A plan to bring a new NYCFC soccer stadium and affordable housing to Willets Point, Queens passed a major hurdle Monday night when the local community board voted to approve the proposal.
Queens Community Board 7 voted overwhelmingly to greenlight a massive project that would transform the largely industrial swath to the east of Citi Field, essentially creating an entirely new community near the home of the New York Mets.
In addition to a permanent home for the New York City Football Club, the overall plan would bring 2,500 “100% affordable” housing units, a new 650-seat public school, a 250-room hotel, shops and nearly four acres of open space. Parts of the plan had previously been approved.
The Willets Point transformation — years in the making — is a public-private proposal between the city, its Economic Development Corporation, NYCFC and the Queens Development Group, a partnership between real estate companies Related Companies and Sterling Equities.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Chuck Apelian, the community board’s vice chairman and land use chair, told the Daily News. “We’re going to have somewhere in the vicinity of 10,000 people living and working over there. And that’s a new community, so it’ll keep on growing from there.”
The 25,000-seat NYCFC stadium is expected to be privately financed and cost $780 million. The developers have committed to using union labor.
NYCFC Vice Chairman Marty Edelman said in a statement that the club “is grateful for this vote of confidence.”
“NYCFC committed ten years ago to build in the five boroughs, and we are thrilled to be closer to bringing this promise to life in Queens,” he said. “The World’s Borough will be our home for The World’s Game.”
The Willets Point transformation represents over 3 million square feet of development and is expected to generate $6.1 billion for the economy, according to city numbers; it is also estimated to create 14,200 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent ones.
At a press conference on Tuesday Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer reaffirmed the city’s commitment to having the housing be affordable.
“This really will bring to life what’s been a decades-long set of plans and visions, but under this administration we’re making real progress,” she said. “We’re building a whole new neighborhood at Willets Point.”
Monday’s vote was the first step in the lengthy city land use review procedure the project needs to clear before it can be built. It goes next to Borough President Donovan Richards, followed by the City Planning Commission, the City Council and the mayor.
The plan already has the support of local councilmember Francisco Moya, who has long championed the project.
“I’m thrilled about the green light given to the Willets Point Revitalization Plan by Community Board 7,” he said in a statement. “This revitalization of Willets Point is a bold leap toward a better future for our borough, and I’m proud to stand alongside the community in championing this exciting transformation.”
But the plan was not immediately embraced by the community board. At earlier meetings locals expressed concerns about the potential impacts on traffic, parking and public safety, and whether the proposed hotel might be used to house migrants.
Several people had raised the possibility of creating a new police precinct. The Queens Eagle reported that Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks sent a letter to the board saying he will “ensure that the relevant agencies conduct an assessment of the needs and resources required to determine whether a new precinct in the 109th Precinct is viable.”
It’s rare for the city to build a new precinct, a possibility made even unlikelier by ongoing budget constraints.
Apelian was cautiously optimistic but told the News “from this point on, it’s up to the electeds to carry it forward.”
He added that one of the board’s conditions is making sure a stadium parking agreement is finalized with nearby Citi Field, and that soccer matches wouldn’t occur at the same time as other sporting events.
Many of the project specifics will be hashed out during the rest of the land use process.
Monday’s vote greenlit the second phase of Willets Point redevelopment; the first has already been approved and includes building the school and 1,100 of the 2,500 new homes, as well as infrastructure fixes and environmental remediation.
If approved, the stadium is slated to open in 2027.
