Queens Development [Archive] - Wired New York Forum

billyblancoNYC

February 18th, 2005, 02:00 AM

The start of what will likely become a long battle between developers and Queens Boulevard activists began in earnest Tuesday night, when plans were presented for two high-rises in Elmhurst. The buildings would become the community’s tallest structures.
While the developer says the proposed 16- and 17-story buildings will not alter the character of the neighborhood, residents expressed dismay at the project. The buildings, they said, will further burden an infrastructure that is already oversaturated.
“What will be the impact on the Police Department, the Fire Department, the hospitals and the schools?” asked Community Board 4 member Laraine Donohue at a Land Use Committee meeting. “Was any of that taken into consideration?”
The proposed building at 86-05 Queens Boulevard would be 16 stories and 180 feet tall. The second, at 85-15 Queens Boulevard, would be 17 stories and 196 feet. The site is located between Broadway and Reeder Street.
Both buildings would have retail space, community facilities and condominium apartments. All 300 parking spaces would be located at 85-15 Queens Boulevard.
The developer, James Pi, has been in negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a number of years about the development because portions of the properties are located directly above the subway.
Because of the tunnels and a creek that run under the south side of the property, parking cannot be built underground. The development company has applied to the Board of Standards and Appeals, asking that above-ground parking not be counted toward floor space.
There will be a public hearing in April but if the variance is granted by the BSA, the high-rises will be built as planned.
With the variance or without, developers insist they have the right to build on the property as they see fit. “The owner has the right to develop the property,” said Jordan Most, an attorney for the developer. “The developers have the right to a reasonable return on their investment.”
“You have the right to earn money, but you don’t have the right to ruin our community,” one board member responded.
While attorneys for the developers did not say how much the condominiums would cost, the median price of a home in Queens hit $400,000 last month, the highest it’s ever been.
Over the past several years, the eastern end of Elmhurst has been the site of new construction and proposals by both retailers and residential developers. Besides the Queens Center Mall and the Queens Place Mall, which are less than a mile away, Wal-Mart has also announced that it is interested in developing a nearby site.
“The whole problem is that they’re all descending on one area,” said CB 4 member Anthony Moreno. “What happens here is very important. This is a very important site to the community.”
Developers are flocking to the area for a number of reasons: the Long Island Expressway, and a number of bus and subway lines are all close by. Furthermore, as in other parts of Queens, demand for housing in being driven by a lack of affordable space left in the suburbs.
“There is an absolute paucity of developable land on Long Island,” said Paul Graziano, an urban planning consultant and the zoning chairman of the Queens Civic Congress. “People who in the past would have moved out to the Island are now settling in Queens.”
The result is that throughout the borough, older buildings are rapidly being razed and replaced with much larger dwellings. “There’s been a tremendous amount of demolition over the past several years,” Graziano said. “In many cases entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.”
Among the problems that Elmhurst residents say are becoming worse are noise and air pollution, traffic and overcrowding everywhere from buses to schools. Adding 178 condominiums, they say, will only make matters worse.
“All of our infrastructure is inundated,” Moreno said. “We don’t need this overdevelopment here.”
Because the developments are on Queens Boulevard, the additional traffic is a politically sensitive topic. There have been more than 27,000 accidents along the so-called “Boulevard of Death” from 1994 to 2003, according to the Department of Transportation. There have also been 85 fatalities since 1993.
Although there is a 14-story building nearby on Broadway and a 12-story building on Justice Avenue, Elmhurst is comprised primarily of single-family houses and 2- and 3-story multi-family buildings.
For their part, attorneys for the proposed development maintained that the requested variance will not be “detrimental to the public welfare,” a statement community members strongly disagreed with.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13980646&BRD=1863&PAG=461&dept_id=152656&rfi=6

Derek2k3

February 22nd, 2005, 03:21 PM

A rendering here.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13980647&BRD=1863&PAG=461&dept_id=152656&rfi=6

Gulcrapek

February 22nd, 2005, 06:22 PM

Attack of the giant flowers??

billyblancoNYC

March 16th, 2005, 04:40 PM

This is what I've been hoping for...nice site. There's a few more large sites like this that are M1, right in the middle of all residential, so this might make the others sell, too. Right neext door is a 100 plus house development, with another large parcel that was to be 55 and older housing, but it's still vacant. Maybe that will be more condos.

JV Plans Whitestone Project
By Barbara Jarvie
Last updated: March 16, 2005 01:04pm

WHITESTONE, NY-Locally based Bayrock Group LLC and Israel-based GMUL Investment Co. are in the process of acquiring 15 acres of waterfront property here for $25.5 million. The joint venture, called 151-45 Sixth Road Whitestone Partners LLC, intends to develop Waterpointe, a luxury condominium complex they anticipate will have development costs of between $100 million and $200 million, depending upon what zoning approval the site receives.

The project is currently being rezoned from M-1 to either R3-2, R4, or special use. Construction would not begin on the site until late 2006 early 2007. Located along the East River, the development team envisions building condominiums with a waterfront promenade, parks, playgrounds and tennis facilities for use by residents and the community.

Tevfik Arif, president of Bayrock, says the partnership feels the housing market in Whitestone, and Queens as a whole, is so hot right now. “The site is unmatchable, given its views and proximity to the water, and it truly is the largest remaining waterfront property available for development in the area.”

Bayrock owns the Loehmann’s Seaport Plaza in Brooklyn and currently has development projects in Park Slope & Brighton Beach Brooklyn, as well as a project on 73rd Street in Manhattan. Bayrock is developing projects in New York, Florida and Arizona, including Trump International Hotel & Towers in Fort Lauderdale and Phoenix.

GMUL Investment was founded in 1950. The company’s investments range across the sectors of real estate, technology, communications and investment funds with direct investments that exceed $250 million.

http://www.globest.com/news/242_242/newyork/132226-1.html

Kolbster

March 16th, 2005, 10:38 PM

very good news

Archit_K

March 17th, 2005, 12:34 AM

Change is good.
http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/Zwire1860/zwire/images/021705CQFront_W996.jpg
but this design is wack.

billyblancoNYC

March 18th, 2005, 02:52 AM

Now That Wal-Mart Is Out Century 21 Is Likely Tenant
by Kim Brown, Central and Mid Queens Editor
March 17, 2005
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14168666&BRD=1864&PAG=461&dept_id=152800&rfi=6

Vornado Realty Trust plans to develop the site at 62nd Dr. and Junction Blvd. in Rego Park. (photo by Michael O’Kane)
The Rego Park site that became the most well-known lot in Queens after Wal-Mart expressed interest, will likely be developed as two apartment buildings and a number of retail stores. Century 21 department store is expected to be the anchor tenant, according to the developer.
Representatives of Vornado Realty Trust—the company that owns the site at 63rd Road off Queens Boulevard—spoke publicly on Wednesday night for the first time since news about Wal-Mart made headlines citywide.
Vornado project manager Michael Berfield acknowledged that negotiations with the retail giant were off, but declined to say more about the subject or mention other possible tenants besides Century 21. Rather, Berfield discussed the proposed physical development on the Rego Park-Elmhurst border.
Although Vornado’s plans to construct an 18-story building, a 23-story building, a garage and a number of retail stores did not cause the same emotional reaction as Wal-Mart, many residents expressed concerns about the development’s impact on their community.
“The schools in this area, including the one we are in now, are extremely overcrowded,” said Audrey Dineen at the Community Board 5 meeting and public hearing, which was held at PS 206 in Rego Park. “Has anyone ever thought what’s going to happen if each family moves in with one school-age child?”
Berfield said the company completed the required study and found the schools will not be severely affected. “Based on the Environmental Impact Statement there is no significant impact,” he said.
Dineen disagreed. “There will be a very significant impact if each family has one child,” she said.
In addition to concerns about overcrowding in neighborhood schools, residents said they were worried about the effects the development would have on parking, traffic and existing businesses.
“The traffic and parking in this area are absolutely horrendous. Folks sit around for hours waiting for parking,” said Terry Lewis, who has been an Elmhurst resident for more than 24 years. “With another mall it’s going to be unbearable.”
Lewis said he approached Vornado about leasing a small portion of the site for a youth center, but was rebuffed. The center, he said, already has the backing of the City Council, State Senate and Assembly.
“There’s enough retail. There are stores, stores and more stores,” he said. “We don’t need any more stores when there are 20,000 young people in the community with no place to go.”
Vornado’s plans call for 650,000 square feet of retail space and 450,000 square feet of residential space. Approximately 450 apartments will be built above four levels of stores. A multilevel garage will have 1,400 parking spaces, 1,110 for shoppers and 300 for residents.
Philip Habib, an engineer hired by Vornado to mitigate traffic concerns, said there will be some changes to area roadways in order to alleviate congestion. The eastbound Long Island Expressway service road approaching Junction Boulevard would be widened to provide a right-turn lane. A new signal would be placed on the eastbound LIE service road at 97th Street. In addition, 62nd Drive would be widened by five feet to create a fifth lane.
Although rooftop gardens are part of the plans, they will only be open to residents. There will, however, be an enclosed pedestrian walkway between Junction Boulevard and 97th Street that will be open to the public. There will also be tree plantings and other improvements to the sidewalks that border the property.
The area bounded by Queens, Junction and Horace Harding Boulevards is within walking distance of the Queens Center Mall and Queens Place Mall. Because it is currently zoned only for residential use, Vornado is seeking a variance from the Board of Standard and Appeals to include retail space, which the company expects will be granted. The requested variance would also allow the developer to build fewer parking spaces than the number mandated by the city.
CB 5 will vote on the proposal at its April meeting, but ultimately, the decision about whether to allow developers to proceed will be left to the BSA.
Plans to build a Wal-Mart on the site fell through in late February after nearly three months of intense pressure from union leaders and politicians.
From the time that the negotiations were made public, Vornado Realty Trust—a Manhattan-based company that owns and manages office buildings, malls and hotels in several states as well as in Puerto Rico— has declined to discuss Wal-Mart with the press.
Those familiar with the negotiations say it is likely that Vornado, rather than Wal-Mart, buckled under community pressure. Some even speculated that when Vornado made the announcement, Wal-Mart had not yet been informed that the deal was off.
One of the reasons the site is so appealing is because of easy access to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Long Island Expressway and a number of bus and subway lines. “Clearly this is a site that is extremely visible and accessible,” said Stanton Eckstut, principal architect for the development. “It’s on the edge of a thriving community.”
But some residents say the development will destroy the very elements of the community that allow it to thrive.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Jim Galloway spoke for the Lefrak City Merchants Association, an organization that represents 72 “mom and pop” stores. “When the Queens Mall expanded, furniture, electronics and clothing stores went out of business,” he said. “We don’t want another devastation.”

