Crane accident causes problems on 7 line

Significant damage to train tracks due to accident on elevated #7 Line. No service from Maim Street Station pic.twitter.com/ruO8MufWPK

— NYPD 109th Precinct (@NYPD109Pct) July 25, 2015

From Eyewitness News:

Service on the 7 subway line has currently been restored with delays after a crane-hoisting accident in Flushing, Queens.

The crane was lifting construction material to the rooftop of stores at about 1 p.m. when the hoist broke and the load was spilled onto the 7 tracks at Roosevelt Avenue and College Point Boulevard.

The debris apparently caused a small fire and smoke condition on the track.

Service was originally suspended in both directions, but resumed with residual delays just before 4:30 p.m.

Big Flushing River parcel for sale

From Brownstoner Queens:

River Park Place, a waterfront parcel across from Sky View Parc in Flushing, is now up for grabs. New York YIMBY reports that LEV Group is trying to sell the site after purchasing it for $26,000,000 in 2006. Nothing’s built yet, but there are approved plans for a mixed-use development with four towers, 457 apartments, office space and a day care. (There’s potential to build up to a FAR of 4.8 if the developer also decides to include a community facility here.) The current plan was designed by architect Ismael Leyva.

Bickering over Skyview Parc

From the NY Post:

Muss Development, a joint-venture partner with Onex Real Estate Partners, is putting giant Sky View’s unbuilt, second residential phase up for sale.

Muss is expected to put out a formal offering this week via Massey Knakal for development rights to Sky View Parc’s second trio of condo towers. The three additional towers, totaling 650,000 square feet, are planned to rise atop the complex’s 800,000 square-foot Skyview Center retail base, which is nearly 100 percent leased to stores including Nordstrom Rack, Marshall’s, Target and Best Buy.

“We have been retained by Muss to sell development rights to Phase 2,” Massey Knakal principal Robert Knakal told us.

However, Muss’ move seemed to take its partner by surprise.

Onex Real Estate Partners CEO Michael S. Dana, in consultation with his lawyer, Fried Frank real estate Chairman Jonathan Mechanic, told us: “Phase 1 turned out to be a tremendous success. We’re 100 percent committed to Flushing and to the second phase. We believe it will be even more successful than Phase 1.”

Dana said due to confidentiality rules, he could not comment on Muss’ action. But, “Onex is committed to proceeding to build phase 2” and hoped to begin construction in November.

Whatever’s going on between the partners, the Muss move is the latest twist in the project’s long and complicated history.

Nordstrom's may be headed to Flushing

From the Wall Street Journal:

Nordstrom Inc. is close to signing a lease for a Nordstrom Rack in Flushing, Queens. It would be the fashion giant's latest deal as it muscles its way into the New York retail scene.

Nordstrom Rack, the discount division of the Seattle-based company, is in late-stage negotiations to open a store at the Shops at SkyView Center, an 800,000-square-foot mall in Flushing, according to people familiar with the matter. The store would be the first in Queens for Nordstrom, which also has announced plans recently for two Nordstrom Racks in Brooklyn and its first full-line store in New York on West 57th Street.

Terms of the deal weren't available. But Brooklyn's two Nordstrom Racks are in the 33,000- to 41,000-square-foot range.

If the lease is signed, it would be the latest sign that Flushing is taking an upscale turn thanks to the growing buying power of the city's Chinese population. For decades, the neighborhood has been known for ethnic foods and small businesses.

Would you pay $1.38M to live along the Flushing River?

From The Real Deal:

The final tower at Sky View Parc, the massive mixed-use project looming over Flushing, Queens, has hit the market, representatives for developer Onex Real Estate Partners, confirmed to The Real Deal today.

The tower, known as Tower 2, holds 134 studio, one-, two- and three-bedrooms over 17 floors, including 22 penthouses, according to a spokesperson for Onex. Helen Lee, a director with Onex, said that 32 percent of the available units were in contract within four hours of the soft sales launch. Onex has marketed apartments at Tower 2 by word of mouth for about the last five weeks, but began officially marketing the condominiums this week.

