Project Built by Building Trades Members Using Union Pension Fund Dollars
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO Andrew Kimball today kicked off “Housing Week” by unveiling a sweeping proposal to build approximately 3,000 homes and 60 acres of public space on the site of the former Flushing Airport in College Point, Queens. The development — led by New York City-based firms Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR Incorporated — is projected to generate $3.2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years, creating over 1,300 union constructions job and 530 permanent careers. Cirrus-LCOR’s proposal also includes sustainable design elements and high-quality, park-like landscaping to integrate the buildings into the surrounding wetlands environment. Following the completion of a successful Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) and a robust environmental review, construction is expected to begin in 2028. After Mayor Adams issued a historic executive order last year requiring city agencies to review their portfolios and identify potential sites for new housing, NYCEDC led a competitive request-for-proposals process to identify a developer for the former Flushing Airport. As a result of the historic partnership established in March 2024 between Cirrus Workforce Housing, Mayor Adams, and the New York City Building Trades to develop workforce housing on public lands using union labor, this project will be built by Building Trades members using union pension fund dollars. Along with proposals to build thousands of new homes on city-owned sites like 100 Gold Street and Gansevoort Square, five neighborhood plans to create jobs and new housing across the city, and the first citywide housing zoning reform in 60 years, today’s announcement will help New York City reach Mayor Adams’ moonshot goal of creating 500,000 new homes by 2032.
“For too many decades, this valuable land has sat vacant, but our administration said it was time to change that. We issued a landmark executive order to build housing on city-owned sites like this one and now, we are excited to announce we will create around 3,000 new homes at the site of the former Flushing Airport,” said Mayor Adams. “Whether it’s building record amounts of affordable housing two years in a row, passing the first citywide zoning reform in six decades, or transforming old offices, garages, and airfields into new homes, we are proud to be the most pro-housing administration in city history — and by using every tool at every level of government to build housing on every block in every borough, we continue to prove that point every day. We are advancing generational projects to deliver the housing New Yorkers need and fighting every day to make our city more affordable and the best place to raise a family.”
"The redevelopment of the former Flushing Airport will deliver thousands of affordable and accessible homes that are financed by, built by, and lived in by union workers, as a result of our partnership with Cirrus and Mayor Adams," said Gary LaBarbera, president, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. "Thanks to this generational program, this project and others like it will continue to reinforce labor's historic role in boosting the middle class, generating family-sustaining careers, and providing our communities with economic stimulus. Hardworking New Yorkers, like our tradesmen and tradeswomen, deserve to live comfortably and raise their families in the city they serve. We are grateful for the collaboration from Mayor's Office, NYCEDC, Cirrus, and LCOR on forging a path for this particular development and look forward to seeing this unique approach to housing continue to come to fruition and improve the lives of countless New Yorkers."
“We thank Mayor Adams and NYCEDC President Andrew Kimball for their vision and partnership in the Flushing Airport project, which is positioned to deliver more than 3,000 homes to working middle class New Yorkers,” said Joseph McDonnell, managing partner, Cirrus Workforce Housing. “Cirrus looks forward to collaborating with local elected officials, labor unions, community organizations, and residents to bring this transformative project to life.”
“The redevelopment of the former Flushing Airport is finally ready for take-off, and we are thrilled to work with Cirrus and LCOR to transform this long-vacant site into a mixed-use project that will deliver thousands of workforce housing units, new public green space, and other community amenities all while protecting and preserving the wetlands,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Kimball. “Under the leadership of Mayor Adams, the city remains committed to addressing our housing crisis and looks forward to working with our city partners, elected officials, the College Point community, and the development team to deliver a project that creates good-paying jobs, drives economic growth, and strengthens the fabric of our city.”
Rendering of ~60 acres of public parkland. Credit: S9 Architecture
The former Flushing Airport has not been active since the airport was decommissioned in 1984 and has largely reverted to nature. Cirrus-LCOR’s proposal will utilize sustainable design elements, including a commitment to explore the use of mass timber construction and high-quality park-like landscaping that is accessible to the public and sensitively integrates the buildings into a modern wetlands environment with nature walks, sitting areas, rambles, natural open space vistas, and wildlife habitat. Lastly, Cirrus and LCOR have committed to build and operate the development with 100 percent union labor.
Today’s announcement builds on NYCEDC’s ongoing efforts to bolster the College Point community. In partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation, NYCEDC recently completed a 0.7 mile extension of 132nd Street nearby to improve traffic conditions and accommodate future traffic growth around the neighborhood.
Aerial rendering of the proposed project. Credit: S9 Architecture
Since entering office, Mayor Adams has made historic investments to create more affordable housing and ensure more New Yorkers have a place to call home. The Adams administration is advancing several robust neighborhood plans that, if adopted, would deliver more than 50,000 units over the next 15 years to New York neighborhoods. In addition to the Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan and the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, both of which have been passed by the New York City Council, the Adams administration is advancing plans in Midtown South in Manhattan, as well as Jamaica and Long Island City in Queens.
Moreover, last December, Mayor Adams celebrated the passage of “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the most pro-housing proposal in city history that will build 80,000 new homes over 15 years and invest $5 billion towards critical infrastructure updates and housing. In June 2024, City Hall and the New York City Council agreed to an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that invested $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Housing Authority’s capital budgets. In total, the Adams administration has committed $24.7 billion in housing capital in the current 10-year plan as the city faces a generational housing crisis. Mayor Adams has celebrated back-to-back record breaking fiscal years, as well as back-to-back calendar years, in both creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing. In the spring of 2024, the city also celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point transformation.
Building on the success of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, Mayor Adams unveiled his “City of Yes for Families” strategy earlier this year to build more homes and create more family-friendly neighborhoods across New York City. Under City of Yes for Families, the Adams administration is advancing more housing on city-owned sites, creating new tools to support homeownership, and building more housing alongside schools, playgrounds, grocery stores, accessible transit stations, and libraries.
Further, the Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city’s housing crisis. Mayor Adams announced multiple new tools, including a $4 million state grant, to help New York City homeowners create accessory dwelling units that will not only help older adults afford to remain in the communities they call home but also help build generational wealth for families. In addition to creating more housing opportunities, the Adams administration is actively working to strengthen tenant protections and support homeowners. The “Partners in Preservation” program was expanded citywide in 2024 through a $24 million investment in local organizations to support tenant organizing and combat harassment in rent-regulated housing. The Homeowner Help Desk, a trusted one-stop shop for low-income homeowners to receive financial and legal counseling from local organizations, was also expanded citywide in 2024 with a $13 million funding commitment.
Finally, Mayor Adams and members of his administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary “floor-to-area ratio” cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments.
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