Full Willets Point Redevelopment Gets Okay from Queens Board
Chop shops next to Citi Field will give way to 2,500 homes, hotel and soccer stadium.
For decades, the Willets Point neighborhood adjacent to Citi Field (and its predecessor, Shea Stadium) were filled with a warren of auto body chop shops, an unsightly open-air bazaar where you could find any hub cap that was every made back in the day when cars had hub caps on their tires.
Now, after decades of planning, 62 acres in Willets Point on Flushing Bay will be getting a makeover.
A partnership known as the Queens Development Group, including Related Cos., Sterling Equities and the New York City Football Club, has received approval from a local advisory board for the full redevelopment plan for Willets Point.
Known as the Willets Point Revitalization Plan, the massive mixed-use development will include 2,500 units of affordable housing, a hotel and a new 25,000-seat soccer stadium for the NYC Football Club, with the soccer venue slated to open in 2027.
The project also envisions a public school, retail and 40K SF of public space. Sterling Equities, based in Great Neck, the real estate firm of the Wilpon family, former owners of the New York Mets.
The NYCFC stadium, which is expected to cost $780M, will be privately financed. A main street is planned for the middle of the development, featuring retail and small businesses.
The project’s approval by the local community board will be followed by reviews by the Queens Borough President’s Office, the City Planning Commission and the City Council.
“This game-changing project, embracing 100% affordable housing, smart urban planning and the cutting-edge NYCFC stadium, resonates with our shared goal of nurturing a vibrant and robust community,” Francisco Moya, a city council member, said in a release announcing the community board approval.
The Willets Point project commenced in June 2021 when the Queens Development Group began an environmental cleanup and remediation on the site, which was known as The Iron Triangle and used as an industrial ash dumping ground.
The first phase of the project will see the building of 1,100 of the affordable housing units, approved in 2021, with construction set to begin early next year.