Two Massive Projects Ready to Revamp Astoria Waterfront

The Astoria Cove project, announced last week, along with the Hallets Point Redevelopment, which has a green light from the city, will transform a gritty waterfront stretch of Astoria off Roosevelt Island. Hallets Point would add 2,200 units of housing and a supermarket to the Astoria waterfront, as well as an esplanade along the East River. The project has received initial certification from the city Planning Commission. Astoria Cove calls for an additional 1,535-units of housing in a combination of 8-story townhouses, and waterfront towers rising between 12 and 30-stories. Plans also include 117,000-square-feet of retail space, a new school and a public park.

The twin projects have been generously planned in terms of public passive recreation and would be a boon for the city. The East River waterfront would get a major facelift to accommodate eateries and increase public access. 

Astoria Cove is a residential development proposed for western Astoria. It would bring 1,535-units of housing in a combination of townhouses and towers along 26th Avenue, between 9th and 4th Streets.

The inland buildings would top out at 8-stories, while the apartment buildings near the water would rise between 12-30-stories. Twenty percent of the apartments would be set aside for affordable housing. 

The development would include public access to the waterfront, a 25,000-square-foot supermarket, and 117-square-feet of retail space with a 456-seat elementary school.

The developer is also exploring options for a residents-only shuttle service to and from the 30th Street N/Q station, about a mile away.

It's one of two major housing developments proposed for the Hallets Point peninsula — a chunk of land that juts out into the East River, just south of Astoria Park - a stretch of the waterfront that is largely desolate except for the NYCHA Astoria Houses, which takes up the other half of the Hallets Point peninsula. 

The peninsula certainly needs development.  Presently, the site is a mix of vacant lots and underused industrial structures. Area residents welcome the new amenities development would bring — particularly schools and supermarkets — as long as they were accessible to NYCHA residents as well.