An almost-100 unit building is proposed for Downtown Jamaica, records show, just a few blocks from where hundreds of new apartments are slated to come online in the same Queens neighborhood.
Records show that Ami Weinstock, whose affiliation with any particular real estate firm is unclear, submitted plans to the Department of Buildings this week to erect a 12-story, 89-unit building at 89-61 162nd St.
The proposed structure would include retail on the ground floor and low-income housing. It would rise on a roughly 10,000-square-foot lot between 89th and Jamaica avenues, sitting within the Special Downtown Jamaica District — an area established in 2011 to help boost access to affordable housing and business opportunities in the neighborhood. It would be around the corner from 163-25 Archer Ave., where last month Midtown-based developer BRP filed plans to put up a 22-story building with 400 units on what’s now a vacant lot.
An existing 14,257-square-foot building, part of which is currently occupied by a discount store, is now on the site; Weinstock also submitted plans to raze the structure.
It’s not clear when Weinstock acquired the property or if she began the planning early. Scott Plasky, a broker at Midtown-based real estate firm Marcus & Millichap that represents the property, told Crain’s that the building currently standing on the site is in contract to be sold, and the deal is expected to close in the next two weeks. He declined to provide the sale price or name the buyer, though it was listed last year for almost $5 million. The listing also noted that all of the building’s leases expired at the end of 2024.
The seller appears to be Carlo Santore of Sor San Realty, records show, which bought the site in 2000 for an unknown amount. Joel Mendelovits, a principal at Brooklyn-based Speedy Expediting, a zoning and code consultant, is listed on Weinstock’s application as a filing representative for the project.
The proposed building would include 1,182 square feet of retail on the ground floor and 60,233 square feet of residential across floors two through 12, on which there will be seven or eight apartments each, records show.
