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City Selects Team To Build The Orion, Nearly 1,000 Mixed‑Income Homes in Long Island City

The pick makes the project eligible for the first long-term loan under HPD’s Mixed Income Market Initiative, with financing and approvals still pending.

Overview

  • The city chose Slate Property Group, Hudson Companies and Volunteers of America to develop The Orion on a 70,000‑square‑foot Hunter’s Point South parcel, targeting about 980 total apartments across three buildings.
  • About two-thirds of the units, roughly 658 apartments, will be income-restricted to extremely low‑ to moderate‑income households, including approximately 149–150 supportive units for people exiting homelessness.
  • Plans call for roughly 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and about 9,000 square feet of community space run by Commonpoint Queens, including childcare, a workforce center and an indoor pool.
  • The city estimates total development costs at $650 million to $700 million and expects construction to begin in the next few years, but the project still needs long-term financing, LIHTC allocation, regulatory approvals and a land sale to close.
  • The Orion advances Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to expand affordable housing and serves as a test case for using public land, subsidies and HPD’s Mixed Income Market Initiative to achieve large-scale mixed‑income production in New York City.