L+M Development Partners, the Bluestone Organization and Triangle Equities have partnered to develop Arverne East, an ambitious, socially, and economically transformative project that is revitalizing a vacant 116-acre oceanfront site in the Arverne and Edgemere neighborhoods in Queens’ Rockaway Peninsula. The project sets a new standard for resilient and energy-efficient development in coastal areas.

Arverne East’s first phase, a 35-acre nature preserve between Beach 44th Street and Beach 56th Place, is designed to restore and promote native ecology on the peninsula. It includes a new building featuring a welcome center, a comfort station, and a community center that provides administrative space for the New York City Parks Department, administrative offices, and a shared community room open to the public for use.

Starr Whitehouse, a WBE firm, is the landscape architect for the nature preserve. WXY, also a WBE, is the architect for the welcome center and will set the energy efficiency and sustainability standard for the entire project by utilizing geothermal technology and an extensive photovoltaic array. To the east of the welcome center, The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) will expand its urban farming production on the site with approximately 1.5 acres of farming area focused on combating food insecurity in the Rockaways. It will also include an agricultural workforce training program. Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity (RISE) will also be maintaining a native plant nursery and children’s discovery garden.

Upon completion of all phases of Arverne East, the mixed-use development will feature 1,650 units of housing, including affordable, market rate and homeownership opportunities. It will also include neighborhood retail spaces, a boutique hotel, parking, and infrastructure to accommodate and encourage local economic development, cultural programs, and community health and wellness.

The overarching project will be developed with an eye toward resiliency. Wherever possible, it will strive to incorporate resilient design features including permeable surfaces, planted areas and bioswales to mitigate flood, and tidal inundation to aid in water management. Additionally, areas will be raised with the buildings utilizing combinations of wet and dry floodproofing strategies.

Arverne East is positioned to become one of the most environmentally conscious developments in the United States, achieving net zero and eliminating the need for fossil fuels on-site.