Another new residential project is headed to bustling northwest Queens, although the developer is not in a rush to decide whether this one will be rentals or condos.
The project at 23-42 31st Drive in Astoria comes from Bayside-based Bassaly Development, and it will stand five stories and 50 feet tall with 22 residential units, according to plans recently filed with the Department of Buildings. The building will span about 15,000 square feet and feature 11 parking spots and a roof deck.
Bassaly hopes to start construction in the next month or so and finish in about a year and a half, according to company principal Andy Bassaly. He is keeping his options open when it comes to making the residential units available to rent or buy and will pay attention to factors like mortgage rates and the new affordable housing tax break expected to be in this year’s state budget before committing.
“We’re open to both,” he said. “It really depends on what the market is like a year from now.”
Demolition permits were filed for the three-story, six-unit residential building at the site in August 2020, and Bassaly bought the site vacant in February 2023 for about $4 million, city records show.
Bassaly Development is a second-generation family-run firm that focuses on residential projects in the city and on Long Island. Its projects include the 22-unit Cooper Tower Condominium at the Bayside Long Island Rail Road station and the 82-unit Queens Regency Condominium by the Rego Park Center Mall.
Astoria’s recent residential boom has not been quite as high-profile as the one in nearby Long Island City, but the Queens neighborhood has still seen a major influx of projects. Developer John Pantanelli is at work on one near the waterfront at 33-35 11th St. that will span about 286,000 square feet with more than 300 residential units, while Miami-based NuVerse Advisors is at work on a condo project at 30-55 Vernon Blvd. with 122 residential units and a roughly $161 million expected sellout.
Median rent in northwest Queens dipped to $3,200 last month, and the area saw a record-high number of new leases at 704, according to the latest report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. Stubbornly high mortgage rates and Manhattan rents likely contributed to the surge in activity, Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller said.
Eddie Small , 2024-04-18 19:13:45
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