use Committee.
But Alfredo Centola, president of the Malba Gardens Civic Association, said now that the property was on the market, he was concerned about increased traffic in the neighborhood and the impact on local schools, which he said are overcrowded as it is.
“As we speak, there is a need for another school or an expansion,” he said. “What’s going to happen with all these new developments going on?”
Centola hopes that any developer that moves in builds responsibly.
Luckily for him, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) also had concerns about the impact of development on the community when plans were first proposed to build on the property several years ago.
Avella was a councilman in 2008 and sat on the Land Use Committee, where he oversaw the successful rezoning of the area for 52 homes when developers wanted to build more.
One plan pitched to him called for 400 units in multi-family dwellings.
Avella called the decision to go with single-family homes, which would complement the neighborhood’s existing character, a move that would set the precedent for the other projects down the line.
“We felt the end result was a landmark decision that would influence future developments,” he said.
Because of what Avella called a hard-fought battle to keep the housing stock less dense, he said any developer that purchases the property with ulterior plans should take heed.
“If they want to change that plan, they will get a huge fight from the community and from the [Department of City Planning],” he said
By: Joe Anuta
Now more than ever,with the probability of 52 new homes in our community. We need to re acquire the remaining CYO property and build the fields so despeately needed. For the current children of the community as well as those that will come with the ne homes. The community needs to be involved and all impact studies must be made accessible to the public. How are the traffic issues going to be remediated? Stay involved, this is our community.
From Whitestone Times;
Whitestone residents are wary after a prime piece of real estate hit the market last week that offers developers a crack at the largest residentially zoned vacant property in Queens, but a lawmaker set up legal barricades to guard against overdevelopment years ago.
The 15-acre property, at 151-45 6th Road, is approved for 52 single-family homes, according to Stephen Preuss, of Massey Knakal Realty Services.
Pruess’ company is currently accepting offers on the site and has received dozens of bites from both local and national developers, he said, although he would not divulge how much the original mortgage was worth.
The area was formerly a trucking depot that was also used to store industrial materials, according to Preuss, and somewhere along the line the soil was contaminated and the area was declared a brownfield site.
Bayrock Group, a Manhattan-based developer, was the last owner of the site and performed remediation on the toxic soil.
Bayrock still has a rendering on its website from 2005 showing the 52 homes and public park it planned to build before a bank began foreclosure proceedings on the property several years ago, Preuss said.
Bayrock Group’s development plan for the property, which it estimated carried a pricetag of between $100 million to $200 million back in 2008, was approved by Community Board 7, Borough President Helen Marshall and ultimately the City Council Land Use Committee.
But Alfredo Centola, president of the Malba Gardens Civic Association, said now that the property was on the market, he was concerned about increased traffic in the neighborhood and the impact on local schools, which he said are overcrowded as it is.
“As we speak, there is a need for another school or an expansion,” he said. “What’s going to happen with all these new developments going on?”
Centola hopes that any developer that moves in builds responsibly.
Luckily for him, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) also had concerns about the impact of development on the community when plans were first proposed to build on the property several years ago.
Avella was a councilman in 2008 and sat on the Land Use Committee, where he oversaw the successful rezoning of the area for 52 homes when developers wanted to build more.
One plan pitched to him called for 400 units in multi-family dwellings.
Avella called the decision to go with single-family homes, which would complement the neighborhood’s existing character, a move that would set the precedent for the other projects down the line.
“We felt the end result was a landmark decision that would influence future developments,” he said.
Because of what Avella called a hard-fought battle to keep the housing stock less dense, he said any developer that purchases the property with ulterior plans should take heed.
“If they want to change that plan, they will get a huge fight from the community and from the [Department of City Planning],” he said
By: Joe Anuta
Now more than ever,with the probability of 52 new homes in our community. We need to re acquire the remaining CYO property and build the fields so despeately needed. For the current children of the community as well as those that will come with the ne homes. The community needs to be involved and all impact studies must be made accessible to the public. How are the traffic issues going to be remediated? Stay involved, this is our community.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Whitestone Bayside fields neglected for too long
By Connor Adams Sheets
Thursday, September 22, 2011 11:09 AM EDT
Community leaders and elected officials are working through a number of avenues to improve Little Bay Park in Bayside, saying the park has been neglected for too long.
Located in the shadow of the Throgs Neck Bridge, the 55-acre beachside greenspace offers sports fields, a bike path and a roller hockey rink, but it has seen little in the way of improvements since 1999, when $1.2 million in city money funded the creation of the path and rink.
On Monday afternoon, City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) and Malba Gardens Civic Association President Al Centola met with representatives of the city Parks Department at the park — bounded by the beach, Cross Island Parkway, Utopia Parkway and Totten Avenue — to discuss ways to fix the soccer fields, which suffer from poor drainage and other woes because of their location near the salty waters of Little Bay.
Centola hopes at least one of the park’s two soccer fields can be fixed in time for next year’s season, but the cost to do the needed work is proving prohibitive. Halloran said it costs $2.3 million per field to outfit them with artificial turf, or $1.5 million for sod. The price tags are so high because of the need to do extensive drainage upgrades before undertaking such work.
