The plan calls for a 10-year build-out of 5,000 dwelling middle-income units, 1,100-seat intermediate/high school, waterfront park of, for commercial development, of community space. A November 2008New York Times article reported that critics of the plan said it goes too far in benefiting middle-class households at the expense of lower-income ones, while officials countered that it is intended to address the exodus of middle-class families from the city because of rising housing costs. Only families earning between $55,000 and $158,000 would be eligible for units, although the median household income in Queens was only $51,290. The first phase of the project will include the construction of 925 units of housing on two development parcels. Construction of the buildings, as well as the school and a portion of the waterfront park, were originally planned for mid-summer 2010. Originally, officials said that 75% of the units would be set aside for middle- to lower-income families with household incomes ranging from $32,000 to $130,000 a year for a family of four. In November 2011, it was announced that all of the units would be affordable housing. One tower will be 37 stories; the other, 32. The two towers, connected at their bases, will have commercial space at their ground floors, as well as provisions for a pre-kindergarten, a medical facility, a rock climbing wall, and restaurants. The second phase of the project, to the south of the current lot, will be even larger, with 1139 apartments, 796 of them affordable. A ground-breaking ceremony, planned for October 2012, was delayed to March 4, 2013. The project was originally expected to finish its first phase in 2014, but will now finish in 2015. The project was briefly delayed by a $13 million window procuration dispute in April 2014, but construction was quickly restarted. A Request for Proposals for the second phase of the project, which includes development of a lot south of the two buildings, was issued on May 28, 2014, for the site's infrastructure. The second of three phases is expected to be completed in 2018. The Phase 1 waterfront park opened on August 27, 2013. The 1,100-seat school building in the development's Phase 1 opened in September 2013, with 52 classrooms, science labs, an auditorium, a gym, a library, and a cafeteria.
