QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 23, 2023 Page 18
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CB 7 talks Willets Pt. ULURP
pot stores
continued from page 17 uling and ensuring that Citi Field and the new soccer stadium do not host events at new precinct in his presentation. the same time. The question of parking at the soccer “The way you should think about it, is stadium is one that has troubled many that the soccer stadium is like a Met game community members in regard to the Wilthat is 60 percent sold out,” he added, lets Point project. emphasizing that increased traffic will Goodman said that in order to “maximize the development of affordable hous- not exceed “manageable” limits. White noted that when the stadium is ing in the land that was available to develop,” developers opted to limit parking to not in use for soccer games, the space would be a hub for residential use rather community events, than building large including small busiparking garages for e’re not just ness workshops, art the stadium. installations and farm“We are now in building homes, but ers markets. conversations and Councilmember active negotiations on we’re building dreams.” Francisco Moya documents to finalize — Councilman Francisco Moya (D-Corona), who has a deal with the New been a staunch advoYork Mets to allow us cate for the project, maintained that posito use some of their thousands of parking spaces across the street,” Goodman said. tion as he addressed board members last Wednesday, “We’re not just building “That lets us basically use the existing homes, but we’re building dreams,” he resources at Citi Field across the street.” Relatedly, board member Dian Yu, who said. “This once-in-a-generation plan that is also the executive director of the Down- prioritizes housing in a city that is curtown Flushing Business Improvement rently facing a severe housing crisis ... It isn’t just figures on paper. It’s a promise District, raised a concern about increased of prosperity for Queens.” traffic in Downtown Flushing. Though the committee meeting slated He asked Goodman how he plans to navigate additional congestion in an for Tuesday, Nov. 21, was canceled, the panel will meet again next Wednesday, already congested community. Goodman Nov. 29, before the full board votes on the responded that efforts to mitigate traffic Q and congestion will mostly rely on sched- ULURP on Monday, Dec. 4.
continued from page 16 Those monthly payments would be in addition to rent, which, in the first year, ranged from about $44,000 to $76,000 according to the documents. Marty Feinberg, the owner of a building on the same block as the Union Square location, told THE CITY that the lease the fund had signed for that site was a fair price, rattling off the $76,000 rent from memory. “That’s what it should go for, maybe even more. It’s Union Square West.” The site eventually went to the dispensary Dazed, which had its grand opening last week. “When the email came across, I immediately said yes to the opportunity for this location,” said Keshawn Warner, one of the owners of the store. “It’s very hard right now with the way the banking rules are set for the cannabis industry to raise funds,” said Warner, in part because the business still violates federal law, making it more difficult to raise capital and access the banking system. Working with the fund to open his dispensary, he said, “really expedited the process.” Mike James, the co-owner of Good Grades, which had its grand opening in Jamaica on Wednesday, told THE CITY that while he’s heard the complaints about the loans, they helped launch his business .“I look at it as an opportunity that no one else is giving us,” he said. But not all aspiring store owners have
“W
seized the opportunity after doing the math. Anderson decided to pass earlier this year on a site the Dormitory Authority offered in Hunts Point in The Bronx, after he read the estimated cost of the build-out and the monthly rent. The area has much lower foot traffic than a Union Square location, for example, and he was unsure that he’d make enough sales to cover his costs. “It doesn’t make sense. Where am I going to get that money from?” he said. Others have expressed similar concerns. In May, a group of licensees sent a grievance letter to state officials citing a lack of transparency in the loan terms as well as the high rents for available sites. “It appears as though we are once again asked to participate in a market that is fundamentally inequitable and counteractive to the purpose of the very initiative the government launched,” said the letter. At a meeting officials from the Office of Cannabis Management and the Dormitory Authority held in early June to address licensees’ concerns, one of them, Carson Grant, summed up the circumstances around his fund-supported Queens retail location as “financial slavery.” “You guys keep saying ‘transparency.’ I don’t know what anything costs. I don’t know what a light bulb costs,” continued Grant, whose plans have been suspended by a court order that’s also upended the business plans of many CAURD license holders. “Just tell us the numbers! That’s all I’m Q asking for!” “THE CITY (www.thecity.nyc) is an inde
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