billyblancoNYC

March 20th, 2005, 03:08 AM

Some new pics from the Rockaways:

http://arvernebythesea.com/gallery.htm

A new waterfront condo. Hopefully the start of many:

http://www.theoceangrande.com

Derek2k3

March 20th, 2005, 01:20 PM

Now That Wal-Mart Is Out Century 21 Is Likely Tenant
by Kim Brown, Central and Mid Queens Editor
March 17, 2005
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14168666&BRD=1864&PAG=461&dept_id=152800&rfi=6

http://www.eekarchitects.com/indprjdoc_eek.cfm?Action=ProjectDoc&webprojcatid=224&projectid=48327&categoryname=Residential

alex ballard

March 20th, 2005, 03:16 PM

Is there any residential development going on in Southeastern Queens?

billyblancoNYC

March 20th, 2005, 06:11 PM

http://www.eekarchitects.com/indprjdoc_eek.cfm?Action=ProjectDoc&webprojcatid=224&projectid=48327&categoryname=Residential

I thought it was 2 towers? This might be old.

billyblancoNYC

March 20th, 2005, 06:11 PM

Is there any residential development going on in Southeastern Queens?

Yes, mostly townhouses, maybe 2 families, semi-attached houses.

Gulcrapek

March 31st, 2005, 07:09 PM

Site 389, Forest Hills

http://www.ilarch.com/images/photos/Site389_BIG.jpg

Architect: Ismael Leyva
17 floors
150 units

"The massing of this new 165,000 sq. ft. building is animated by cantilevers and set-backs. These features create a feeling of dynamism. The new 17-story ensemble is happily solving the angular shape of the site. The retail base offers an interesting facade in which large areas of display windows are complemented by brick screens defining the second floor terraces. The new construction will accommodate one hundred and fifty units covering a variety of sizes; studios, one, two and three bedrooms totaling 141,000 sq. ft. On the street level there will be a residential lobby and also 24,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The underground parking level is sized for more than 130 cars."

NoyokA

March 31st, 2005, 07:17 PM

It looks to be sinking.

alex ballard

March 31st, 2005, 10:16 PM

Is Queens seeing families move in? What's going on with those brand new houses going up in the Northern sections? Is there new provisons in zoning to allow for certain areas (areas with good transit and infastrcture, like being along the 7 or Queens Blvd) to accomdate high growth, while preserving areas like Bayside and Laurelton?

Do you see Queens Becoming a Middle-Class Brooklyn? (a very dense residential bedroom community).

Derek2k3

April 2nd, 2005, 01:01 AM

I'll start this with minors,

85-17 120th Street.
6 floors, 46 units
Architect: T.F. Cusanelli

Times Newsweekly
Plan High-Rise Co-Op
Bldg. In Kew Gardens
by Jennifer Stevens

http://timesnewsweekly.com/Archives2004/Jan.-Mar.2004/021904/NewFiles/PLAN%20HIGH-RISE%20CO-OP.html

An application for a bulk variance to permit a six-story multiple dwelling in Kew Gardens caused some debate at the Community Board 9 meeting on February 1
Plans are currently in the works to build a co-op at 85-11/85-17 120th Street, where two houses stood before being demolished.
Some residents and CB 9 members expressed concern because the variance would allow the developer to build a structure that goes beyond what the New York City building code allows. These concerned parties claimed that granting variances of this kind will only encourage the overdevelopment of quiet neighborhoods.
“That property isn’t zoned for this kind of a building,” said Kew Gardens Civic Association President Dominic Pistone. “If you grant this variance, the result will be an intrusive structure and increased traffic.”
He urged CB 9 to reject the request of a developer who was “only looking to make more money by building more property.” He concluded with the statement, “Zoning counts!”
Joseph Morsellino, the developer’s attorney, argued that the variance would grant his client permission to build a structure with 46 units as opposed to 34, which is what the zone permits. Each floor would have seven or eight apartments.
The lot was purchased 15 years earlier, Morsellino said, and since that time, zoning allowances have changed. He also stated that the property was surrounded by two similar, six-story buildings across the street, and one on each side.
Morsellino also denied that the developer would use the variance to double the size of the allowed structure. He remarked that with a grant for extra space the developer would build a courtyard for residents to enjoy and to help beautify the structure, specifying that they would try to add more parking spaces for residents.
He also pointed out that even with the variance, the building would still be smaller than the ones that stand on either side of the property.
Some CB 9 members asked why the developer couldn’t just build within the zoning code. Morsellino responded that his client would then be forced to build outward instead of upward, forcing him to eliminate some of the parking spaces, and taking away money and space for certain amenities.
Several CB 9 members voiced opposition to the variance, but CB 9 President Paul Sapienza stated that he believed the developer was working to preserve the character of the neighborhood. A motion to support the variance was then passed.

Derek2k3

April 2nd, 2005, 04:29 AM

19-73 38th Street
10 stories 95 feet
Gerlad J. Caliendo
Dev-TTW Realty, LLC
Mixed-Use (Residential Condominiums/Commercial Retail)
108 units 234,708 Sq. Ft
Proposed ?

http://www.qgazette.com/News/2003/1001/features/003p1_xlg.jpg
Artists rendering of proposed building on Steinway Street.

Queens Gazette
Luxury Condo Planned
For Steinway Street
by linda j. wilson

http://www.qgazette.com/News/2003/1001/features/003.html

A 10-story mixed-use building with 108 one- and two-bedroom apartments and commercial and medical-professional space on the ground floor is set to rise on the site of the former Steinway Bus Company storage yard at the foot of Steinway Street, Gerald Caliendo testified at land use hearings in Borough Hall last Thursday. The street address of the property is 19-73 38th St., Long Island City.

The lot was at one time significantly larger, Caliendo said, but the owner had been forced to sell a portion of it several years ago, leaving a 60,000-square-foot parcel to be occupied by the proposed building. The smaller lot size is actually an advantage, Caliendo said. "In discussions with the Board of Standards and Appeals and the Department of City Planning, we concluded that the smaller lot size makes the building a much better fit in the context of the community."

The building, owned by TTW Realty, LLC, will have 72 one-bedroom apartments and 36 two-bedroom units ranging in size from 775 to 900 square feet. "It will constitute a significant addition to housing stock in the area," Caliendo pointed out. The building is planned to be a condominium and Caliendo said he expects its occupants to be among the many area residents who find the neighborhood conveniently located for an easy commute into Manhattan. A gymnasium for the use of building residents and a parking garage with 195 spaces, 18 more than the 177 required, are also planned.

The ground floor commercial space, amounting to 22,123 square feet, will not be occupied by a "big box" retailer, Caliendo stressed. Also 5,400 square feet of space are planned to be set aside for community use.

Because of the former use of the property, soil conditions will require piles to be driven for the building foundation, Caliendo said. While remediation is planned for the property, no date to begin has been set. Despite the environmental problems attendant on the former use of the property, Community Board 1 recommended approval of the project at its September meeting by 35 votes in favor.

Board 1 was less receptive to an application to extend a term of variance, which was also considered at the board’s September meeting. The application, by Caliendo on behalf of Constantine Plagakis, would allow an existing manufacturing building in a residential district at 35-31 31st St., Long Island City. Board 1 recommended disapproval of the application by 37 votes, with one abstention.

The building was constructed in 1980 and serves as storage and a showroom for restaurant refrigeration equipment, Caliendo said. He told Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz, Alexandra Rosa, chief of staff to Borough President Helen Marshall and Irving Poy, director of planning and development, that Plagakis has sometimes had disassembled equipment spread out on the street in front of the building. The owner several months ago pledged to discontinue this practice, and has done so, Caliendo said.

The city will lose tax income if the variance is not granted and the property is ultimately taken off city tax rolls, Caliendo pointed out. The problem, he said, lies in the fact that Community Board 1 is unwilling to recommend approval of the length of time requested for the variance.

