A little more unaffordable housing in Queens

 

 Queens Post

A total of 1,412 units across six upcoming luxury buildings are expected to transform the Queens Plaza area in Long Island City by creating much-needed housing in the area.

All six projects are expected to be completed as early as this year and no later than 2026. As each project nears completion, the housing units will be put on the market.

One of the projects anticipated to be completed this year is the Noble, at 27-09 40th Ave. This luxury condominium building will consist of 46 units across six floors. Among the amenities for homeowners are indoor parking, bike storage, a residents lounge, a fitness center, rooftop terraces and personal storage lockers. The building is also pet-friendly. This project was developed by Gus Vorillas and Tony Raouf, and the architect is HCN Architect.

The other project expected to be completed in 2024 is the Mason, at 40-46 24th St. Another luxury condominium building, the Mason, will consist of 42 units across six floors. Amenities for each unit include washers and dryers and Latch keyless entry doors. A majority of the homes there will have private outdoor spaces. Jasper Wu is the developer of this project and the architect is My Architect P.C..

You can feel the rent trickle down already.

 

LIC luxury public housing tower that's spooning the clock tower is complete

 

 NY YIMBY

 It looks like construction is coming to a close on Sven, a 762-foot-tall skyscraper at 29-37 41st Avenue and the second-tallest building in Long Island City, Queens. Also known as Queens Plaza Park, the 67-story tower is designed by Handel Architects for The Durst Organization and will yield 958 rental units with interiors designed by Selldorf Architects, including 300 units set aside as affordable housing. Hunter Roberts is the general contractor and Jaros, Baum & Bolles Engineering administered the mechanical systems for the project, which is bound by Northern Boulevard to the east, Queens Plaza North and Dutch Kills Green to the south, and 41st Avenue to the west.

Since our last update in April, the exterior hoist has been fully disassembled from the flat western elevation and the glass façade panels have filled in the exposed gap. Only some minor work remains to be completed around the ground level.

 The most notable aspect of the skyscraper’s design is its dual-concave shape, and its sweeping curve is most prominent when viewed from below in the park space that makes up Dutch Kills Green.

Another too tall tower for LIC

From LIC Post:

Yet another tower could be heading to Long Island City, with reports of a 70-story skyscraper in the works for the Queens Plaza neighborhood.

The massive development has been pegged at 42-50 24th St., according to City Realty, just one block away from the Queensboro Plaza station, meaning the tower would join several 60 to 70 story towers under development in the area.

While there have been no building permits filed for the site yet, records dating back from 2015 show that the property, a taxi dispatch garage spanning 34,000 square feet, was purchased for $69 million by Property Markets Group and Dynamic-Hakim.

Renderings posted by one of the developers show plans for a one-million square foot project, with both commercial and residential components. The site, still under development, will be a “luxury tower”, according to developers.

The property is within an M1-5/R9 zoning district, which allows for high-density, tall towers.

Show Palace shut down

From the Queens Chronicle:

Lawmakers and other opponents of Long Island City strip club Show Palace are celebrating this week after police shut down the problematic venue last Saturday.

Armed with a court order, officers from the NYPD’s vice unit walked into the 45-20 21 St. all-nude venue around midnight, ordered everyone to leave and posted a notice on the door, saying it had been shut down by the authorities.

The closure came a little more than a month after police raided the venue and arrested five women on prostitution-related charges — the latest in a laundry list of alleged crimes, including drug offenses and a handful of nonfatal shootings, that have either occurred there or were otherwise stemmed from confrontations at Show Palace over the years.

63-story skyscraper next to clock tower

From the Queens Gazette:

The Durst Organization has filed plans to develop a 63-story tower in a lot next door to the landmarked Clock Tower Building at Queens Plaza in Long Island City.

The new tower will feature 763 residential units and a public park, plans show. The Durst Organization acquired the parcel from Property Markets Group in December 2016 for $173.5 million., contingent on the renewal of the New York State 421-a tax program that offers tax breaks to developers in exchange for the creation of affordable housing.

State lawmakers approved a new version of the program in spring 2017. Under the program, developers will set aside at least 28 per cent of the Durst tower’s 763 apartments as affordable housing.