It seems the tides have turned for the mammoth project, which struggled in recent years, as lawsuits and the recession plagued the development, which reportedly cost an estimated $1 billion to build. In tandem with the 800,000-square-foot mall below, called Sky View Center, the project is the largest mixed-use development in Flushing.

Condos at Tower 2 start at $325,000, a statement from the developer said. The most expensive unit listed so far is a 1,653-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bathroom asking $1.38 million, according to Streeteasy.com.

Fannie Mae ❤ SkyView Parc

From Crains:

The massive Sky View Parc condominium development in Flushing, Queens, has received a key thumbs up from Fannie Mae. The federally backed institution will insure mortgages in two of the development's three buildings, according to their owner Onex Real Estate Partners on Friday. The news marks an important milestone for the long-troubled project.

The two towers, at 40-26 and 40-22 College Point Blvd. in downtown Flushing, are 75% sold or in contract, according to Onex. Sales at the 448-unit development have rebounded since last year when the sponsors settled a lawsuit with dozens of buyers at the development. The buyers had sued to get out of their contracts to buy $50 million worth of apartments. The settlement gave them more than $3 million.

Two years ago Related Cos. was tapped to manage the residential property to boost sales. Marketing of Sky View Parc began four years ago. Originally, Muss Development was a partner in the project but it is unclear if Muss still has a stake in the project. Onex took over in 2010. Sales of 134-unit Tower 2, the last building to rise at Sky View Parc, have not begun yet. The status of that building could not be determined immediately. Muss couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Baiting buyers with gummy bears

From The Real Deal:

The sales team behind Flushing’s $1 billion luxury condominium towers Skyview Parc won’t be marketing tower two until towers one and three are 75 percent sold. And that isn’t expected to happen until spring 2013, Helen Lee, the director of the Onex Group, which is marketing the building, told The Real Deal. As The Real Deal previously reported, towers two and three recently hit the 50 percent sold mark. Lee said that the prices of units in tower two, which Onex touts as having Skyview’s best light and Manhattan views, have not yet been determined.

The development recently celebrated the opening of “dEmo at the Parc,” an alfresco exhibit featuring the work of the Spanish artist Eladio de Mora, who is known as dEmo. In the four-acre rooftop garden, which boasts a tennis court, a playground and a putting course, dEmo’s 30 rainbow-colored plastic “gummy bears” of various sizes were on display. Top-40 hits played from a D.J. booth added to the promotional event’s playful vibe.

The event’s curator, Maria Boobis of Flushing’s Crossing Art, told The Real Deal that the artist’s goal was simply to make the party’s 81 brokers and 189 residents, guests and VIPs smile.

Sky View Center advertises its free parking

"Is retail business falling off at Sky View Center ?

A billboard featuring "free parking" was just taken by Related/Onex
on the eastern side of the LIRR train trestle that crosses Northern B'lvd. at the Broadway Station.

Is this meant to entice the gentile folk traveling from the more beautiful environs of northeast Queens to make the supreme sacrifice and visit congested, gridlocked downtown Flushing to do their shopping there ?

Why would they want to....for the free parking ?

All they have to do is travel a little further east to cleaner conditions and better shopping malls featuring the same chain stores and the same free parking." - The Flushing Phantom

Buyers get refunds from Sky View Parc

From the NY Post:

Sponsors of the massive, $1 billion Sky View Parc complex in Flushing will refund 75 percent of $5 million in down payments to buyers who backed out of contracts on $50 million worth of luxury apartments -- a settlement likely to send shivers through the ranks of the city's condo developers.

The agreement will recoup $3.69 million plus interest for 118 buyers represented by Adam Leitman Bailey, a lawyer who has filed suits for plaintiffs in numerous similar cases.

All the buyers sued under the once-obscure federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, which requires condo sponsors to register their project with the Housing and Urban Development department and to provide buyers with "disclosure" reports. As at many other condo projects, that was not done at Sky View Parc, located on College Point Boulevard.

