City advances 21-story Forest Hills tower with 390 apartments on top of the subway
Credit: NYC CPC
A strip of retail and commercial businesses along Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills is slated to be replaced by a 390-unit high-rise apartment building with nearly 100 affordable homes directly above a subway station. The City Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a rezoning to make way for a new 21-story multi-family building at 100-12 Queens Boulevard. Dubbed The Frances, the project would feature public realm improvements and updated retail storefronts, while the 67th Avenue subway station, served by the M and R trains, sits immediately below the site.
Stretching 26,000 square feet with 260 feet of frontage along Queens Boulevard, the block currently contains two one-story buildings, constructed in 1947 and 1951, that house 10 retail tenants, some of which are long-time neighborhood businesses, according to journalist Daniel Trubman.
Longtime businesses include the beloved Andre’s Hungarian Bakery; Fruit Ranch, a fruit market and bodega; and The Bund, a Chinese restaurant, among others. The properties are also home to a CVS Pharmacy, an orthopedic shoe store, an outpost of the dermatology chain the Dermatology Specialists, a bank, a rotisserie chicken eatery, and a Mediterranean restaurant.
Plans to redevelop the site gained traction in November 2025, when Benenson Capital Partners, which took ownership of the retail strip in 2001, according to city property records, filed a land use application with the Department of City Planning.
The proposal calls for a zoning map amendment and zoning text changes that would allow for the construction of a 21-story building.
The development has faced some opposition from local residents, who have expressed concerns about what will happen to the existing tenants and how the new building could affect the neighborhood’s character. A petition launched by opponents had garnered 296 signatures as of Wednesday.
Critics say the proposed height is unnecessary and would be out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood, while also raising concerns about increased density and strain on local infrastructure.
In June, Queens Community Board 6 formally voted to recommend conditional approval of the project, following a 10-3 vote by its Land Use Committee earlier that month. In their approval, the committee said the developers should work with retail tenants to help them relocate during construction and move into the new building.
Rachel Loeb, the applicant’s advisor, told the committee that the project team had already reached out to affected tenants, stating that it is their “intention to sit down with them, understand their plans, help look for temporary relocation, and then how they come back,” according to the Queens Chronicle.
Michael Perlman, a preservationist and author of “Legendary Locals of Forest Hills and Rego Park,” argued in a Facebook post that “no business would wait a few years to reopen in a new building, especially after being displaced and then offered a rent that is at least three times the current rate.”
Perlman also echoed concerns about the project’s affordability. The Community Board 6 committee’s vote recommended increasing the number of affordable units to between 30 and 37 percent of the total, or between 120 and 146 units.
After the community board’s decision, the proposal went before Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who hosted a land use public hearing in July.
The proposal then advanced to the City Planning Commission in August, where local preservation groups and residents of the adjacent residential development, The Fontaine, voiced their opposition at a public hearing.
Residents of the building, which sits directly south of the proposed development, expressed concerns that the new structure would block natural light and eliminate all exposures on one side of the building, according to Perlman’s Facebook post.
Designed by Fogarty Finger Architects, The Frances would feature all-electric systems and include public realm enhancements such as wider sidewalks, new street trees, and upgraded bike lanes.
On their website, Benenson Capital Partners touts its long and “specific history” in Queens, pointing to the firm’s construction of 98-120 Queens Boulevard in Rego Park, located just down the road from the site, in 1938. This personal connection to the area, the firm says, reflects its goals of offering “long-term ownership for community value.”
“We are not an outside developer coming into Forest Hills; we are a family that has been part of this neighborhood for generations and we’re approaching this project with the people who live nearby in mind,” their website reads.
If Benenson’s proposal is ultimately rejected by the City Council, the developer could fall back on an “as-of-right” project under current zoning rules, which would result in a 96-unit development. The project would include no affordable units and a 109-space parking garage built directly atop the 67th Avenue subway station.
The plan now heads to the City Council for a final vote to be held within 50 days.
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