An item on the Real Deal website in December said developer Kevin Maloney, of Property Markets Group, indicated that an acquisition note on the clock tower project was coming due, so he felt it was time to sell the property.

The new, 63-story Super Tower will rise 710-feet from ground level and will feature 8,702-square-feet of retail space, according to the plans.

The Durst Organization is not planning any changes to the Clock Tower building, which was awarded landmark status by the city in 2015, a spokesperson for the Durst Organization said.

Partial collapse of building near Queens Plaza

From DNA Info:

The partial collapse of an apartment tower construction site near Queensboro Plaza injured six workers Monday, authorities said.

The workers suffered minor to moderate injuries in the incident, which took place at 42-20 27th St. around 11 a.m. when crews were pouring concrete into a 20-by-20 foot form that collapsed onto the seventh floor below, according to the FDNY and Department of Buildings.

The six hurt workers were taken to local hospitals for ailments that included back, leg and arm injuries, FDNY officials said. All were in stable condition.

The DOB halted all construction and issued a violation for failure to safeguard the site, according to a spokesman.

Concerns over LIC rezone

From DNA Info:

The city is eyeing a 50-block swath of Long Island City for possible rezoning, an effort to spur development of more office space and affordable housing — but some locals worry the change would only speed up gentrification in the increasingly pricey neighborhood.

The Department of City Planning held a community meeting Tuesday about a portion of Queens Plaza and Dutch Kills, the first in a series of public discussions over the next several months before officials make specific zoning recommendations sometime this summer, they said.

The goal is to encourage the creation of more office space in the area — which has been dominated in recent years by new residential construction — and to implement the city's new Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) amendment, which would require developers of new buildings in the area to construct affordable units on or off-site.

Worrying about gentrification in LIC at this point is like closing the barn door after the horse ran away.

LIC Clock Tower owners sell parcel next door

From the NY Times:

Things are getting choppy in New York’s once-rocketing residential real estate market.

Last week, the developers of what was planned as the city’s tallest tower outside of Manhattan gave up and sold their site next to the historic clock tower building in Queens Plaza to the Durst Organization for $173.5 million.

The developers, Kevin Maloney and Kamran Hakim, spent nearly three years buying land in Long Island City for the $750 million skyscraper. But, Mr. Maloney said in an interview this week, “we didn’t have the horsepower to get it done.”

The Dursts said they would erect a rental tower that may be just as tall as Mr. Maloney had planned, 914 feet.

The sale was the latest evidence that things are getting more difficult for developers: The market for high-end condominiums and rental apartments has slowed, costs have gone up and construction loans have been harder to get as dozens of new buildings open in neighborhoods throughout the city.

"Made in Queens" is a big flop

From LIC Post:

A Long Island City popup shop dedicated to selling Queens-made merchandise is closing several months ahead of schedule due to weak business.

Made In Queens, located at 27-24 Queens Plaza South, was established by the Queens Economic Development Corporation in June to sell goods from local manufacturers.

The store, which was supposed to remain open until the end of March, is now closing at the end of the year since it has become “unsustainable,” said QEDC Director of Business Services Sante Antonelli.

The store was funded by a $40,000 grant from Capital One, allowing the QEDC to secure the space and cover operating costs. The makers also paid a fee to sell their products in the store, ranging from $150 per month for food products to $350 per month for non-food products.

Despite these sources of funding, the store operated at a loss, Antonelli said, largely due to lack of foot traffic in and out of the store.

Isn't foot traffic the number one thing you look at when you decide on a location to open a retail store?

Queensboro Plaza subway from 1940 to 1960

More mega-towers planned for Queens Plaza

From DNA Info:

Developer Tishman Speyer released a rendering and update Monday on its massive, two-tower office and retail complex planned for Queens Plaza — a project city officials are calling a "major job generator" for the neighborhood.

The developer and investment company Qatari Diar are building the 1.1-million-square-foot project at 28-10 Queens Plaza South, next to Tishman Speyer's existing building at 2 Gotham Center, which houses offices for the city's Department of Health.

