Edgestone Group is responding to complaints by Whitestone, Queens community members over its plans for townhouse development by going back to the drawing board to come up with a lower-density proposal.
The developer originally proposed 107 two-family houses for the 18-acre waterfront site at 151-45 6th Road. Six of the acres are underwater. But after a “barrage of complaints,” it is rethinking its strategy to include an undetermined number of single-family homes, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Whitestone, a middle and upper-class community that is comprised of mostly single-family homes, has proven to be extremely anti-density. State Senator Tony Avella issued a statement saying “This developer is declaring war on the community,” in response to the townhouse proposal.
Edgestone purchased the site for $11.3 million in 2012 after its previous owner, Bayrock Group, filed for bankruptcy protection. Bayrock had planned to build 52 single-family homes.
A representative for Edgestone said that they preferred the townhouse concept because it would preserve affordability.
“If we built single-family homes, they would have to be priced at $2 million,” said Edgestone’s Anthony Hu, who presented at a community board meeting last month. “We didn’t think the average Whitestone resident could afford that.” [WSJ] — Tess Hofmann