Caliendo noted that Plagakis also owns and uses an adjoining building, which was built before 1961 and is therefore exempt from variance requirements. He also owns a vacant lot next to the buildings, which has sometimes been used for storage of the equipment he sells. This has become an issue with the neighborhood. Plagakis testified that he now sells only new air conditioning equipment and therefore no longer needs to do repairs, eliminating the need for equipment to be spread over the street or the lot.

krulltime

April 13th, 2005, 08:33 PM

April 2005,

Flushing
129-43 Northern Boulevard

RKO Keith's Theater in Flushing:
http://cinematreasures.org/images/photos/834.jpg
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/834/

Boymelgreen Developers is planning an 18-story, mixed-use project on the site of the former RKO Keith's Theater in Flushing. The project will restore the theater and top it with 200 condominium apartments. Prices are expected to be in the $500 per square foot range. The project reportedly got a warm reception at a land use hearing at Queens Borough Hall last month, the Daily News reported.

Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

krulltime

April 13th, 2005, 08:41 PM

News from March 2005,

Flushing
College Point Blvd. and Roosevelt Ave.

Muss Development announced plans to build a $600 million mixed-use project on a 14-acre brownfield site. The project will create six condominium and rental buildings with 1,000 residential units, 725,000 square feet of retail space and a waterfront esplanade along the Flushing River. The first apartments will open in 2008.

Arial Location:

http://www.muss.com/future/flushing/aerials_e.phtml

Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

NoyokA

April 13th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Flushing continues to inch closer to having a skyline and being a more desirable place to visit/live.

krulltime

April 14th, 2005, 02:03 PM

Yes this Flushing area will be a great area to watch how is develop. How is the area right now... does it have good restaurants, good stores and a night scene? Anybody knows?

Do you get there by the #7 train I assume...

billyblancoNYC

April 15th, 2005, 02:52 AM

Most of the stores, retaurants and night life is Asian, but it's very lively. There's a ton of smaller scale development going one, some larger apartment buildings, too. But there are a lot of major developments happening now that will likely change the face of the area in a big way.

krulltime

May 8th, 2005, 02:17 PM

PITCHING A MAKEOVER FOR DOWNTOWN JAMAICA

The Greater Jamaica Development Corp. is campaigning for public support for a $50 million effort to improve the infrastructure in downtown Jamaica, Queens.

The project's most important element is the reconstruction of the traffic hub at Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. Officials at the nonprofit want to realign Archer, widen sidewalks and create subway plazas on Sutphin to ease access to underground transportation.

The intersection is a hub for subways, the Long Island Rail Road and 30 bus lines. It is also the city's 11th most dangerous spot for pedestrians, says Peter Engelbrecht, the director of planning at Greater Jamaica Development.

"The sidewalks right now are too narrow to handle the pedestrian traffic," he says. "There are a lot of accidents that take place here."

So far, the development agency has been able to raise $21 million, most of it from the federal government.

Mr. Engelbrecht and his colleagues have pitched the proposal to Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, to Rep. Gregory Meeks and to Community Board 12. Redeveloping the intersection is essential for luring businesses to downtown Jamaica.

"This will create a platform for more private development in the area," Mr. Engelbrecht says.

--Tommy Fernandez

COPYRIGHT 2005 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC.

Kolbster

June 16th, 2005, 10:43 AM

This sounds like a great plan. with the new hub businesses would be attracted.

alex ballard

June 16th, 2005, 10:56 AM

What ever happened to JFK corporate square? Is it still on tap?

billyblancoNYC

June 17th, 2005, 10:21 AM

Dermot Wins $130M Courthouse Development
By Barbara Jarvie
Last updated: June 17, 2005 07:48am

http://globest.com/news/308_308/newyork/135345-1.html

JAMAICA, NY-The New York City Economic Development Corp. has selected the Dermot Co. to acquire and develop a two-acre parcel here in a $130-million project. The site is the former home of the Queens Family Courthouse. The project includes 380 residential units, 25,000 sf of community/cultural space, 18,500 sf of retail and parking for approximately 190 cars.

A recently completed project in Kew Garden Hills--the 388-unit residence called the Opal--prompted the Dermot Co. to pursue the RFP on the project, says Dermot partner Stephen N. Benjamin. “We believe the project will help pave the way for further new residential development in Downtown Jamaica and bring additional job growth to the local community.” He anticipates the project will create 750 construction jobs and 80 permanent ones.

The Jamaica property contains an existing four-story courthouse building and a three-story annex. Dermot plans to demolish the annex building, but retain and restore the Italian Renaissance-style facade of the courthouse building. Dermot expects that the residential portion of the project will include approximately 300 low-income, middle-income and market-rate units, as well as about 75 affordable co-ops. Amenities are expected to include a health club, clubhouse and an outdoor terrace. The Queens Public Library, the original tenant of the courthouse, is expected to occupy a portion of the community space.

The development team includes Fox & Fowle Architects and construction manager Kajima Construction Services. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLC will provide legal services. The project will be LEED certified by the US Green Building Council.

Dermot currently manages more than $1 billion in assets and owns or holds investments in more than 5,000 multifamily units. In addition to this project and the one in Kew Gardens Hills, Dermot is also involved with the renovation of the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building in Downtown Brooklyn and its conversion to condominiums, and the construction of the 633-unit, Clinton Green, at 53rd Street and 10th Avenue in Manhattan.

alex ballard

June 19th, 2005, 02:51 PM

What do you see the future of Queens being? Brooklyn looks like it's on the path to SoHo/UESdom so what role will Queens fill?

pianoman11686

June 19th, 2005, 09:42 PM

I feel like Queens will continue to be the best example of the proverbial melting pot. Brooklyn will soon be too pricey for most immigrants, so neighborhoods like Rego Park, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Astoria, and Flushing will become higher density and even more diverse. On the flip side, I think there will be a strip of land along the East River, in an area called Long Island City, that will within a few years start to resemble Manhattan too. Also, depending on the Olympics situation, the scrap-metal enclave of Willets Point may become an extension of Flushing Meadows as a recreational/sports destination. My question is: where are all these auto mechanics going to move to? There aren't exactly too many vacant neighborhoods left in the city where you don't have to worry about freely spilling motor oil and used tires onto the streets.

NewYorkYankee

June 19th, 2005, 11:18 PM

I agree, I believe Queens will still be an ethnic enclave.

tmg

June 20th, 2005, 11:42 AM

My guess is that the industrial/residential edge of LIC, Sunnyside, and Woodside will increasingly attract artists and creative types, as those groups are priced out of Williamsburg and Alphabet City.

Gulcrapek

June 29th, 2005, 07:20 PM

Bayside Medical Arts Center
3 floors
Architect: Larsen Shein Ginsberg Snyder

http://www.lsgsarchitects.com/photos/bayside01.jpg

"A prominent corner in Bayside, Queens will be the location for a new medical arts center custom-designed for two medical practices. The 22,500 sf examination, laboratory, diagnostic, and out-patient surgical facility brings comprehensive primary care to Bayside and surrounding communities in one of the area's largest neighborhood medical arts centers. To accommodate the two medical practices, the $4 million Bayside facility is set up with three floors of advanced medical technology, including a fully computerized medical management system. On the top floor are consultation and exam rooms for cardiology and internal medicine. A stress testing center, laboratories, and endoscopy and ambulatory surgery suites are located on the lower level. The building's middle level will be leased to other physician groups or a hospital. This project has a total cost of $5,200,000."

Gulcrapek

June 29th, 2005, 09:04 PM

Queens Plaza Competition Entry
~50-55 floors
Architect: Francoise Bollack

http://www.francoisebollackarchitects.com/images/gifs/projects/competitions/queens/biggies/smalltower.jpg

http://www.francoisebollackarchitects.com/html/competitions/queens/queens01.html

NoyokA

July 18th, 2005, 04:58 PM

Billy, I don't want to get on your back, you're one of the best contributing posters here but you need to post in the appropriate threads. This thread is outlined for:

Queens civic and larger non commercial and non residential developments belong here. Queens residential and commercial developments belong in there appropriate neighborhood thread, respectively.

All Queens West developments for the sake of convenience and organization belong in the respectively outlined thread.

billyblancoNYC

July 18th, 2005, 05:48 PM

NoyokA

July 18th, 2005, 06:20 PM

I apologize. I looked for the LIC thread and it didn't come up for some reason.

Sorry about that.

Just look for the appropriate neighborhood on the first page.

Gulcrapek

August 1st, 2005, 08:43 PM

Sunnyside Quadrangle
6 floors
Architect: Gern Kronick + Valcarel

www.gkvarchitects.com > portfolio > residential

Anyone know anything about it?

krulltime

September 9th, 2005, 01:26 AM

September 8, 2005

Largest phase of new Queens West park started

http://www.therealdeal.net//breaking_news/2005/09/08/images/1126210070.jpg

Government officials and developers broke ground Thursday afternoon on the second phase of Gantry Plaza State Park on the edge of Long Island City overlooking the East River. The park is an integral part of the 74-acre Queens West development directly across the river from the United Nations, according to the Empire State Development Corporation. When completed, Queens West will have about 23 acres of public park amid its 20 buildings and about 10,000 apartment units. The second phase started Thursday will include 12 acres of parkland, a playing field and a 1.25-mile waterfront esplanade.

Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Denied Olympic gold, developers ready to grab brass ring
Study likely to recommend housing for Queens West, once slated to host 2012 athletes' village

By Tom Acitelli

The story of Queens West, a 74-acre waterfront tract in Long Island City, is a tale of two halves.

