Credit: Slate Property Group
The transformation of a vacant hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport into affordable housing is complete, marking New York’s first development of its kind. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced the completion of the Baisley Pond Park Residences in South Jamaica, which has turned the former JFK Hilton into 318 affordable and supportive apartments. The $167 million project—the first in the state to repurpose a hotel for affordable housing—features an indoor healing garden, on-site social services, and is fully electric.
First built in 1987 as the 350-key JFK Hilton, the 12-story building has been transformed into the Baisley Pond Park Residences, offering 127 affordable apartments and 191 supportive units for eligible formerly homeless households. The accessible property also accommodates residents with motor, hearing, and visual impairments.
Developed by Slate Property Group and the RiseBoro Community Partnership, the building is the first hotel-to-residential conversion completed under the state’s Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA). Established in 2021, the program incentivizes developers to convert vacant office buildings and hotels into affordable housing, as 6sqft previously reported…