The mayor and city leaders broke ground Thursday on a new residential development that will bring more affordable housing to the Astoria waterfront. NY1's Matt McClure filed the following report.

The Astoria waterfront will look different in a few years.

Mayor Bill de Blasio joined developers and other elected leaders Thursday to break ground on the new Hallets Point development. Named for the peninsula where it's being built, the $1.5 billion project will include about 2,400 apartments.

"There was a lost opportunity here for years, and it's finally changing," de Blasio said.

"It's almost been a forgotten portion of Queens, Astoria," said Jody Durst, president of the Durst Organization. "It's going to be a focal point going forward."

More than 480 of the units will be classified as affordable. Residents of the nearby Astoria Houses will be given priority for half of them.

The mayor touted that number as a continuation of his administration’s focus on affordable housing citywide.

"2015, we financed 21,041 affordable apartments, the most in the history of this city in any single year," de Blasio said.

"Astoria is a neighborhood that has working-class people, both middle-class, lower-income, and they should all be given the opportunity to thrive," said state Senator Michael Gianaris, whose district includes Astoria.

The project will also include new green space along the East River, along with the neighborhood's first full-service supermarket.

"It's a dream come true," said Claudia Coger, who has lived in this part of Astoria for more than 60 years.

Coger is excited about what the development will mean for her neighborhood, and thrilled that the East River Ferry will dock there beginning next year.

"Sitting on a peninsula, you can be somewhat disconnected, but with the ferry, it's going to give us that other way out," she said.

Developers say Hallets Point will include several environmentally friendly features, like its own power and wastewater plants.

Construction will happen in five phases, with full completion in seven or eight years.

Work on phase one of the project is already underway. It’s set to open in 2018 and will include more than 400 units.