Coming soon to a streetscape near you?

From Brownstoner:

Another building is set to sprout up on 4th Avenue in Park Slope.

Renderings spotted outside 269 4th Avenue display a 12-story u-shaped building, with what might be an open courtyard on the ground level.

The most striking feature are two twin cantilevered sections on the top five floors, which loom over the three-story building next door at 265 4th Avenue. The top four floors appear to have balconies, and there will be additional rooftop recreation space open to all residential tenants, according to a permit application filed with the Department of Buildings.

Is this really the direction we want architecture to go in?

Steinway Mansion debacle gets even more embarrassing

From George the Atheist

Steinway warehouse renderings revealed

From George the Atheist:

Will Chinese investors go for a residential fantasy on Newtown Creek?

From Curbed:

As with the equally polluted (give or take) Gowanus Canal, it seems like only a matter of time before the banks of Newtown Creek give way to large-scale residential development, and to get things started architectural firms Avoid Obvious Architects and Studio C Architects have designed just such a development for a currently industrial East Williamsburg site, on spec. One of the architects told NY YIMBY, "we hope to find the right investors in China." The plan consists of three glassy towers connected by planted walkways. One of the towers would be condos (naturally), one would be a hotel, and the third would be "dedicated as artist's studio." (The entire thing? Apparently.) The renderings do raise some questions, though, such as: at what point did the barren industrial wasteland of East Williamsburg turn into a lush forest?

DHS at it again in Williamsburg

From Brownstoner:

We found this very interesting rendering on the fence at 14 Olive Street in East Williamsburg that seems to show an old stable and factory building — but it actually appears to be a controversial homeless shelter that will be nine stories tall! (Apologies for the not-very-clear photo — the rendering was posted high up on the fence.)

In front is what looks like a circa-1900 Brooklyn stable building, with a commercial or factory building from the early 20th century or even earlier rising behind it. (We’d say the building in the back almost looks like an Jacobean country house!)

A sign above the quaint stable-style door says “Joseph & Son Restoration Inc.” Our first thought was that a salvage-architectural-design firm was putting up a new commercial building in its working style. Googling revealed Joseph & Son Restoration may be a smoke damage repair service.

The site is currently an empty lot, and the new-building permit is for a nine-story, 30-unit dormitory or hotel. The second floor will house a “community facility” described as an “ambulatory diagnostic and treatment health care facility” on the Schedule A.

We don’t see any specific mention of what might be the smoke restoration business. (The first floor will include a “warehouse,” parking for six cars, a lobby, trash compactor room and janitor’s closet.) We’re wondering, though, if it might employ some formerly homeless people living at the facility? The owner listed on the permit is Jozef Birnbach and the architect of record is Victor Filletti.

There is a Facebook page dedicated to “stopping the proposed huge nine-story homeless shelter at 14 Olive Street,” in its words. The page has not been updated since 2013. A petition from the group raises concerns about a nearby church and school, among other things.

East Elmhurst construction center renderings published

From Brownstoner Queens:

New York YIMBY snatched up shiny new renderings of the gigantic convention center planned across from Citi Field and Willets Point, at 112-21 Northern Boulevard. This building will hold a lot: a 105,964-square-foot convention center, 97,180 square feet of retail, 11,300 square feet of restaurants, 292 hotel rooms and 208 apartments. The whole shebang, to be called the La Guardia Convention Center, will be LEED Gold Certified.

The developer, Fleet Financial Group, purchased the former Ford dealership in 2013 for $17 million. Construction was supposed to start last summer but it looks like nothing’s happened yet, and we’re unsure of a construction timeline.

A look at what will replace 5 Pointz

From PIX 11:

As a construction team prepares to tear down 5 Pointz, renderings of what will replace the graffiti mecca have been released.

The two giant towers will be built in the next three to five months.

Together, the buildings will have 1,000 rental units, including penthouses and affordable housing.

There will also be a pool, a courtyard and an art wall.

One of the towers will also have retail stores.

The permits to build the towers were filed last week.

That's one fugly building!

From WyckoffHeights.org:

A rendering has been posted for the “conversion and enlargement” underway at 482-484 Seneca Avenue (near Harman).

It’s unclear how accurate the rendering posted on site is intended to be — the approved plans are for a 50-foot, four-story building while the image appears to show a six story building; the massing is somewhat different than the approved zoning diagram; and the neighboring buildings — a funeral home and a laundromat — bear no resemblance to what is shown in the rendering. One hopes the same for the finished building.

The Queensway dream continues

From the Forum:

The Friends of the QueensWay and the Trust for Public Land rolled out a new series of design concepts in anticipation of the group’s upcoming public workshops in Forest Hills and Richmond Hill.

The group announced its second round of community workshops earlier this month as part of the QueensWay feasibility and planning project with hopes of engaging the public in plans to transform an abandoned 3.5-mile stretch of railway into a 47-acre linear park and cultural greenway. A series of preliminary design concepts were released this week, showcasing the QueensWay team’s site analysis and ideas contributed by area residents during recent months.

Each of the early design concepts showcased greenery separated by sprawling walkways for Queens residents to peruse. The Friends of QueensWay spokeswoman said the group hoped it would influence a positive dialogue as the QueensWay feasibility and planning study progresses past its early stages.

I admire this group's enthusiasm and persistence (half a million dollars from TPL helps) but is this a realistic portrayal of what a park in central/southern Queens would look like? Identify where the money for building and maintaining this fantasy is expected to come from and then the community could actually have a meaningful dialogue about it.

Is this the LaGuardia of the future?

From the NY Post:

This is what LaGuardia Airport could look like by 2021 — a far cry from the current dilapidated “Third World” facility.

Manhattan design firm Neoscape created renderings for the advocacy group Global Gateway Alliance that showcase a modern-looking airport with an airy main terminal, based on parameters established by the Port Authority.

The 1.3-million-square-foot space is one-third larger than the current central terminal.

LaGuardia currently handles double the amount of passengers for which it was built. About 12 million people travel through the airport each year, and the number is expected to rise to 18 million by 2030.

The new airport design leaves space for a future direct subway line.

Flushing Commons renderings are full of white folk

Brownstoner Queens has renderings of Flushing Commons. Click to see what Downtown Flushing would look like without Asian people. Oh, and another interesting factoid: " Phase 1 should finish by April 2017 and Phase 2 will break ground in 2018. The whole shebang should wrap in the early 2020s and cost a grand total of $850,000,000."

Heh. Haven't we been talking about this project for more than a decade now?