By Connor Adams Sheets
The plans for the crumbling RKO Keith’s Theatre in downtown Flushing are not going to go through as easily as some local politicians have hoped, Community Board 7 leaders caution.
Last week, three area elected officials endorsed a proposal by the theater’s owner — condo developer Patrick Thompson — for a 17-story condo building to be built on the site.
But Community Board 7 Chairman Kelty said parking and other concerns must be addressed before he and his CB 7 colleagues will consider approving the project, which Thompson wants to build with 157 more condos than the board has voted to support.
CB 7’s Land Use Committee plans to review the proposal Jan. 24 and the community board expects to hold a full public hearing on it Feb. 14, and if approved it will go before the city Board of Standards and Appeals.
Thompson floated plans to nearly double the number of apartments planned for the site from 200 to as many as 370 during a meeting with Kelty in September, TimesLedger Newspapers reported in October.
The proposal came back into the public spotlight Jan. 11, when City Councilman Peter Koo (R-Flushing), state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) announced their support for a slightly-amended version of the project, sending out press releases backing Thompson’s plans.
“In the weeks ahead, Sen. Stavisky and I urge the members of Community Board 7 to give the plan serious consideration so that a piece of Flushing’s grand history can be restored and resurrected properly,” Meng said in her statement.
Over the next couple of days, Kelty said, there seemed to be a consensus among many community leaders that the project was going to be rubber-stamped by CB 7 in the form that Koo, Meng and Stavisky endorsed, with 360 parking spaces and 357 condo units. But Kelty said that was not the case because the lack of parking near the theater at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Main Street was critical.
“Everyone’s saying this is fine and dandy, but I think they should talk to me before they say it’s fine and dandy,” he said. “Everybody’s saying this is going to go flying through, but it’s not going to go flying through because we need to have a conversation about parking. We want [the project] … but it’s going to have restrictions to make sure it doesn’t have a major impact on parking in the area.”
CB 7 Vice Chairman Chuck Apelian echoed Kelty’s misgivings, saying he has concerns about doubling the number of families moving into the busy neighborhood.
“The focus was to really minimize the impact on traffic in that spot,” Apelian said. “I’m concerned because 200 families is a lot less than 357.”
Plans to turn the theater into a 17-story condo tower with 200 apartments, 229 parking spaces and a senior center and to restore the landmarked lobby were approved in 2005, when the theater was owned by developer Shaya Boymelgreen. Boymelgreen lost the note on the property in May 2010 when Doral Bank sold it to Thompson for $20 million amid worries about Boymelgreen’s financial woes.
If Thompson goes forward with the larger number of units, he will have to go before CB 7 and get approval from the city Board of Standards and Appeals.
The physical size of the proposed project has not changed, despite the shift in the number of units, and the look is most likely updated, Kelty said last week.
Keeping the project the same size makes it easier for the changes to be approved, as the Port Authority and Federal Aviation Administration will not have to reconsider whether it is too big to be as close as it is to LaGuardia Airport.
Thompson’s attorney, Craig L. Price, of the Manhattan law firm Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, did not return calls for comment.
In 1999, notorious developer Tommy Huang pleaded guilty to felony charges for ignoring asbestos contamination and pouring hundreds of gallons of fuel oil into the theater’s basement two decades ago. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and sentenced to five years’ probation.
Boymelgreen purchased the theater in 2002 and attempted to develop the long-neglected site at 137-25 Northern Blvd.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