The northern half of the site will soon see construction of seven more residential buildings that will add thousands of apartment units to an area just across the East River from Manhattan.

The southern half of the tract was supposed to be equally ambitious: Plans called for it to become one of the biggest commercial hubs in New York and – briefly – the site of the Olympic Village for the 2012 Summer Games.

But Mayor Michael Bloomberg's heavily touted bid for Olympic glory was eclipsed by a London fog, and the rezoning of a nearby area for heavy commercial left the future of the southern half of the parcel in doubt. So, what to do, then, with the remaining half of Queens West?

Make it like the northern half, apparently.

The Queens West Development Corporation, a city-state-Port Authority partnership, has hired the Weitzman Group, a Manhattan-based real estate consulting firm to evaluate the 31-acre parcel in the absence of large-scale commercial development. Weitzman is expected to publicize its study results by early autumn.

"There is a lot of interest by real estate people in the development of Queens West," said Alexander Federbush, president of the Queens West Development Corporation.

Federbush said he couldn't say which developers had approached the corporation about building in Queens West. Two already have, and one has plans to build in the northern half.

Rockrose Development already has plans to build seven residential buildings on the northern half that should add more than 3,000 units. The 522-unit City Lights, a co-op, as well as the 372-unit rental Avalon Riverview, opened in 1997 and 2003, respectively. Retail, parkland, and possibly an elementary school are expected to follow.

Rockrose plans to open the first of its seven buildings – a 31-story rental – by late 2006, according to Charles Singer, director of market research at Rockrose.

Media speculation this summer had one of the seven buildings becoming the largest condo in the city. Not so, said Singer. Instead, that idea has been scaled down into a 30-story tower.

The evolution of Queens West to a residential hub began with a groundbreaking in 1984 in pursuit of creating the fourth-largest commercial hub in the city after Midtown, Downtown Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. The original project plan called for more than 2 million square feet of commercial office space. That promise was never quite kept, as politics, economics and market shifts took their toll.

The area northeast of Queens West, around the transit stops of Queens Plaza and Court Square, was rezoned in 2001 to become a central business district for Queens, negating the need for it in nearby Queens West.

"Since the original general project plan," Federbush said, "the city has done a lot of rationalizing regarding where it wants its commercial hubs. With Queens Plaza rezoned and developing commercially, it didn't seem practical anymore to build commercially [in Queens West]."

The Weitzman Group study, at a public cost of around $400,000, will weigh in, then, on whether to develop the southern half of Queens West as all residential or as mixed-use, according to the development corporation.

And there are plenty of people waiting to act on its long-awaited formal conclusions.

Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

TonyO

September 26th, 2005, 11:07 AM

NY Post

QUEENS OF CONVENIENCE

By LISA KEYS

Feeling underwhelmed by Manhattan's $700,000 one-bedrooms and $2,000-a-month studios?

Good news: There's a borough a quick subway ride away that offers a whole lot of bang for your buck - plus all-important lifestyle extras, like quality restaurants, supermarkets and new boutiques.

Think we're talking about Brooklyn? Nah, silly - we speak of Queens, the borough poised to become the next big thing.

"Queens," says Debbie Gleason, a broker at ArdorNY, "is New York's best-kept secret."

But not for long. With Manhattan's real-estate prices breaking records each quarter, those in search of "quality of life" within the city's borders are, more and more, bypassing the "new" (read: pricey) Brooklyn, and moving to Queens.

Waves of change are on the horizon. Out in Long Island City, luxury condos will rise along the waterfront; nabes ranging from Woodside to Forest Hills are seeing their share of development, too. Adding to Queens' much-touted mix of ethnic restaurants and chains (readers of the Queens Tribune recently voted Applebee's as the best place to dine with friends) are pockets of new businesses that cater to a younger, hipper - more Manhattan, shall we say? - crowd.

"Queens has a lot to offer," says Donna Reardon, branch manager at Prudential Douglas Elliman's Bayside office. "No matter what you're looking for, we have it here."

Still, the borough's myths die hard. Though Queens has long shed its Archie Bunker stereotype, it's still dismissed by many as merely the welcome mat for the world's huddled masses yearning to be free.

But while Queens remains the most diverse county in the nation, it's also drawing a more decidedly local crowd: New Yorkers. Queens' latest arrivals include displaced Brooklynites, rent refugees from Manhattan and, surprisingly, those who fled for the leafy lawns of the suburbs, only to return.

"If you would have told me 15 years ago to move to Queens, I would have laughed," says Giovanni Ravello, who, after 17 years in Manhattan, moved to Astoria in December. "The Queens I remembered in the '80s, '90s, was all immigrants, or you'd go there if you were really poor."

Now, however, "It's what everyone's doing," he says. "If you don't want to spend all this money in Manhattan, Queens is where you go."

"I'm a fashion designer - I know trends," adds Ravello, who runs his own label, Giovanni Ravello Bridal Designs.

Most recently, Ravello lived in a fifth-floor walk-up studio on the Upper East Side, paying $1,400 a month for the tiny room. Now, for $1,500 month he spreads out in his spacious, two-bedroom pad. Plus, "The food is better in Astoria than the Upper East Side," he adds.

"For someone looking to spend $950 to $1,100 for a one-bedroom, your options are basically Washington Heights, Bushwick or Astoria," says independent broker Aly Lizardo, who specializes in Astoria rentals.

Not surprisingly, Lizardo - noting the neighborhood's diversity, cheap movie theater and the recent opening of its third Starbucks - touts Astoria as the best option.

"There's not much to do in Washington Heights, except take the bus to the Upper West Side," she quips.

O, pioneers!

Indeed, while a Queens address may not (yet) impress your friends, it'll virtually guarantee you easy living: Unlike "fringe" neighborhoods in Brooklyn, nearly every Queens nabe boasts a solid infrastructure, from hardware stores to decent groceries.

That's partially what attracted Dan Nadel and Domenique Zuber to Queens. The couple had been renting in Crown Heights for five years, and grew frustrated by the lack of shopping and services.

"That was a major reason why we wanted to move," says Zuber, communications director at the Anti-Defamation League.

Hoping to buy an apartment, "We knew we couldn't afford anything in Brooklyn," says Nadel, a writer and editor with his own publishing house, PictureBox, Inc. "Plus, I was kind of tired of Brooklyn. I wanted to try something new and move to a place where I'm neither a stranger nor am I bumping into everyone from college."

That place, as it turns out, was Jackson Heights. Earlier this month, the couple closed on their two-bedroom, plus formal dining room, co-op for $355,000 - and couldn't be happier.

"We didn't want to live in a yuppie heaven, like Park Slope, or Williamsburg, hipster heaven," Zuber says. "Jackson Heights is totally diverse, which is great."

And the couple is far from alone in their move.

August - traditionally the quietest month in the real-estate market - was "probably the busiest month I've ever experienced," says Michael Carfagna, an independent broker in Jackson Heights.

"More people are coming from Williamsburg and Park Slope," he adds. "There are a lot of new faces with baby carriages in the neighborhood. It's looking more and more like a mini-Brooklyn here."

According to recent data from Neglia Appraisals, both Brooklyn and Queens have seen impressive price gains for single-family homes between 2003 and 2004, with Queens climbing 13 percent, just edging out Brooklyn's 12.4 percent. But the average 2004 price in Queens was $411,142; in Brooklyn, it was $443,326.

And despite the fact that hot Queens neighborhoods, including Astoria and Corona, are seeing year-over-year price appreciation of more than 25 percent, appraiser Dominick Neglia notes that it's still possible to get a two-family home for under $500,000 in Queens.

Better than the 'burbs?

Queens is seen as an "emerging market," according to Steve Love, managing director of ArdorNY, which just opened its first Queens office earlier this month.

"I don't quite see the demand, yet," Love says. "But six months from now, we're going to be having a different conversation about Queens. There will be a significant movement toward converting rental properties into condos; we're already starting to see that."

Not as if it was a no-man's land before. "Queens has always had its areas," says Nervin Coronado, manager of Laffey Associates' Jackson Heights office. "Bayside, Whitestone, Forest Hills have always been upscale."

"We're finding that other areas are going upscale now, too, like north Flushing and the Jackson Heights Historic District. The quality of life has changed. Queens has more stores, more restaurants, more places to take the kids."

But perhaps the biggest selling point of Queens is that it's, well, Queens. Janine Pipolo-Marcus lived in Queens for eight years; her husband, Corey Marcus, was born and raised there. But in 1999, the couple moved out to Long Island.

"I was naive," she says. "I didn't think you could find a nice-sized property in Queens, and I wanted an in-ground pool."

The couple got their pool - along with a hefty tax bill. In three years, their taxes ballooned from $11,200 a year to $19,000.

"That's when I thought, we have to get out of here," says Pipolo-Marcus. "It was a combination of the taxes, the stuffy neighbors, and the traffic on the LIE got worse."

Longing to be closer to their flower business, the Rose Connection, the couple decided to return to Queens.

"In my mind, I was willing to trade my yard," Pipolo-Marcus says. Instead, however, the couple found that in Bayside, there were nice houses with large yards - including a high Ranch with an in-ground pool - on the market.

They bought the home in 2002 for $733,000; today it's valued at more than $1 million. Moving back, says Pipolo-Marcus, "was the best thing we ever did."