The suit also cited alleged failure by Onex Real Estate Partners to disclose "substantial problems" at the project to the buyers. Those issues, reported in The Post last August, included at the time a $160 million cost overrun and loan restructurings.

They're still trying to hype Flushing...

From the NY Post:

One of the big question marks hanging over Queens real estate is what will become of Flushing?

Some New Yorkers know Flushing as the last stop on the 7 train — one stop beyond Citi Field. Or, as the huge Chinatown with its treasure trove of Qingdao and Hunan and Szechuan restaurants.

But it has also been the focus of some serious real estate development activity within the last few years, with a lot more to come. Over the next couple of months, hundreds of new condo units will be hitting the market (that number is slated to balloon into the thousands in the next few years). Along with the first wave of residential buildings are a number of big-box stores. And offices, public space and hotels are all on the drawing board.

But adding dozens of new retail outlets and thousands of new condos in the middle of a recession always carries risk — and Flushing is no exception.

By far the biggest thing coming to the neighborhood is Sky View Parc, a $1 billion, 14-acre development that started construction in 2007 (and went through various freezes and thaws since construction started).

“Flushing, outside of Manhattan, is the most vibrant 24/7 community in all of New York,” says Michael Dana, president of Onex Real Estate Partners, which is developing Sky View Parc. “If you look at entertainment, food, culture, the economy is quite strong in that sub-market, but it’s dramatically under-served from a retail and residential perspective.”

SkyView Parc is really Mussed up!

From the Wall Street Journal:

In one of the largest cases of buyers remorse in New York, scores of people who agreed to purchase apartments in a new development in Queens filed suit Monday seeking the return of their deposits.

The suit, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, could throw a wrench into the marketing efforts of Sky View Parc, a huge shopping center and condominium development that is planned to eventually include nearly 1,100 apartments in six towers.

The complex is a few blocks from the heart of the Flushing commercial district. It has been controversial because of its size and the impact it might have on local business and traffic.

When the development was first marketed in 2008, prices ranged from $385,000 for studios to more than $1.2 million for three-bedroom units on a high floor. Some prices have been raised slightly and some trimmed slightly since.

The complaint was filed on behalf of 67 would-be buyers in contracts to buy 41 condos. The complaint said that buyers wanted their money back because they were unable to obtain loans after the "collapse of the mortgage market" and were unable to close.

Their lawsuit said that the developers failed to file a disclosure statement. Such a statement is required in large developments under a federal law enacted in 1968 intended to help protect buyers from fraud in new real-estate subdivisions.

Flushing Commons & Sky View Parc lack financing

From the Neighborhood Retail Alliance:

In last week's WSJ, the paper covered the city council vote on Flushing Commons and got the following interesting quote from an ebullient Mike Myer: "In Flushing, the council approved rezoning for Flushing Commons. The $850 million project includes 600 residential units, 185,000 square feet of offices, 235,000 square feet of retail space, 1,600 underground parking spots and a 1.5-acre public green space. In 2005, co-developers Rockefeller Group Development Corp. and TDC Development Corp. won the bid to build on the city-owned site, and have worked since on rezoning and a plan to compensate businesses that will be affected by construction. "It was a Herculean effort," said TDC President Michael Meyer before the vote. "We've gone through two real-estate cycles…Starting tomorrow, we'll go out and look for financing."

So, let's get this straight. The developer was awarded this bid and got city council approval without any guarantee that the project is financible in this current economic climate-and what happens in case of a default? Has EDC built into the disposition any fail/safe provisions that will allow the city to reclaim the property should TDC be unable to fulfill its obligations in a timely manner? But perhaps, the city planning to convey the property to the developer without any strings attached?

Now Mr. Myer, as clever and slippery a character as we have seen-full of false bonhomie- was asked repeatedly during the ULURP process about his organization's fiscal capabilities. And, according to those at the various hearings on the land use application, the ever shifty realtor did what he does best-he shucked and ducked. But that was land use-and now we are going to have to determine the procedures for disposing of the muni lot property-and questions of financial viability should be front and center.