The complex will feature two, 27-story office towers connected by four stories of retail at their base, which will include a food hall, restaurant and parking garage, according to the developers.

Developer looking to flip LIC Clock Tower site

From Curbed:

What was once supposed to be the site of the tallest tower outside of Manhattan will be no more, at least for now. Developers Property Markets Group and the Hakim Organization want to sell their 1 million square foot parcel of land behind the clocktower building in Long Island City, The Real Deal reports. Plans here called for a 77-story building standing 914-feet tall and with 800 apartments, making it the tallest building outside of Manhattan when it was announced. That record has since gone to the JDS’ in-development supertall in Downtown Brooklyn. In Queens, a planned 964-foot tower would also have overtaken PMG and Hakim’s building, but that project still seems to be in the planning stages.

Millstones damaged yet again

From DNA Info:

One of the historic millstones on display in Dutch Kills Green had to be repaired by the Parks Department this week, after a piece of the stone fell off for the second time in the last few years.

The stones, believed to be relics from a nearby tide mill, have been on display in the Queens Plaza park since shortly after it opened in 2012 — despite calls from a local historian who worries the artifacts will be damaged in the busy outdoor spot.

One of the round stones was repaired Tuesday by Parks Department workers after a chunk of it that broke off previously came loose again, according to spokeswoman Meghan Lalor. Workers who made the repairs used a stronger adhesive to reattach the piece this time, she added.

This isn't the first time the stones have been marred — according to the Daily News, a chunk of one stone originally fell in 2012. Someone then tagged one of the stones with graffiti in 2013, as DNAinfo reported at the time.

The stones were repaired and cleaned in both instances, though local historian Bob Singleton of the Greater Astoria Historical Society believes the incidents are proof that the busy Queens Plaza park is the wrong spot for the artifacts. Their location makes them vulnerable to vandalism, pollution and the elements, he said.

LIC clock tower is officially designated a landmark

From the Queens Courier:

The decision is finally in, and the beloved Clock Tower in Long Island City is not going anywhere.

On Tuesday the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to landmark the 11-story tower in Queens Plaza, formerly the Bank of the Manhattan Company building.

“For nearly a century, the Queens Clock Tower building has been one of Long Island City’s most recognizable structures, greeting hundreds of thousands of commuters as they enter the borough,” said Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan. “The commission is proud to recognize this iconic building, which represents a significant period of development in Long Island City.”

It's funny how all of the news reports about landmarking this building fail to mention the real reason why it was designated. AIR RIGHTS.

Nolan opposed to megatower

From LIC Post:

“The extreme height of this building would be out of character with the neighborhood and not supported by the present infrastructure,” she said in a statement.

“I am concerned that as the Long Island City community continues to grow, the demand for basic transportation needs, health facilities and classroom seats are not keeping up with demand. This proposed development will add another 925 units and possibly, by conservative estimates another 1500-2000 people.

Our community cannot take another big development without dramatic improvements to the current infrastructure in transportation, health facilities and schools. I am calling on the MTA to rethink this deal because the quality of life for our community and Queens Transit riders will be seriously diminished.”

UPDATE: However, with the MTA deal, the 70 story building conforms with New York City zoning regulations and the developer is able to build it as-of-right. The MTA claims that the matter Nolan is concerned about deals with zoning.

Hmmm, do you think that maybe...just maybe...these pols are starting to wake the F up? Lately they seem to be talking about things like strain on infrastructure after years of sitting back and waiting to smile at the cameras with shovels in their hands. Let's make sure this continues.

What 77 stories in Queens Plaza would look like

From Nick Normal:

The clocktower, resting here since 1927 and historically famed as “the tallest building in Queens” for 63 years until the Citigroup tower (located .4+ miles away) surpassed it in 1990, is only 14 or 15 stories tall, depending on how you measure the ground floor. So when I saw those dirt outlines I thought, “OK, but what would a 77 story building actually look like?”

I’m sure whatever they propose will be full of lots of steel and glass and absolute lack of creativity or character, but I also thought I’d assist the conversation a bit by showing what the clocktower would look like if it were 77 stories tall, in context with the surrounding neighborhood structures:

Now that just seems silly!

