Jasper Wu is looking to build bigger in Astoria, filing plans for a new development a few blocks from the failed Innovation QNS megaproject.
Wu’s ZD Jasper Realty wants to rezone a 48,000-square-foot development site at 34-49 Steinway Street from commercial to mixed-use, according to an application filed with the city Planning Department. The rezoning would clear the way for a 17-story, 214-unit building with about a quarter of the units designated as affordable under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing.
Wu’s proposed 171,000-square-foot building would include 21,000 square feet of retail space and about 5,000 square feet of community space, according to the application, which was first reported by PincusCo.
The developer’s website refers to the project as a rental, which would likely be split into multiple buildings with 99 units or fewer to dodge construction wage requirements imposed by 485x.
Wu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ZD Jasper bought the property in 2024 for $16.6 million from Robert Gans. The proposed rezoning sits in the shadow of Innovation QNS, a five-site, 3,200-unit project proposed by Silverstein Properties, BedRock Real Estate Partners and Kaufman Astoria Studios.
But the team of developers broke up after the November 2022 rezoning was approved by the City Council, and the site will now yield a number of smaller developments instead.
The project is one of several ZD Jasper developments taking shape across the borough.
The developer filed plans for a 99-unit project at 35-25 Steinway Street, about a block south of the proposed rezoning. The firm is also nearing completion of a 182-unit condo project at a former paint factory at 45-40 Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City.
ZD Jasper was also the first New York City developer to take advantage of new state environmental-review exemptions, allowing a proposed 143-unit project in Sunnyside to move forward without additional SEQRA review. Across the river, a branded condo project on the Upper East Side is aiming for completion by summer of 2027.
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