“We’re trying to get that redone because the field is a mess there. There’s no real field, there’s dust and dirt that turns into mud when it rains,” Centola said. “We’re pushing for turf but it’s more expensive, so we’ll settle for sod if it’s done right.”
Halloran’s office allocated $300,000 in city funds last year that can be used to pay for improvements at the park, and he told Centola Monday he may be able to get at least partial matching funds this year if the civic leader can convince Borough President Helen Marshall to dedicate money for the project. Centola said he and his fellow community members will lobby her to put $750,000 toward the field work, and that he and Halloran are hoping to enlist landscape contractors to help foot the bill.
FOR FULL TEXT PLEASE CLICK ON LINK
http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2011/09/22/bayside_times/news/bt_wtfieldfolo_bt_2011_09_19_q_20110922.txt
“There hasn’t been a lot of attention to Little Bay Park,” Schreiber said.
Thursday, September 22, 2011 11:09 AM EDT
Community leaders and elected officials are working through a number of avenues to improve Little Bay Park in Bayside, saying the park has been neglected for too long.
Located in the shadow of the Throgs Neck Bridge, the 55-acre beachside greenspace offers sports fields, a bike path and a roller hockey rink, but it has seen little in the way of improvements since 1999, when $1.2 million in city money funded the creation of the path and rink.
On Monday afternoon, City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) and Malba Gardens Civic Association President Al Centola met with representatives of the city Parks Department at the park — bounded by the beach, Cross Island Parkway, Utopia Parkway and Totten Avenue — to discuss ways to fix the soccer fields, which suffer from poor drainage and other woes because of their location near the salty waters of Little Bay.
Centola hopes at least one of the park’s two soccer fields can be fixed in time for next year’s season, but the cost to do the needed work is proving prohibitive. Halloran said it costs $2.3 million per field to outfit them with artificial turf, or $1.5 million for sod. The price tags are so high because of the need to do extensive drainage upgrades before undertaking such work.
“We’re trying to get that redone because the field is a mess there. There’s no real field, there’s dust and dirt that turns into mud when it rains,” Centola said. “We’re pushing for turf but it’s more expensive, so we’ll settle for sod if it’s done right.”
Halloran’s office allocated $300,000 in city funds last year that can be used to pay for improvements at the park, and he told Centola Monday he may be able to get at least partial matching funds this year if the civic leader can convince Borough President Helen Marshall to dedicate money for the project. Centola said he and his fellow community members will lobby her to put $750,000 toward the field work, and that he and Halloran are hoping to enlist landscape contractors to help foot the bill.
FOR FULL TEXT PLEASE CLICK ON LINK
http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2011/09/22/bayside_times/news/bt_wtfieldfolo_bt_2011_09_19_q_20110922.txt
“There hasn’t been a lot of attention to Little Bay Park,” Schreiber said.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
More Civic Mindedness in Whitestone
Also from Whitestone Times: http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2011/05/19/whitestone/whitestone_times/news/wt_devon_vs_avella_20110519.txt
Whitestone’s civic leaders are clashing and local politicians are taking sides.
The Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Association will likely soon be facing new competition from the Welcome to Whitestone Commercial and Residential Civic Association proposed last month by Devon O’Connor, founder of the year-old Welcome to Whitestone community group.
The possibility of a new game in town has instigated divisive reactions by Whitestone’s local legislators and its other, smaller civic, the Malba Gardens Civic Association, which was reactivated several years ago by Al Centola after more than a decade of inactivity.
City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) has said he supports the creation of any new groups that will advocate for his constituents, while state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has argued emphatically that the creation of a new civic would divide Whitestone.
“It’s unfortunate there will be another civic that is in competition with the Taxpayers,” Avella said earlier this month.
Marlene Cody, a vice president for the Taxpayers, and Avella did not return repeated requests for comment.
Avella ruffled O’Connor’s feathers earlier this month when he contended that the 20-year-old may find himself in legal trouble by raising money for the Welcome to Whitestone community group while it is still under consideration for official nonprofit status, according to Avella spokesman Ed Fleming and O’Connor.
“Tony Avella told my grandparents that someone should look into Devon’s finances, that maybe [I] was doing the organization wrong,” O’Connor said. “I haven’t done anything wrong, my lawyer says I haven’t done anything wrong, so I have no idea what the problem is.”
O’Connor said he wants to start the civic to help the community, which he says is not being fully represented by the Taxpayers.
“To say the Taxpayers represent the community, I’m not saying they don’t, but I’m not saying they do either,” he said. “A lot of people I’ve spoken to don’t even know who the Taxpayers are.”
Cody has not commented publicly on the new civic, but she has taken a chilly tone toward Centola’s group. Both O’Connor and Centola have expressed dissatisfaction with the efficacy of the Taxpayers.
An e-mail Cody sent Centola May 11 about a community issue revealed a new contempt for the community, according to Centola.
