8-story office building currently being built in Astoria, will offer commercial space and lots of parking

If you’ve taken the N/Q to and/or from Ditmars Boulevard (the northern terminus of the BMT Broadway Line), you’ve probably noticed a very large and very tall (relatively speaking) building being built on the east side 31st street between 23rd Avenue and 23rd Road; it’s about mid-block and feels right up against the subway tracks when you’re going past it on the train. Its address is 23-25 31st Street (GMAP) and it’s going to be the largest building in the immediate area, rising high above both local homes and at least meeting the height of the monolithic Amtrak overpass.

Here are a couple of photos of the current state of the building. This is looking at it from the north on 31st Street.

And here it is from the south on 31st Street.

The building will be eight stories tall (9 stories total with the basement) with on site parking on the first floor, sub-cellar, cellar and basement – paid parking attendants will be required to handle the traffic coming and going off this busy street. Parking space will total about 36,000 square feet, enough for 135 cars. This is a huge amount of parking for the area.

The total square footage of the building will be 93,991. There will be no residential units, just commercial (offices) and “community facility,” which would “serve the general welfare,” though it is unclear what the details are on that. This element will take up about 29,000 square feet. The commercial area of the building will occupy 24,728 square feet.

Here is the zoning diagram that illustrates the shape and size of the building (click to enlarge):

Image source: DOB

This block is zoned C 4-3 and is a part of the commercial district put into place in the recent Astoria rezoning that passed in 2010.

According to the Department of Buildings, the construction site has been issued a partial stop work order, which looks like it is focused on the rear lot. ABC did a story on this building recently, having to do with recent damage done to homes behind the building, with local homeowners suspecting that this new construction is the source of the damage. Construction crews are definitely working on the 31st Street side of the building, with plenty of people active inside and around the building itself.

We look forward to see who exactly will occupy this building, and will share that when we learn more details.