Slate Partnership Proposes Queens Affordable Housing
Plans call for more than 450 units as part of a gaming license bid.
Queens Future LLC, a joint venture between Hard Rock International and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, is betting that an affordable housing project with more than 450 units in the Corona section of Queens, N.Y., might help the JV secure one of the highly coveted downstate casino licenses. The JV has formed a partnership with Slate Property Group to develop long-term affordable housing, if it receives one of the three gaming licenses expected to be awarded later this year.
The affordable housing proposal would be located at 54-19 100th St., about 2 miles from Metropolitan Park, the $8 billion sports and entertainment park proposed by Cohen and Hard Rock International. Metropolitan Park would be built upon 50 aces of parking lots around Citi Field and consist of a Hard Rock Hotel with restaurants, bars and conference spaces as well as a casino and sportsbook.
Other parts of the project would include a live music venue, food hall and 25 acres of public park space. The Metropolitan Park project is expected to create 23,000 union jobs, provide improved public transit and parking infrastructure and implement other community benefits that could total $1 billion.
Queens Future faces competition for the gaming licenses from several groups, including those proposing locations in Times Square and the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, N.Y. A proposal for the Hudson Yards mega-project on Manhattan’s West Side also has a housing component. In August, Related Cos., Oxford Properties Group and Wynn Resorts unveiled a $12 billion plan for Hudson Yards including a gaming resort. It would also feature 1,500 units of new housing, including 324 affordable apartments.
Long-term affordable housing in Queens
The Queens Future partnership with Slate Property Group, an owner, operator, developer and lender focused primarily on the New York metropolitan market, was announced Wednesday. The centerpiece of the partnership is a Memorandum of Understanding for the planned development of a 100 percent affordable housing project that would be built on a surface parking lot adjacent to an existing affordable housing site.
Queens Future would provide financial support to an as yet-to-be identified local non-profit organization to work with Slate to develop and manage the affordable housing units. The MOU would take effect if the Queens Future JV is awarded one of the gaming licenses.
The project would provide housing units with long-term affordability spanning at least 60 years that would be available across a range of incomes with a significant number to be set aside as deeply affordable. It would create opportunities for local and diverse hiring during the construction phase, benefiting underrepresented groups such as minorities, women and service-disabled veterans.
The 100th Street affordable housing property would include community space and amenities for residents, on-site parking, an outdoor area and children’s playground.
More New York properties
Slate Property Group, a New York-based firm, has invested more than $6.5 billion across multifamily equity and debt and has a current portfolio of more than 50 investments. Last August, Slate and Fundamental Advisors closed on a $210 million refinancing backing their Transitional and Affordable Housing Portfolio, a collection of New York City multifamily properties totaling 1,150 units across approximately 304,000 square feet. Each property is leased to a nonprofit operator and backed by a contract with the New York City Department of Homeless Services.
More recently, a joint venture between Slate and Avenue Realty Capital completed The Welz, a 162-unit partially affordable community in Brooklyn, N.Y. Of the total, 33 units are reserved for residents earning at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income. Seven and nine of the units are restricted for households earning up to 125 and 130 percent of AMI, respectively.
