On November 16th, Related Companies—a partner in the joint venture Queens Development Group—announced transformational plans for Queens neighborhood Willets Point, joined by NYC Mayor Eric Adams and community members. The thriving community will be anchored by 2,500 units of 100% affordable housing, which will become the largest 100% affordable, new construction housing development in New York City in 40 years. Willets Point's new high-quality affordable and workforce residences will be built using sustainable practices and will serve individuals, families and low-income seniors, providing local New Yorkers with much-needed affordable homes. The announcement of additional affordable housing builds upon Related's first phase of introducing affordable housing at Willets Point, which included extensive environmental remediation to make the neighborhood safer and healthier for residents.
Complementing Willets Point's ample affordable and workforce housing, the community will also feature NYC's first soccer-specific stadium, which will be home to New York City Football Club. Queens Development Group (a joint venture between Related and Sterling Equities) will work alongside NYCFC to develop the stadium according to sustainable practices and will introduce free soccer programming for the surrounding community. Neighboring the stadium will be a 250-room hotel and retail shops, a 650-seat public elementary school and 40,000 square feet of open space for public use. Queens Development Group has committed to involving Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) and participating in the HireNYC program during development and construction, generating over $6 billion in economic impact and nearly 16,000 jobs that will contribute to a more diverse and skilled local workforce. Additional environmental cleanup efforts will also supplement the ongoing remediation work at Willets Point, as well as the installation of new storm and sanitary sewers, reconstruction of streets and improvements to the existing streetscape.
