Community Board 4 opposes 7801 Queens Boulevard rezoning, citing displacement and infrastructure concerns

A public land-use hearing on a proposed rezoning for 7801 Queens Boulevard drew sharp opposition from Elmhurst residents and Community Board 4, which voted 30-2-1 to recommend denial.

The developer, 7801 Queens Holding LLC, asked the Department of City Planning to rezone three contiguous tax lots and an adjacent block front currently mapped M1-1 to R7X with a C2-4 commercial overlay and to map the area as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) area using MIH Option 1. Frank Sajak, counsel with Acreman LLP speaking for the applicant, described the site as roughly 45,000 square feet now improved by a one-story commercial building and said the rezoning would enable a 13-story building of just over 266,000 square feet with 314 apartments and 79 permanently affordable units under MIH Option 1.

The development team described the proposal as transit-oriented and consistent with rezonings along Queens Boulevard. "We sort of stand by our land use rationale as previously stated," Sajak said, and noted the proposal includes retail on Queens Boulevard, a community facility on Albion, about 5,700 square…