"Long Island wasn't for me," adds Marcus. "A Queens person might yell at you - but at least he talks to you, and the next day he might invite you to his cousin's party."

Indeed, the more Queens changes, the more it seems to stay the same. "In the general perception, Queens is not cool," admits newcomer Nadel. "But who cares. The general perception is that Williamsburg is, so what do they know?"

Ava

December 27th, 2005, 12:37 PM

There is so much going on in Rego Park!
Wasn't there a section here dedicated to it?

-Ava
Founder-Rego Park Group
www.neighborhoodlink.com/regopk/rpg/ (http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/regopk/rpg/)

CMANDALA

December 27th, 2005, 02:53 PM

There is so much going on in Rego Park!
Wasn't there a section here dedicated to it?

-Ava
Founder-Rego Park Group
www.neighborhoodlink.com/regopk/rpg/ (http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/regopk/rpg/)

I've given tours of RP.

The neighborhood has changed quite a bit over the years. 63rd Drive is nothing like it used to be.

Well, at least Ben's Best is still open.

Send me a PM.

ajulius

December 29th, 2005, 03:59 AM

How many new buildings are coming to Long Island city now for residential?

I wonder how prices will be compared with Forest Hills and Manhattan. I am in Forest Hills now where prices in 1-2 years have shot up by approx 40%.

Long Island city as of now is mostly industrial and isnt as nice as Forest Hills, but that could change with all the new construction coming in.

Jaffster

August 26th, 2006, 11:17 PM

Does anyone know what is going on in Forest Hills on Yellowstone Blvd and 64th Ave?

BrooklynRider

August 28th, 2006, 11:43 PM

A residential development by Horizen - 6 story.

Newcomer

September 6th, 2006, 01:37 PM

Does anyone know what is going on in Forest Hills on Yellowstone Blvd and 64th Ave?
Is this the one on the parking lot of the Associated?
There's 2 more. One on 66th between 99th street and 1021nd (??) (near the hospital) and one on Queens Blvd, on 68th steet, I think, unfortunately I can not get in touch with the owner of that building (looks very nice).

Jaffster

September 6th, 2006, 09:27 PM

Yes that's it. On the parking lot of the supermarket.

ajulius

September 7th, 2006, 02:38 PM

Yes that's it. On the parking lot of the supermarket.

First time in awhile there has been activity on this Forum regarding Forest Hills.

Anyone know the status on the Windsor 2 by where the supermarket is on Queens blvd? Was supposed to be started this year but I haven't seen any evidence of construction work and I saw on the building website, that they couldn't get permits to build. So I wonder if the project has been cancelled, postponed or is still slated to go.

If I had a choice, I would rather a new apartment near 71st + continental and/or 75th by the Pinnacle.

The other new buildings in Forest Hills are probably rental buildings in all probability. Forest Hills has has at least 1 modern shoddy cheap construction building with condos in town. When you look at the outside of the building and the inside, they cut corners through and through.

Other than Windsor 2 IF IT DOES GO UP, I really don't see any new space for buildings to go up on any significant scale in Forest Hills. Forest Hills will continue to have pre-war, post war and a few sporadic modern buildings scattered throughout.

Newcomer

September 8th, 2006, 11:36 AM

I saw on the building website
which website would that be? :)
Thanks.

ajulius

September 8th, 2006, 08:11 PM

which website would that be? :)
Thanks.

NYC Department of Buildings

Strattonport

September 13th, 2006, 09:23 PM

Luxury Right Off Forest Park
Link to article (http://www.queenstribune.com/news/1157603358.html)

http://www.queenstribune.com/upload/images/bizbanking.jpg
The Park Lane in Kew Gardens.
A new luxury condo in Kew Gardens is preparing to welcome its first residents.

The Park Lane, a brand new 59-unit tower, stands 18 stories and is the tallest building in a neighborhood of low-rise buildings, and offers extraordinary Manhattan views.

“We’re finding a strong response with people anxious to own a luxurious new condominium home in an established neighborhood with exceptional recreational facilities and easy access to Manhattan,” said Aroza Sanjana, President of Atlantic Realty Partners, marketing and sales agents for The Park Lane, which has been built by Denali Properties Group.

The Park Lane’s Grovesnor Lane location puts residents in the heart of one of Queens’ most exciting recreational and entertainment districts, where shopping and dining abound on almost every corner. The 538-acre Forest Park, less than two blocks away, offers extensive trails for running, biking, skating, and horseback riding, plus tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course, while close-by Forest Hills, only minutes away, boasts even more elegant shopping and fine restaurants.

The Park Lane offers one-, two- and two-and-a-half- bedroom homes, priced from $337, 000 to $745,000. The condo boasts an elegant lobby, outdoor rooftop courtyard and Residence Club with a state-of-the-art exercise facility and observatory. Other on-site amenities include concierge service, underground valet parking, two high-speed elevators, and laundry facilities.

Four home designs are available, with only four residences situated on each floor. Found among the layouts are large picture windows, balconies and terraces providing spectacular views, dramatic eight and half foot-high ceilings in the living room, dining room, and bedrooms; rich hardwood floors enhance the elegant feel of the home.

For more information on Park Lane, call (718) 683-3105 or visit www.theparklanetower.com (http://www.theparklanetower.com/).

Strattonport

September 13th, 2006, 09:27 PM

Bell Boulevard streetscape scaled down
BY ZACHARY BRAZILLER (zbraziller@queenscourier.com)

Thursday, September 7, 2006 3:32 PM CDT

Link to article (http://queenscourier.com/articles/2006/09/07/news/regional_news/northeast_courier/news/news02.txt)

The Bayside Business Association's (BBA) original streetscape plan of giving Bell Boulevard a “small town feel,” to make it more “pedestrian friendly,” as president Judy Limpert described it, never got off the ground after Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Environmental (DEP) regulations made it far too pricey.

Nevertheless, the BBA has not given up on its dream just yet. Not after spending some $600,000 on permits, plans, and sketches of the design.

“We just have to move forward,” Limpert said. “This is what happens, you get stonewalled and people abandon projects. We don't want to do that. I want to see it completed, for Bayside to prosper and benefit from this project. And they will.”

The new project will include bluestone pavement, new street-lightings and street-poles, adding a park in front of the Bank of New York on 41st Avenue, and instituting new newspaper containers and tree plantings along Bell Boulevard in addition to whatever amenities store owners want in the area.

The 30-foot long park, to be named Padavan's Place after Senator Frank Padavan, who donated $1 million to the project two years ago (the BBA also received a $320,000 grant from Borough President Helen Marshall), will be a resting place with benches and trees along Bell Boulevard for residents and visitors to sit and relax. “A place where we can do tree lightings and maybe little shows,” is how Limpert envisioned it.
The original plan, which entailed much of the same framework but to a larger degree from 35th Avenue to Northern Boulevard, included adding bumpouts of curbs at intersections and in the middle of street blocks to shorten the distance for pedestrians to cross the street.

But when the plan was proposed to the DOT, they said the BBA had to pay to move traffic signals so they would be the identical distance from the street in case construction workers had to access them through the asphalt.

Furthermore, the DEP said they would need to pay for a new storm sewer system (one does not exist on Bell Boulevard) or connect the drains to a storm sewer many blocks away. Although no damage would be done to drainage in the area, catch basins that connect to a sanitary sewer would have to be moved to construct the bumpouts.

“It has been very frustrating,” Padavan said. “This project should've started a year ago. It's been delayed for one stupid reason after another. There isn't a penny of city money [involved]; it's all money from grants.”

Because of the decision to scale down the project, Limpert said they now only have money to complete Phase 1 - the area between 41st and 42nd Avenues alongside the Bayside Long Island Railroad station. The BBA, she said, will spend the next month finalizing the new plans, and then submitting their paperwork to the city Art Commission, who approved the original plan in the first place. Then they would return to the DOT and DEP before work can eventually start.

“I'm hoping by the spring we can get this done,” Limpert said. “At least break ground, so people can see something.”

kurokevin

September 14th, 2006, 04:41 AM

ajulius

September 15th, 2006, 12:04 PM

Memories. This was directly next door to my first serious boyfriend in NYC when I moved here, Had not thought about the site in some time, but a flood of memories just came rushing back. Nice neighborhood. Very nice actually

Kew Gardens always has been a nice area, and its also very religeous as well in many sections. Forest Hills is nicer because for me it is closer to the subway so the developments like Windsor, and the new Windsor 2 would be more desirable especially being by the 71st and continental subway station. A new article showed that Windsor 2 will start NEXT year instead if it goes up. Will be interesting to see what happens.

Strattonport

September 22nd, 2006, 10:21 PM

City presents rezoning plan in Flushing

BY ZACHARY BRAZILLER (zbraziller@queenscourier.com)

Link to story (http://queenscourier.com/articles/2006/09/22/headline_news/news04.txt)

Thursday, September 21, 2006 2:39 PM CDT

The New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) met with concerned residents of South Flushing in a Town Hall Meeting setting to present their upcoming rezoning plan.

At the meeting held at New York Hospital Queens on Monday, September 18, the DCP would maintain the suburban neighborhoods' residential feel and restrict developers from developing multi-use dwellings and commercial property.

The communities of Queensboro Hill, zoned R4, and Cedar Grove, zoned R3-2, currently allow a range of housing types, such as detached single-family buildings, row houses, and multi-family dwellings. A few blocks in the Cedar Grove area are also zoned R2, which does not set limits on building height and exempts the first floor of each house from floor area calculations, which allows these homes to nearly double their floor area, resulting in considerably larger residences.

