Construction of up to 3,000 Homes Proposed for Former Flushing Airport

On Monday, July 28, Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) unveiled a proposal to redevelop the former Flushing Airport to make way for approximately 3,000 homes and 60 acres of public space. Located in the College Point neighborhood of Queens, Flushing Airport was in operation from 1929 to 1984 and was constructed atop 250 acres of wetlands, subsequently becoming “one of the main airports in the New York City area as well as one of the busiest in the city before the opening of LaGuardia Airport in 1939. Since the airport’s closure, the site has largely reverted to nature; and in 2023 it began undergoing pollution remediation overseen by the NYCEDC according to Wikimedia. Pending a successful completion of the city’s seven month long Uniform Land Use Procedure (ULURP) and a “robust environmental review, construction is expected to begin in 2028.” Following a NYCEDC-led competitive request for proposals (RFP), Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR Inc., both New York City-based firms were selected to lead the development that will include “sustainable design elements and high-quality, park-like landscaping to integrate the buildings into the surrounding wetlands environment.” The project is “projected to generate $3.2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years, creating over 1,300 union construction jobs and 530 permanent careers,” and will be “built by Building Trades members using union pension fund dollars” as a result of a partnership established in March 2024 between Cirrus, Mayor Adams, and the New York City Building Trades to develop workforce housing on public lands using union labor according to the press release by the NYCEDC.

Source:    https://edc.nyc/press-release/mayor-adams-nycedc-kick-off-housing-week-plan-3000-new-homes