Friday, September 28, 2012

College Point condo project waits for approval


From the Times Ledger:

Developers seeking to turn a dilapidated College Point factory into a 134-unit condo complex nearly have enough money to begin, according to their lawyer.

A developer called Waterfront Resorts Inc. is seeking to transform the Chilton Paint Factory on the corner of 110th Street and 15th Avenue into waterfront housing, complete with a public park along the coast, but they need a key city approval to do so.

The company, headed by a man named Henry Lam, was granted a variance in 2009, which allowed them to circumvent the zoning code and build a residential building in a manufacturing area, but the project was never started and that variance expired in July, according to the city Board of Standards and Appeals, a commission that grants variances on a case-by-case basis.

The company is now seeking to extend its waiver for four more years, according to attorney Eric Palatnik.

“We think we will be constructed well before that, but that will give us time to get our finances together,” he said.

The 2008 financial crisis and ensuing recession meant that capital for the project was hard to drum up and even now remains a challenge, although Palatnik said the developers are nearly done raising money.

He will ask the BSA to extend the length of time the variance applies to the parcel of land because of the economic circumstances beyond the control of the developer.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does it really matter
what happens in College Point any more?

It's the recognized shit hole of northeast Queens.

Anonymous said...

services suck but boy oh boy every friggen development project is on the fast trac.

the only thing the city does better is provide ad nausium photo ops to sanctimonious political hacks.

Anonymous said...

Let's continue to put 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag! Once again the city proves that College Point is a dumping ground!!!

Anonymous said...

Right across the water from LGA ... watch these people move in and then complain to the FAA about the noise, forcing yet another difficult noise-abatement maneuver on the pilots ...

Anonymous said...

The owner of this property, King's associate, is known among the Chinese community as an unlicensed architect.

Anonymous said...

Uh...the elusive Wellington (Zhou) Chen
used to boast that he went to "architecture school".

Oh....really?
Did he graduate?
What "prominent' school in Taiwan did he attend?

Usually when one graduates...
he usually says that he holds a degree from...
i.e. Pratt Institute, Yale University etc.

One of Tommy Huang's old business cards listed him as (sic) an "enginer".
I suppose he meant engineer.

Really now?

Anonymous said...

800,000-1,000,000 waterfront condos, ill take them! Xant wait for all of college points property values to go up!!! Money is being pumped into this town!