The new zoning will prevent multi-family and attached dwellings in areas of primarily one- and two-family homes; make sure commercial uses will be prevented from coming up on residential side streets by updating commercial overlays; and direct future housing development to through-streets that are served by public transportation. The zoning is expected to put in lower density homes that will match the character of the areas in question.

In the two-hour presentation, Queens Director of City Planning John Young laid out the provisions of the new plan, which they felt would maintain the neighborhood. The meeting, with residents representing several civic associations and Community Board 7 and Community Board 8, lacked the anger and aggression of past rezoning meetings.

A few residents did complain that the new zoning will affect their ability to sell in the future to developers, such as Mary Lamorgese, who resides on 158th Road in Queensboro Hill. “I feel I will lose money on the value of my house,” she said. “I have been in this area for 40 years. Johnny Come Lately made their money. It's my turn.”

But Joe Amoroso, a Kissena Park resident who sat through the meeting and saw similar rezoning in his neighborhood, advised those in attendance to approve the changes. “It was the best thing that ever happened to our neighborhood,” he said. “It's very stable. The people in our neighborhood are very happy with the rezoning. Don't let it pass you by.”

Near the end of the meeting, attorney Jean Wang objected to the rezoning. She said it would limit her clients who rent out units to low-income immigrants. “There are less units they can rent out,” she said. “If you're a current resident and you want to expand, you can't.”

Wang called the new zoning unconstitutional and discriminatory, wondering why certain areas in Queensboro Hill would remain R4 zoned while others are being altered.

Strattonport

September 27th, 2006, 12:33 PM

For ‘Ultimate Insider,’ It’s Sunnyside Up
By Matthew Schuerman

Link to article (http://www.observer.com/20061002/20061002_Matthew_Schuerman_finance_financialpress. asp)

http://www.observer.com/data/articleimages/photoimages/100206_article_schuerman.jpg
Lawyer Michael Bailkin stands to rake in trainloads if a Bloomberg plan to build above the Sunnyside rail yards comes to fruition. - Getty Images

A behind-the-scenes political insider could become the city’s next big development kingpin, if Mayor Michael Bloomberg pursues a plan to put a platform over the Sunnyside rail yards in Queens and open it up to developers.

Michael Bailkin, who is known as the best go-to guy if you’re a company looking for a tax break from the city, bought an option in February to get first dibs on about 43 acres of the rail yards closest to Long Island City.

That property has suddenly become much more valuable since the revelation in August of a confidential plan drawn up by architect Alex Garvin for Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, which envisions a new Battery Park City to be built on the site.

The option, purchased for an undisclosed price, means that Mr. Bailkin could hold such a plan hostage, leverage his stake for a cut of the action, or demand a high price to relinquish his rights should such a housing scheme come to pass.

A new neighborhood over the vast Sunnyside Yards, which is still actively used by railroads, is several steps—and years—away from fruition.

Mr. Bailkin’s option would kick in only after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority decided that it no longer needed the yards—and maybe not even then.

But Mr. Bailkin’s expertise lies in getting what he wants from government. He won $37 million worth of sales-tax exemptions and other incentives for Condé Nast and Reuters in the late 1990’s, in an effort to ensure that New York didn’t lose its title as media capital of the world to a place like Jersey City.

Four years ago, he won $26 million in tax incentives for Met Life to move to Long Island City, virtually next-door to the rail yards.

(Despite that effort, Met Life is now seriously considering moving back to midtown Manhattan without any tax incentives at all. So much for retention!)

“He is who you hire if you want a retention or development deal. He is kind of the ultimate insider,” one longtime New York City business figure said. “He has deep connections in city government that go way back.”

The option itself, according to transaction records filed with the city, permits Mr. Bailkin to buy an underlying option, held by a New Jersey property manager named Paul Marshall, on the Arch Street Yard on the southwestern triangle of the yards between 21st Street and Thomson Avenue, and Yard A, which runs in a thin strip on the north edge of the yards parallel to Jackson Avenue.

In an arrangement dating back to the days of the Penn Central Railroad, Mr. Marshall’s option applies only to the land and the first 22 feet of air rights, and he would have to buy the property at fair market value.

The city controls the air rights above that plane, but would likely need permission from below to drive supports for its platforms into the ground.

By controlling that narrow layer of land and air, Mr. Bailkin in essence controls any development above it—and the future possibilities of solving the city’s housing shortage.

“It’s a strategic position,” said Mr. Marshall, who bought the underlying option in 1987, when he was doing deals on what became the Queens West development nearby.

He said he did not know about Mr. Garvin’s report and the possibility of city-led development until told of it by The Observer.

“It is something that everyone has long thought of,” Mr. Marshall told The Observer. “It’s terrific. The city’s focus is always on Manhattan—that is every outer borough’s lament. There are things that you can’t do in Manhattan.”

Mr. Bailkin did not return telephone messages for comment.

An individual with knowledge of the transaction said, “There is no specific plan for the area. They are in a position to negotiate for the air rights.”

‘Let’s Deal With Bailkin’

Real-estate developers with legendary names like Lefrak and Zeckendorf have attempted to develop Sunnyside Yards before, with no luck. Mr. Bailkin may have more success if the city gets behind the effort, now that the residential market is booming.

“It is very complicated to say how this translates into real value,” said John Reinertsen, first vice president of CB Richard Ellis, a Long Island City real-estate broker who represented Mr. Marshall in the past. “There has got to be a directive to say, ‘We need to maximize the value of this thing. Let’s deal with Paul. Let’s deal with Bailkin.’”

A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Bailkin became an adventurer in his teen years, joining the Army before he was of age and later the circus before settling down to a bureaucrat’s life at a city economic-development agency.

Then one day, Donald Trump stopped by his office to ask for help in reviving the Commodore Hotel on East 42nd Street, now the Grand Hyatt. Mr. Bailkin fashioned a financial-aid package that helped institutionalize a whole way of doing business in New York City—real-estate tax breaks—that was just beginning to emerge.

Investigative reporter Wayne Barrett, in his biography Trump: The Deals and the Downfall, says that Mr. Bailkin “had already been chasing dreams for a lifetime” by that point. The night after the first approval, he sat on the steps of City Hall with his counterpart from the state, David Stadtmauer, the two men “savoring their triumph and sensing that the business incentive plan that had grown out of the Commodore deal might have also created an opportunity for them.”

The next day, Mr. Bailkin quit his job to set up a law firm dedicated to economic-development incentives, and Mr. Stadtmauer joined him a few months later. They have been in business together ever since.

The idea proposed by Mr. Garvin in his secret report was to build a platform above the train tracks, much like the one north of Grand Central Terminal or the one proposed for the Atlantic Yards project in central Brooklyn, on which high-rise towers with 18,700 to 35,300 apartments would be built. Mr. Bailkin’s position affects only one golf-club-shaped piece of the entire yards, although it would be developed first, according to Mr. Garvin, because it is closest to the city and four subway lines.

Mr. Doctoroff did not return messages placed through a spokeswoman and his office.

But the Sunnyside Yards plan is believed to be just part of the overall strategic plan that Mr. Doctoroff has been working on to ensure his boss’ legacy.

On Sept. 21, the Mayor formally announced the creation of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, which will oversee the creation of the strategic plan and be headed by Rohit Aggarwala, a former McKinsey consultant and Columbia University graduate whose dissertation focused on postcolonial New York City. No deadline for the plan was announced, though it is already several months overdue after being announced last January.

It is unclear whether Mr. Bailkin knew about Mr. Garvin’s report when he purchased the option, although drafts of the Garvin report had been going back and forth for months before it was finalized in June, according to one source. Mr. Bailkin had purchased a short-term option on the option before, when he was also trying to develop an office building at nearby Queens Plaza. That deal fell through four years ago, when Mr. Bailkin’s partner, the Louis Dreyfus Property Group, backed out after Sept. 11.

Joe Conley, the chairman of the local community board, said that the economics are still not there, and that diverting the focus from undeveloped Long Island City parcels that are ready to go would only hurt those efforts.

“This is unfortunately going to divert attention from the real issue, which is how are we going to get Long Island City developed,” Mr. Conley told The Observer. “Most people will sit back and be the dreamers, but once you put pen to paper and make these things work, they look very futuristic.”

thomas5561

September 27th, 2006, 02:40 PM

Hi, Was just wondering if anyone could either give me an idea of what studio condos seem to be going for in Queens (I know this is contingent on the area, but even a rough idea would be fine) or a link to a page I might find useful. Thanks.

Strattonport

October 7th, 2006, 11:35 AM

Possible Yard Project Would Transform Boro

By BRIAN M. RAFFERTY

Link (http://www.queenstribune.com/news/1160113636.html)

According to the Mayor’s office, a plan to build a deck over Sunnyside Yards and construct as many as 35,000 new residences “is still a few months away,” though a May 2006 report to the City Department of Economic Development calls the plan to develop the Yards “the greatest opportunity” to “dramatically improve the City of New York.”

The mayor’s office said that no decisions have been made on any specific project in the report, which was written by Alex Garvin and Associates. The report was commissioned to discuss the long-term challenges the city faces regarding development of housing, infrastructure and waterfronts.

