City Announces Major Housing Development in Long Island City The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced plans to transform a long-vacant city-owned site in Long Island City into a large-scale mixed-use housing development. The project, named the Orion, will include 983 residential units across three buildings, with 658 of those units designated as permanently affordable. The development is set to be located at 54-42 2nd Street, a 70,000-square-foot parcel known as Parcel E, which was previously part of a failed bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The Orion will be developed by a team consisting of Slate Property Group, the Hudson Companies, and the non-profit Volunteers of America Greater New York. Local non-profit Commonpoint will lease and operate a daycare center, a workforce development center, and an indoor community pool at the site. HPD’s First Deputy Commissioner Adam Phillips emphasized that the affordable housing units will be available to low- and moderate-income households across a range of income brackets, from 20% to 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Additionally, 149 units will be reserved for formerly homeless individuals, providing them with access to trauma-informed support services. The $700 million project will be funded through a combination of public and private resources, including HPD capital subsidies, low-income tax credits, property tax exemptions, and private equity investments. It is part of the Mamdani Administration’s “Block-by-Block” initiative, a $5 billion housing plan aimed at addressing the city’s housing crisis over the next two fiscal years. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards praised the announcement, calling it a “long time coming” and highlighting the severity of the housing shortage in western Queens.#new_york_city #slate_property_group #long_island_city #orion #hudson_companies