“We received your e-mail. You are not a member of our civic. If our members have questions, they can contact us,” the e-mail began before failing to respond to his concerns. ( Cody's email was posted on a previous post)
Centola believes that the group feels it is under assault by new blood.
“They’ve had a lock with the politicians and now there are other groups making a stink and mixing things up and they’re worried,” Centola said. “Anything that’s going to come out for the betterment of the community and is going to open dialogue and discussion I think is good. The Whitestone Taxpayers have had a stranglehold on the community for too long, and they’ve become complacent.”
O’Connor and Centola planned to meet Tuesday to discuss ways they can work together.
Halloran said he supports the creation of new civics.
“We want to preserve and protect the neighborhoods, but at the same time we need to represent the small-business owners in the community,” Halloran said. “It’s a big enough community, there certainly could be more than one civic association here.”
Whitestone’s civic leaders are clashing and local politicians are taking sides.
The Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Association will likely soon be facing new competition from the Welcome to Whitestone Commercial and Residential Civic Association proposed last month by Devon O’Connor, founder of the year-old Welcome to Whitestone community group.
The possibility of a new game in town has instigated divisive reactions by Whitestone’s local legislators and its other, smaller civic, the Malba Gardens Civic Association, which was reactivated several years ago by Al Centola after more than a decade of inactivity.
City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) has said he supports the creation of any new groups that will advocate for his constituents, while state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has argued emphatically that the creation of a new civic would divide Whitestone.
“It’s unfortunate there will be another civic that is in competition with the Taxpayers,” Avella said earlier this month.
Marlene Cody, a vice president for the Taxpayers, and Avella did not return repeated requests for comment.
Avella ruffled O’Connor’s feathers earlier this month when he contended that the 20-year-old may find himself in legal trouble by raising money for the Welcome to Whitestone community group while it is still under consideration for official nonprofit status, according to Avella spokesman Ed Fleming and O’Connor.
“Tony Avella told my grandparents that someone should look into Devon’s finances, that maybe [I] was doing the organization wrong,” O’Connor said. “I haven’t done anything wrong, my lawyer says I haven’t done anything wrong, so I have no idea what the problem is.”
O’Connor said he wants to start the civic to help the community, which he says is not being fully represented by the Taxpayers.
“To say the Taxpayers represent the community, I’m not saying they don’t, but I’m not saying they do either,” he said. “A lot of people I’ve spoken to don’t even know who the Taxpayers are.”
Cody has not commented publicly on the new civic, but she has taken a chilly tone toward Centola’s group. Both O’Connor and Centola have expressed dissatisfaction with the efficacy of the Taxpayers.
An e-mail Cody sent Centola May 11 about a community issue revealed a new contempt for the community, according to Centola.
“We received your e-mail. You are not a member of our civic. If our members have questions, they can contact us,” the e-mail began before failing to respond to his concerns. ( Cody's email was posted on a previous post)
Centola believes that the group feels it is under assault by new blood.
“They’ve had a lock with the politicians and now there are other groups making a stink and mixing things up and they’re worried,” Centola said. “Anything that’s going to come out for the betterment of the community and is going to open dialogue and discussion I think is good. The Whitestone Taxpayers have had a stranglehold on the community for too long, and they’ve become complacent.”
O’Connor and Centola planned to meet Tuesday to discuss ways they can work together.
Halloran said he supports the creation of new civics.
“We want to preserve and protect the neighborhoods, but at the same time we need to represent the small-business owners in the community,” Halloran said. “It’s a big enough community, there certainly could be more than one civic association here.”
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
CONGRATULATIONS
Tony Avella took a stand and refused to run for re election of his City Council seat because he believed that the people had spoken. He did so out of Principle and stood his ground, good for him.
CONGRATULATIONS SENATOR AVELLA
We would also like to congratulate Assemblyman Braunstein
Dr. James Milano gave a good fight and for a first timer did quite well. We wish you luck and hope you continue your quest for the Congressional seat. You can achieve great things...
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL NEWLY ELECTED OFFICIALS, WE LOOK FOWARD TO WORKING CLOSELY WITH YOU IN ORDER TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, HOMES, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND MOST OF ALL PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.
CONGRATULATIONS SENATOR AVELLA
We would also like to congratulate Assemblyman Braunstein
Dr. James Milano gave a good fight and for a first timer did quite well. We wish you luck and hope you continue your quest for the Congressional seat. You can achieve great things...
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL NEWLY ELECTED OFFICIALS, WE LOOK FOWARD TO WORKING CLOSELY WITH YOU IN ORDER TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, HOMES, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND MOST OF ALL PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
IF THEY PERMANENTLY CLOSE THE THIRD AVENUE EXIT, IT WILL REDUCE TRAFFIC FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. MAYBE, JUST MAYBE BRINGING UP PROPERTY VALUE FOR US ALL WHILE SECURING THE SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN. ACCORDING TO HISTORY, THE HARDER IT IS TO GET INTO A COMMUNITY, THE MORE DESIREABLE IT BECOMES, AND HENCE, HIGHER PROPERTY VALUE.
JUST A THOUGHT.
JUST A THOUGHT.
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