Friday, August 1, 2014

Bell Blvd building to meet wrecking ball

From the Queens Courier:

Longtime Bayside firm Pilling Real Estate closed a big sale—its own building.

After more than 30 years in the same Bayside office at 42-18 Bell Blvd., the firm packed up everything Monday, July 28, in preparation to move after owner Betty Pilling sold the building for $1.15 million in May, according to city records.

The new owner, Bell Realty, plans to transform the building, which was built in 1931 according to the Department of City Planning, into a three-story mixed-use residential and commercial structure.

The building will expand from two stories to three and will have four residential units, according to the Department of Buildings filings. It will be similar to the relatively new building next door, a four-story mixed-use residential and commercial building, where a new fried chicken restaurant plans to open on the first floor.


And here's what's next door:

5 comments:

We're Queens - We Can't Have Nice Things said...

What is it with all the cheap-looking stucco buildings in Queens these days? They're so incredibly ugly!

It is a pity that this nice little gem of a building will be turned into an ugly stucco monster.

And to think that a real estate agency would want to destroy something so beautiful!

Boycott Bayside Realty for destroying a beautiful piece of local history!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful? But it has vinyl siding!

Anonymous said...

My house was built in 1930 and is stucco, and the stucco looks nothing like the crap they use today. Maybe they use faux stucco.

Scott68 said...

Let's not forget folks, people are free to sell for whatever reason they choose. What transpires after that is what needs to be paid attention to.

If the new owner follows the rules and regulations, what more can be asked?

If a particular community is so concerned, they should buy the parcel as an organization and keep it as they see fit as long as rules and regulations are followed.

Let's not nitpick folks.

scotty9500 said...

Oh come now. We can be as picky as we want. There are plenty of other neighborhoods to uglify.
Anyway, that stuff they're referring to is not stucco. It's EIFS (exterior insulation finishing systems), and it's a cheap imitation of real masonry. Is basically a board of Styrofoam covered with a cementitious coating, a fine fibrous mesh, more cementitious coating, and am exterior grade paint that usually has some sand, pebbles, or both in it for texture. It doesn't usually look that good for so long. If u can afford real masonry, by all means, go REAL.