Jamaica Neighborhood Plan Moves Closer to Approval
If approved by the City Council, the plan would provide $413 million while creating nearly 12,000 new apartments
By Mark Hallum October 9, 2025 4:03 pm
reprints
Commercial opportunities could be on their way to Jamaica, Queens, after a New York City Council committee OK’d a major rezoning of the neighborhood.
In what city leaders are calling the biggest rezoning in two decades, the City Council’s Land Use Committee and its Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises approved the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, which has the potential to create 2 million square feet of new commercial and community space and 12,000 new apartments while providing $413 million in community investment, if passed by the full City Council.
The New York City Planning Commission would still need to approve any modifications, including stormwater management, parks, sidewalks and transit improvements.
“The most pro-housing council in more than a generation did not ignore the community, as some would seem to prefer,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, whose district is also in Southeast Queens, said during the meeting. “We listened, channeled that community power, and fought for the investments that will deliver a more prosperous and vibrant Jamaica.”
With the potential to create nearly 4,200 permanently affordable units, the City Council believes it will be the largest mandatory inclusionary housing zone in the five boroughs.
The rezoning area covers about 230 blocks, according to the mayor’s office.
“As a bustling commercial and transit center in Queens, it’s exactly where we should be building new homes and creating high-paying jobs,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “But unfortunately, Jamaica’s zoning has curtailed new housing opportunities and limited new businesses, making it harder for working-class families to stay in their community. It’s past time we changed that.”
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
