Silverstein scores $165M to build Astoria apartment building 

Financing is for 44-01 Northern Boulevard, near firm’s Innovation QNS site

Larry Silverstein and a rendering of the planned development at 44-01 Northern Boulevard (Getty, Silverstein Properties, Akerman)
Larry Silverstein and a rendering of the planned development at 44-01 Northern Boulevard (Getty, Silverstein Properties, Akerman)

Silverstein Properties secured $165 million to build a 13-story apartment building in Astoria, Queens. 

Banco Inbursa provided $137.6 million in construction financing and a $27 million project loan for 44-01 Northern Boulevard, property records show. Silverstein is developing a 354-unit building, including nearly 90 affordable apartments.

The project, designed by Hill West Architects, will include 25,000 square feet of retail and 200 parking spots.

The land was rezoned from industrial to residential in 2019. Silvestein paid $39.7 million for the site in 2021, records show.

The project is near Innovation QNS, a 3,200-unit, mixed-use building that Silverstein, BedRock Real Estate Partners and Kaufman Astoria Studios won approval to develop. Unlike that massive project, the Northern Boulevard development qualified for the property tax break 421a before it expired in June 2022.

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Foundation work is nearing completion, and the building is projected to open in spring 2024.

The fate of Innovation QNS, as well as that of other projects made possible by recent rezonings, is tied to the future of the tax break. State legislators have shown little appetite for reviving 421a, and some in the industry have predicted that a version of the tax break will not be restored for years, after rental development has come to a halt.

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As part of her executive budget this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul pitched extending the construction deadline for projects that qualified under the old program. The Real Estate Board of New York estimates that some 33,000 units of housing will not be built without the extension.

Representatives for the developer of Halletts North, a 1,440-unit project also planned for Astoria, have indicated that they will not be able to meet the 2026 deadline.