In addition, there is the further potential that the developer will have its funding stream collapse in the middle of construction-after the parking structure is demolished-leaving only a Robert Moses style hole in the ground. Is the city protected in case of this eventuality? Even more so, are the Union Street and other Flushing merchants going to be indemnified-not by the city-but by the developer should this kind of parking disaster occur?

And what ever happened to the 17 stipulations that CB #7-and the Queens BP promulgated? Well, one thing we know for sure is that they have been disappeared in the course of the land use review. How do these entities feel about being totally ignored-after being used as "supporters" of Flushing Commons?" And, since they will be central to the borough board process, will they be looking to amend the disposition agreement to incorporate some of the stips that were agreed to?

And over at Sky View Parc...

From the NY Post:

The developer of the mam moth, $1 billion-plus Sky View Parc condo-retail complex in downtown Flushing is scrambling to borrow nearly $150 million so it can complete the first phase of the project -- drastically overbudget and behind schedule.

Sky View Parc was conceived as something new in Queens: a luxurious, 1,000-unit residential enclave designed to exploit Flushing's status as a thriving center of Asian and Asian-American life. Residents would enjoy a private elevated park and pool, and shoppers would flock to 795,000 square feet of big-box type stores.

But according to a summary for participants in a senior lenders' meeting on June 16, "total cost overruns" on Sky View Parc, which started work in 2007, were $160,802,000 as of last December -- compared to the original budget for the project's first phase, which a source estimated at $600 million.

Now, the project's general partner, Onex Real Estate Partners, is seeking to restructure a $519.3 million construction loan to extend the term by three years and to borrow an additional $144.6 million.

So far, several lenders have not yet agreed to a restructuring plan by Eurohypo Bank AG and Wells Fargo. While the original loan might have been exhausted, work continues, thanks to equity Onex pumped in -- but long-term restructuring is deemed critical.

Now that's Mussed up!

From The Real Deal:

Even as it garners some negative attention in Queens, Muss continues to look for new opportunities.

According to the Observer, Muss is one of the 29 firms that submitted a competitive bid to the city to redevelop the massive Willets Point site in Queens. The company is up against heavy hitters like Silverstein Properties and Related, but may have an edge thanks to its experience in the boroughs.

They're kidding, right?

Richard Xia, president of Fleet Financial Group, a developer in Flushing who sold out his new luxury Shangri-La Towers condo development last year in spite of the downturn, attributed the challenges facing Sky View Parc to its location, which "is a little bit off the center of Flushing and the downtown area."

But he noted that the Bloomberg administration's Flushing redevelopment plan calls for an overall shift of downtown's center of gravity toward College Point Boulevard, where Sky View Parc is located.

The construction of Sky View Parc, in fact, is designed in part to help facilitate that shift.

Ahh, yeah, we figured that out...

Traffic at SkyView Parc a concern

From the Daily News:

THE SPRAWLING complex of condos and stores dubbed Sky View has been a looming presence on the Flushing landscape for years.

But the white colossus has been more of an uninhabited fortress of solitude until recently.

The first closings at Sky View Parc - several towers of condos set atop a shopping center at College Point Blvd. and Roosevelt Ave. - are set to begin in June.

Many locals have mixed feelings about the development, especially because the area is inundated with planned new projects with construction that promises to last for years to come.

"I'm excited about the project, but I do have some concerns," said Assemblywoman Grace Meng.

"That area is crowded now, any time of the day," said Meng (D-Flushing). "A serious concern is for parking, traffic flow and congestion."

There will be 1,650 retail and 350 residential parking spots when the first phase of construction ends, Rose said. When the final three towers are built, 400 spaces will be added.

The city Transportation Department plans to check the timing of traffic signals at College Point Blvd. and Roosevelt Ave. for delays due to heavier traffic in the area, agency officials said.

Some local leaders aren't so sure that will cut it.

"We don't believe the traffic scenario is going to work," said Community Board 7 Chairman Gene Kelty, though he conceded that the area could "always use the housing."

"The problem is the location," he said.