A proposal, headed by NYC Mayor Eric Adams, will transform the old Flushing Airport by converting its wetlands into a new community. It comes after Mayor Adams and Andrew Kimball, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), announced plans to build 3,000 homes, out of mass timber (where possible), on land formerly occupied by the airport.
The development, spearheaded by Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR Incorporated in New York City, projects $3 billion in economic activity over 30 years: “For too many decades, this valuable land has sat vacant, but our administration said it was time to change that,” Adams said.
“Cirrus-LCOR’s proposal will use sustainable design elements, including a commitment to explore the use of mass timber construction and high-quality park-like landscaping that is accessible to the public and sensitively integrates the buildings into a modern wetlands environment with nature walks, sitting areas, rambles, natural open space vistas, and wildlife habitat,” Adams said, revealing new renders – provided by S9 Architecture – show wetlands replaced with lush green frelds next to multi-level complexes surrounded by plantlife.
The announcement comes as Adams begins a push to highlight his successes in housing — including the “City of Yes” zoning changes, which could result in the construction of 80,000 new houses over the next 15 years — as New Yorkers face record-high rents and a housing supply crunch. An executive order signed by Adams allows more housing to be built on city-owned sites, which in part led to the development of the Flushing Airport project.
“What is going to be done here is to take 20 acres along the boulevard, create 3,000 units for the working people of New York,” said Joseph McDonnel, managing partner for Cirrus. “That’s teachers, policemen, firefighters, nurses — people who, if you look at statistics today, some of them are commuting from the Poconos and Pennsylvania –and to provide them dignified, high-quality housing surrounded by 60 acres of wetland that will be enjoyed by current residents.”
NYC Staten Island Plans is One of the Nation’s Largest Timber Projects
In June, Wood Central reported that New York was using timber led construction to build 500 mixed-income units on two parcels of land along the New Stapleton Waterfront on the North Shore of Staten Island: “In New York City, this is a huge mass timber project,” according to Momo Sun, regional director, WoodWorks, Wood Products Council (WPC), who spoke to ConstructConnect’s Daily Commercial News about the project. Sun said that a preference for the engineered wood was written into the RFP posted by the City of New York and the NYCEDC.
The plans, announced by the city last year, will see New York developers build two 50-foot timber mega-towers on city-owned land along the Stapleton waterfront, within walking distance of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. It is the latest in what Mayor Adams has dubbed a public-private partnership. “This is the biggest opportunity to use mass timber at scale in the city,” according to Melissa Román Burch, the Chief Operating Officer for NYCEDC, who said the new towers (which come with sizable tax breaks) will eventually house 500 rent-controlled apartments.
Mass timber is on the rise across the city, with the Evergreen Charter School in Hempstead, Long Island, the High Line’s Moynihan Connector, and the New York Climate Exchange, a mass timber structure designed on Governors Island part of a growing number of timber buildings: “It’s just making sure that more New Yorkers in the building construction trade have firsthand experience with it,” Mr Kushner said. “It’s a game of numbers and scale.”
- For more information about the challenges of mass timber adoption, read Wood Central’s special feature.
