The North Queens Medical Center, a 80,000-square-foot office building at 42-31 Union Street in Flushing whose development was halted by the recession, is slated to receive $17 million in Recovery Zone Facility bonds, part of the federal stimulus package. The Recovery Zone program allows states to issue tax-exempt bonds to private developers working in underserved neighborhoods. “There’s demand for a medical facility that people can walk to from downtown Flushing,” said Richard Xia, president of Fleet Financial Group, the developer. The building, whose total cost is projected to be $42 million, will be used for outpatient hospital services and doctors’ offices, Xia said. The project needs final approval from the city before receiving the bonds, after which construction is expected to begin in March and take 18 months to complete. The city has already allocated roughly $80 million in Recovery Zone bonds to five “shovel-ready” projects in the city, including two at the Arverne by the Sea development in Far Rockaway, where 2,300 middle-income housing units, a school and a YMCA will be housed. The city has $40 million in bonds left to distribute before they expire at the end of 2010. [NYDN]

Several local elected officials in Queens said they were left in the dark on a multimillion dollar medical center development scheduled to break ground in March on three plots of land at 42-31 Union Street in downtown Flushing, according to Yournabe.com. Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of Community Board 7, said that she and other area officials weren’t informed of developer Fleet Financial Group’s plans — either by city officials or the developer itself. “What a mess it’s going to be,” Bitterman said. “If it goes in as an as-of-right development, there’s nothing we can do.” The development, planned as a mixed-use hospital and apartment complex, has been granted $14 million in tax-exempt stimulus bonds, according to a representative from the Economic Development Corporation. State Senator Toby Stavisky said that while the Department of Buildings may have approved the plans, local officials should have been made aware of the upcoming project. “I know we have secrets, but I don’t think this proposal should be a secret,” Stavisky said.