City Selects Development Partners to Build Affordable Senior Housing on City-Owned Site in Queens

January 13, 2021

Press Office: hpdmedia@Hpd.nyc.gov

New development will bring affordable senior apartments, a community center, and commercial space to Astoria

NEW YORK, NY –The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) today announced the selection of a development team, HANAC and Mega Development LLC, to transform a City-owned site in Astoria into 100% affordable senior housing. The mixed-use development at 31-07 31st Street will feature 135 affordable homes for seniors, a community center and commercial space. The housing, 30% of which will be dedicated to formerly homeless seniors, will be paired with social services. The team was selected as the winning proposal from the Broadway and 31st St Astoria Seniors RFP that HPD issued in late 2019 as part of the Seniors First initiative to serve 30,000 senior households through the City’s housing plan by 2026.  
 
“This Administration has made meeting the needs of our city’s seniors a top priority in advancing our ambitious affordable housing plan,” said HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll. “This project promises to transform this City-owned site into a thriving, affordable community for aging New Yorkers and a hub of activity for the neighborhood. I want to thank HANAC and Mega Development for their incredible work on such a dynamic development plan.”   
 
“In 2018 I stood with our neighbors and senior services providers at the Broadway parking lot to say it's more important to house people than cars. Now, in 2021, we're living that virtue and transforming a parking lot into 135 units of deeply affordable senior housing,” said City Council Member Costa Constantinides. “HANAC is a trusted community partner with decades-long experience in Astoria. Their IKOS Senior Living development will continue that tradition. While I won't be the City Council Member when this building opens its door to residents, I'll still be a neighbor enjoying the new community center and feeling proud of just how much our neighborhood can do when we work together. I want to thank the entire HPD team and Commissioner Carroll for making our vision a reality. I look forward to the work ahead, till there's shovels in the ground and residents ready to move in.”

“This development will provide vulnerable seniors not only with a new and affordable place to live but with an entire community where they can socialize with their peers, engage in on-site activities and have the added benefit of supportive services to help them maintain their health and well-being,” said Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Chair of the Assembly Housing Committee. “I am pleased to once again work with the city in bringing affordable housing to people who need it and ensuring that they can remain a vital and involved part of their community.”

The project will be financed through the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) Program, ensuring the homes will be affordable for households with seniors 62 years of age or older with incomes between $0 and $45,500 for a family of two, the equivalent of 0% to 50% of Area Median Income (AMI). 
 
Located steps from the Broadway subway station on the N and W subway lines, the building will replace a New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) parking lot, and provide residents easy access to retail, grocery stores and more. Building amenities include a backyard and a rooftop terrace area for recreation, a stand-alone community center for programming such as technology training, jobs skills development, substance abuse support and counseling for LGBTQ seniors. There is also planned commercial space for retail.

HANAC is a local, non-profit, mission-driven developer, property manager, and social service provider with experience serving vulnerable populations. They have partnered with Mega Development LLC to develop other affordable senior housing projects and have experience developing near Transit Authority infrastructure. HANAC and Mega Development LLC’s development approach focuses on providing housing integrated with services, helping residents achieve stability and age in place.    

“HANAC was founded in Astoria in 1972, it is our Ikos, our home. With the ever-growing older adult population, HANAC is delighted and proud to provide Senior Affordable Housing to the Astoria Community and throughout NYC,” said HANAC, Inc. Executive Director Stacy Bliagos. “Affordable Housing is essential for our older community members to age with dignity, respect, and in place. This project will offer residents a Community Center and open space for outdoor activities, something that COVID-19 has highlighted as essential. We are thrilled and honored to work with our partners Mega and SLCE and we thank HPD for this opportunity.”

“Mega has a deep history and commitment to Astoria. We are thrilled to build upon our great relationship with HANAC and SLCE Architects to develop this project,” said Mega Principal Hercules Argyriou. “As the pandemic has shown, safe and secure affordable senior housing is critical. We thank HPD for the opportunity to deliver this extraordinary project to the senior population of the City and the Astoria community.”

Fulfilling the City’s Commitment to Seniors 

The site also advances the City’s Seniors First initiative to serve 30,000 senior households through the City’s housing plan by 2026. To meet the needs of New York’s growing population of seniors living on fixed incomes, the City’s is making significant investments to make more homes accessible to seniors and people with disabilities; build new 100 percent affordable developments on underused NYCHA, public and private sites; and preserve existing senior housing developments. Through Seniors First, HPD and the New York City Housing Authority are committed to accelerating 100 percent affordable senior housing developments on six public sites.