The report recommends construction of the platform and that builders put between 18,000 and 35,000 housing units on the site, depending on the zoning. There would also be schools, parks land and an interposal transportation facility for the MTA, LIRR, Amtrak and bus service. The ripple effect would be staggering.

“A new neighborhood over the Sunnyside Yards would transform life for the surrounding neighborhoods,” the report reads. “Residents of Sunnyside could walk directly and safely to the shopping on Steinway Street in Astoria residents of long Island City could commute from and LIRR station within their neighborhood; and children from Astoria could play on new ball fields created over the Yards.”

In addition to the Sunnyside project, the report suggested building platforms over rail yards in Jamaica, Rego Park and Flushing, as well as above parts of both the Cross Island Parkway and the Clearview Expressway.

When word spread to Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) of the possibility that 43 of the more than 150 acres of the Sunnyside Yards may be a viable development option, she immediately reached out to Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, asking that community input be a crucial part of any discussion regarding the future of the property.

“I am extremely concerned by the recent press reports indicating studies and interest in our community by the administration that does not involve our community boards, local business and neighborhood groups, schools, elected officials and the entire civic infrastructure,” she wrote. “That approach cannot and will not be successful.”

The mayor’s office said Tuesday that there would be significant public review of the process, but it would be premature to hold meetings now.

The property, which is owned by Amtrak and is primarily used by New Jersey Transit, is enormous. It runs from Laurel Hill Avenue on the east to Hunters Point Avenue on the west. If it were in Manhattan, it would span 42nd to 59th Street, from Fifth Avenue to Lexington Avenue. According to an Amtrak spokesman, the rail company currently owns the air rights above the property.

Recently, the City negotiated with the MTA to purchase the air and development right over the Far West Side rail yards of Manhattan for an estimated $200 million plus money from developers.

News of the plan comes as no surprise to the area’s Councilman, Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside).

“I have long advocated that it be platformed and that housing schools and parks be built at the Sunnyside Yards,” he said this week.

Gioia, who has publicly advocated a plan to cover the yards and build since before taking office, said: “We need to make New York a place where we not only survive, but thrive… we need to protect existing affordable units, but we also need to be bold and come up with new plans.”

Gioia describes a plan to cover the Sunnyside Yards as the best middle-income housing opportunity in generations. “If you combine that with the waterfront and Queens and Northern Boulevard, we can create 20,000 middle income units.”

Gioia agrees with Nolan that public input is an absolute priority.

“First of all, we need to make sure that people who live in the neighborhood be consulted and brought in to this planning process early,” he said. “All too often you find plans that work in a board room but don’t look that good in practice.”
As far as expense goes, Gioia sees Manhattan as an example. “Park Avenue is a platform. By selling off the plots of land around it, it didn’t cost very much money.”

Strattonport

October 7th, 2006, 11:36 AM

Plans to develop Sunnyside yards on track again

BY PETE DAVIS (pdavis@queenscourier.com)
Thursday, October 5, 2006 2:11 PM CDT
Link (http://queenscourier.com/articles/2006/10/05/headline_news/news02.txt)

Plans to develop the Sunnyside yards may be back on track again.

Published reports sprung up this week about the city's possible interest in plans to add a platform above the train tracks at the Sunnyside rail yards and develop a project similar to the one proposed for Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, potentially creating tens of thousands of new housing units for Queens.

According to published reports, development plans designed by the architecture firm Alex Garvin and Associates were given to Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Dan Doctoroff during the summer.

A representative for Alex Garvin and Associates said he could not comment on the story and referred calls to the city's economic development office.

The plans prepared by Alex Garvin and Associates said that developing the site could “create an entirely new neighborhood with tens of thousands of new apartments, knit together long-separated communities, eliminate the noise and blight of an exposed rail yard, and provide a transportation hub for anyone traveling to or from Queens and Long Island. This opportunity is so significant that it is worth pursuing now.”

However, this is not the first time plans to redevelop the areas have been discussed.

“I have seen plans that go back to the 1930's, and one day it will happen,” said Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley. “But today is not the day.”

Conley said that there were too many economic questions for the area that still need to be answered, and he said that the distraction of talking about possible plans for the Sunnyside Yards takes away from the development plans currently underway in Long Island City and Hunters Point.

City Councilmember Eric Gioia, who represents the Sunnyside area and has been a proponent for developing the Sunnyside rail yards since he was elected to office five years ago, said that the potential for more than 30,000 additional apartments is enticing for the area.

“First, more needs to be done for the middle class,” Gioia said. “I speak to young families and long-time residents every day who are being pushed out of Queens and New York City altogether because they can't afford it anymore and that needs to stop.”

According to the report, the development would connect Sunnyside Yards with the neighborhoods of Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside and Long Island City. It would be only one stop from either the east side or west side of Midtown Manhattan by subway or LIRR respectively; and it would embody the urban design principles that have made Rockefeller Center and Battery Park City so successful.

However, Gioia and Assemblymember Cathy Nolan both agreed that any plans the city is considering for the site needs to have more community input.

“That any development is being explored without community input is most regrettable,” Nolan wrote in a letter to Doctoroff. “Any development envisioned for the Yards, either with or without a deck, must involve a dialogue with the impacted neighborhoods.”

“I think it's very important that this not just be a plan that looks good in the board room, but the mayor come out to the neighborhood and discuss it with people like my family who know the area the best,” said Gioia, whose family has been living in the neighborhood for more than 100 years.

antinimby

October 7th, 2006, 03:15 PM

and it would embody the urban design principles that have made Rockefeller Center and Battery Park City so successful.Can't believe they still think BPC is a good model to follow. Basically, towers in the park formula, a modern equivalent to the housing projects. A mistake.

They're not going to be able to re-create Rockefeller Center in that area neither. Rockefeller Center works because it is in the middle of packed commercial district. It would be an empty, windswept plaza if placed in Queens. Dumb.

Amazing that in 2006, the people in charge of planning still don't comprehend these things.

You need building surrounded not by greenspace but by streets and sidewalks with retail on the streetlevel.

lofter1

October 7th, 2006, 03:25 PM

Granted BPC doesn't have retail at streetlevel throughout, but it is anything but a "towers in the park" development -- the buildings throughout come right to the edge of the sidewalk.

Only Teardrop Park takes up what could be considered buildable space on the residential blocks. All other park spaces are at the edges: Rockefeller, Wagner & the esplanade along the River, the ball parks & the new south promenade along the West Side Hiway -- and then there are the street division "park"-like spaces at Rector & running down the spine of northern BPC.

antinimby

October 7th, 2006, 03:38 PM

Perhaps BPC doesn't fit the "towers in the park" description to the tee but it does share certain traits.

Regardless of whether they come out to the sidewalk or surrounded by greenspace on only just one or two sides, one would only have to walk through the area to get that feel.

This kind of layout just doesn't create the sort of vibrancy that the traditional blocks just east of West St. has.

Anyway, when you hear them talk about using BPC and Rockefeller Center as a model, you pretty much know they are going in that direction (towers in a park that is).

pianoman11686

October 9th, 2006, 12:20 AM

I've got faith in Garvin. His report's a breath of fresh air, and really gets to the bottom of what the city needs as far as large-scale urban planning. It's not surprising to see the Sunnyside development be mentioned so soon; it's what Garvin constantly referred to as the biggest and most urgent priority for Doctoroff et al. to act on.

He does think BPC is a success, but not for some of the reasons that might first come to mind.

antinimby

October 9th, 2006, 12:32 AM

This brings up a good point about BPC (although this is probably not the best place). I'll just briefly give my opinion on why BPC is successful eventhough I believe it's layout is not the most ideal.

First, it's success at attracting tenants is not so much due to its own doing but rather more of the fact that it offers housing in a part of the city where housing is in short supply.

If you were to take BPC and plop it down in some other place other than Manhattan, it would not be anywhere as successful.

pianoman11686

October 9th, 2006, 12:53 AM

Right, but even more importantly, it's market-rate. Most of the towers-in-a-park failures we associate with slum clearance, low-income housing, where people were forced to live (for better lack of a word.)

In BPC, people are actually drawn to it, and because of the extensive maintenance, they actually use the recreational areas. Thus, it doesn't become rundown and unsafe.

antinimby

November 14th, 2006, 08:22 PM

QUEEN BEEP: 2 MORE HOSPS

By CARL CAMPANILE

November 14, 2006 (http://www.nypost.com/seven/11142006/news/regionalnews/queen_beep__2_more_hosps_regionalnews_carl_campani le.htm) -- A housing boom in Queens warrants the construction of two new hospitals in the borough - one along the East River and another in the Rockaways, Borough President Helen Marshall said yesterday.

The Marshall plan for up to 800 new beds is based on analysis by the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Marshall said a new hospital is needed in the Long Island City area, where thousands of new housing units are sprouting up.

And she said a facility is needed on the Rockaway Peninsula, which also is undergoing a massive housing expansion. Western Queens already has a hospital, Mount Sinai. The Rockaways have two, Peninsula and St. Johns Episcopal.

While Marshall is calling for more beds, a state commission is expected to propose closing or downsizing several city hospitals, possibly including some in Queens.

Copyright 2006 NYP Holdings, Inc.

antinimby

November 14th, 2006, 08:23 PM

^ How 'bout schools too?

investordude

November 15th, 2006, 12:30 AM

According to Census Data, population growth in Queens has slowed dramatically since 2000. Yes, there is a richer group of people coming into luxury condos, but if anything, I'd bet that means they are healthier than who they are displacing.