Of course, even these satellite images are not current. There’s been so much construction in recent months that the plot about 1″ to the left of the clocktower at this scale is a future hotel being built currently – what you see here that is just foundation is now some 20+ stories tall (seen in background in video below). So the neighborhood is already scaling up, but 77 stories just seems excessive, even gluttonous.

MTA sells air rights to clock tower developers

From DNA Info:

The MTA board voted to sell unused development rights from one of its Queens properties for nearly $56 million to a developer planning to build the borough's tallest building.

Through the deal made on Wednesday, the developer of a proposed 70-story apartment tower will be able to build up to 77 stories instead of the 38 the current zoning at the site allows, and up to 490 additional apartments, according to the MTA board documents.

Once the sale is finalized, the MTA will transfer 478,000 square feet from an MTA-owned lot at Northern Boulevard and 40th Road to the development group Queens Plaza Park Development LLC, which includes Property Markets Group and The Hakim Organization.

The sale is expected to go through in the next month or two, an MTA spokesman said.

Massive development going up next to LIC Clock Tower

From The Real Deal:

Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group is planning to build a 70-story mixed-use tower at the edge of Queensboro Plaza in Long Island City, according to an application filed with the city’s Department of Buildings today.

The 772-foot-tall building at 29-37 41st Avenue will span nearly 830,000 square feet and hold 930 apartments. There will also be nearly 15,000 square feet of commercial space.

The company purchased the development site for $46.3 million last year from Queens-based developer Steven Cheung, who had paid just $8 million three years earlier.

Maloney’s company also recently purchased the Long Island City clock tower building next door, a point of contention with preservationists in the area who want to see the building landmarked.

From Crains:

A Manhattan developer plans to erect a 70-story apartment tower in Long Island City, Queens, that is four times bigger than what the site was zoned for, according to public documents reviewed by Crain’s.

Property Markets Group has proposed to build a 930-unit residential building along 41st Avenue, near the corner of Bridge Plaza North, that will clock in at 830,000 square feet, The Real Deal reported Wednesday.

But according to city records, the site at 29-37 41st Ave. was zoned for something closer to a 200,000-square-foot building.

Property Markets Group declined to comment.

Property Markets Group already owns an adjacent site, which is home to the Clock Tower building. But even if that property were combined with the site of the proposed tower, there would still not be enough square footage to build 70 stories tall.

To do so, Property Markets Group could have acquired unused development rights from an adjacent site controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

That parcel of land borders Property Markets Group's parcel to the northeast, and is being used in conjunction with the MTA's East Side Access project. The plot likely holds more than 1 million square feet of unused development rights, according to a Crain’s estimate, and could be the source of the project's extra height.

The MTA declined to comment.

Queens Plaza strip club vacates!

From LIC Post:

Scandals, the gritty strip club that was located in the Queens Plaza district, has closed.

The club shut its doors at its 24-03 Queen Plaza North location about 3 weeks ago, according to adjacent tenants and nearby residents. The well-known jiggle-joint had been at that location since 2002.

Scandals stood out from other strip clubs since it was highly visible from the elevated 7-train platform as well as for Manhattan-bound motorists who were about to drive over the Queensboro bridge.

The club’s closure is just part of the ongoing transformation of the Queens Plaza district, which has gone from a beaten-up wasteland to a high-end residential playground.

The Chinese restaurant next door is also closed.

Union organizers sent packing at Packard Square

From the Daily News:

TWO QUEENS siblings have filed a federal complaint alleging they were fired from their jobs as doormen at a Long Island City luxury building for spearheading a campaign to join a union.

Andres and Kevin Galarza, 20 and 22, of Jamaica, said they were fired last month by a manager at the Packard Square complex in Long Island City, where they had been working for about eight months.

“He told me he received a call from the owners of the company, and he didn’t want my brother and I to work there any more,” Andres Galarza told the Daily News.

Both men said they were at the forefront of an effort to get the doormen at the three-building complex on Crescent St. to join SEIU 32BJ, hoping improve their benefits and $8.75-an-hour pay.