And much of the new housing is fairly close to the never ending sea of hospitals lining the east river.

antinimby

November 15th, 2006, 07:23 PM

And much of the new housing is fairly close to the never ending sea of hospitals lining the east river.Would you be willing to wait in traffic to cross the 59th St. bridge or the Midtown tunnel if you were in an emergency?

They are preparing for the new housing units that will coming on board in the next few years.

investordude

November 19th, 2006, 05:59 AM

investordude

December 20th, 2006, 10:41 PM

Wasn't the third Rockrose tower suppossed to break ground this month? Anyone know if that's still the timeline?

ramvid01

December 21st, 2006, 01:44 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/nyregion/thecity/19trad.html?ref=thecity

I am a bit puzzled by the choice of location. Is this easy to get to from public transit? Also, is there space near to this where someone could place additional development?

Public transportation wise, this building is in the middle of nowhere. Got to take the Queens Blvd. local and get off at Woodhaven Blvd. then take the Q11. Although its nice that they got rid of that terrible warehouse that was abandoned, the whole plan for this area is pretty depressing. Big parking lots surrounding buildings.

As for the 3rd Rockrose Tower, I haven't heard anything about it going up soon. I believe it's the condo, right?

antinimby

December 21st, 2006, 08:09 PM

Public transportation wise, this building is in the middle of nowhere. Got to take the Queens Blvd. local and get off at Woodhaven Blvd. then take the Q11.Nothing light surface rail won't cure.

Better than the polluting and slow buses.

Strattonport

January 12th, 2007, 11:54 AM

Rocky path to building cycle track
BY NICHOLAS HIRSHON and DONALD BERTRAND
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/802-Railroad.JPG
This long-abandoned stretch of railroad tracks, which runs from Rego Park to Ozone Park, has not been used in 40 years.

Link to article (http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/487932p-410871c.html)

A community board committee will decide next month whether to support a controversial study on turning a long abandoned stretch of railroad tracks in central Queens into a bicycle path and greenway.

The Rockaway Beach Branch right of way, which runs from Rego Park to Ozone Park, hasn't been used in 40 years and is now a haven for squatters and vandals.

Some locals hope to transform the tracks into a bicycle path and greenway, but others are worried the plan will foster crime and quality-of-life problems, especially if pedestrians and bikers use the path late at night.

A proponent of the project, Jordan Sandke, received a mostly cool reception Wednesday night when he asked Community Board 6 to support a feasibility study on the greenway.

Board Vice Chairwoman Elizabeth Anderson will head an approximately 10-member committee considering Sandke's proposal.

Other board members have been asked to contact Chairman Joseph Hennessy if they want to be on the committee.

The committee's recommendation is set to come before the full board at a Feb. 14 meeting, sources said.

Minutes before being selected as committee chair, Anderson said the greenway "would be a wonderful thing," though added that she had some reservations.

Board member Barbara Stuchinski was particularly adamant about not supporting the study or going ahead with the project.

"The cost would be absolutely ridiculous," Stuchinski said. "Who's going to police it? Who's going to maintain it? Who's going to build it? That's taxpayer money. Nah-uh."

Meanwhile, in northwestern Queens, Community Board 2 has scheduled yet another public hearing next week on a proposal to make the 55-acre Sunnyside Gardens a historic district.

The hearing will be held at the Sunnyside Senior Center on 39th St. on Wednesday, at 7 p.m.

Representatives of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, and Buildings and City Planning Departments are slated to attend.

"We will try to separate the mystery from the fact," said Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley.

Built between 1924 and 1928, Sunnyside Gardens "consists of a series of nine courts or rows of townhouses and nine small apartment buildings [four to six stories tall], built on all or part of 16 blocks, a total of more than 600 buildings," a Commission "statement of significance" issued last month states.

City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), who lives on the outskirts of the Gardens, said he believes there is broad agreement that the community does not "want to see our neighborhood overrun by overdevelopment and greedy developers who knock down small houses and build things that are out of character with the neighborhood."

Originally published on January 12, 2007

I really hope this project gets off the ground. The ROW has been rotting for more than 40 years. Of course, the usual opponents come out against it. They prefer overgrown weeds, homeless people wandering around and taggers?

krulltime

February 4th, 2007, 02:28 AM

On the Horizon in Queens, Less Travel for Travelers

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/04/nyregion/thecity/hote190.jpg
A hotel proposed for Forest Hills
would have Tudor accents.

By JEFF VANDAM
February 4, 2007

Gas and food can easily be had in Queens. Lodging is harder to come by.

Though many travelers begin their trips to the city in Queens, thanks to the presence of New York’s two major airports, the borough has few hotel options outside the immediate areas of Kennedy and La Guardia.

“The airports have a bunch of hotels, and there’s the one in Flushing on Main Street,” said Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6, which covers Forest Hills. “But if somebody had to stay over from out of town, how far do you want to drive to get them into a hotel?”

If the answer is not far, Queens residents may be in luck. Plans are in the works for two new hotels in the borough. But while one seems likely to find favor with its neighbors, the other is already provoking criticism.

On Austin Street in Forest Hills, in the middle of a busy shopping strip, a developer named Yeheskel Elias is seeking approval for a 100-room luxury hotel. It would be the first hotel in the neighborhood since the Progressive-era hotels of Station Square in Forest Hills Gardens were converted to apartments long ago.

“The idea for me is really not to build a generic Holiday Inn,” Mr. Elias said, noting that families of local residents as well as tennis fans attending the U.S. Open might stay there. “We want to do a five-star hotel.”

The hotel, which would be neo-Tudor style to fit in with the neighborhood, would be built on property Mr. Elias already owns at Austin Street and 70th Road. The developer hopes to start construction within a year, and Mr. Gulluscio of the community board said the proposal would probably pass muster with Forest Hills residents.

But another proposal is drawing opposition, because of its size. It calls for erecting a 10-story, 130-room hotel, SpringHill Suites, on Northern Boulevard in Corona. The hotel would rise on a lot across from a six-story co-operative called the Dorie Miller Apartments, the tallest buildings in a low-rise neighborhood.

Borough President Helen Marshall is among those expressing criticism of the plan. She said she had received several irate calls from residents of the Dorie Miller apartments, some of whom attended a recent community board meeting to protest the proposal.

Kathy Duffy, a spokeswoman in New York for Marriott International, which operates SpringHill, confirmed that the hotel was planned for the site, which is occupied by the empty white warehouses of American Auto Accessories. There is no timetable for the plan, Marriott said. She added that a franchising deal for the hotel had not yet been signed.

But in Ms. Marshall’s opinion, a hotel on the site would be out of scale.

“We like that space and air in between,” she said, arguing that the arrival of such a tall building might set a dangerous precedent. “This is not Manhattan. To see a whole stream of tall buildings along one of our avenues is just not acceptable.”

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

antinimby

February 6th, 2007, 02:04 AM

With new projects, Queens offices get company

Builders look across East River to catch commercial rent wave

http://www.therealdeal.net//issues/FEBRUARY_2007/images/1170196909.jpg
Joseph Pistilli of Pistilli Realty Group
is constructing a 10-story office
building in Astoria. He says businesses
in Queens need room to grow.

By Catherine Wigginton
February 2007 (http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/FEBRUARY_2007/1170196909.php)

In Queens, business is usually done from a storefront or a second-story converted apartment. The borough has fewer high-rise office buildings than Manhattan or Brooklyn, but new developments will soon add to its supply of office space.

Record-high rents for Manhattan office space and continued residential growth in Queens are spurring new commercial development in the city's largest borough. One developer is putting up a 10-story Class A office building in Astoria and has plans to expand elsewhere in Queens.

Long Island City, Queens's closest approximation of a Manhattan-like business hub, will see the opening of Citigroup's 570,000-square-foot Court Square Two in 2007. Late last year, TDC Development International completed a mixed-use commercial project in Flushing with more than 190,000 square feet of offices, and a proposal for zoning changes in Jamaica may encourage development there.

Queens won't top the rest of the city with its stock of office inventory any time soon. The borough has just about 21 million square feet of office space compared to Brooklyn's 24 million and Manhattan's 440 million, according to Robert Sammons of Colliers ABR, who tracks commercial space throughout New York City.

And only 4.7 million square feet of office space in Queens is in full-service, Class A buildings.

The same type of Class A office space accounts for 7 million square feet in Brooklyn and 225 million in Manhattan. Queens does have the edge over Staten Island, however, which has 3.2 million square feet of overall office space, 1.3 million of which is considered Class A.

Rezoning efforts in Long Island City in recent years have increased commercial development, with companies like Citibank and Metropolitan Life Insurance headquartered there.

However, Long Island City recently suffered a blow in its bid to become a lower-cost option for corporations that would typically locate in Manhattan when MetLife, which moved its operations from Manhattan to Long Island City in 2001, inked a deal a month ago to move its operations back to Manhattan. The company signed a lease for 12 floors at 1095 Avenue of the Americas, or 410,000 square feet of space, with plans to move in next year.

Nearly half -- 2.2 million square feet -- of all Class A office space in Queens is in Long Island City. Because the office market in Queens is dominated by Class B facilities -- mostly 40- to 50-year-old, low-rise buildings along commercial streets that aren't good office space locations, Queens agents and developers see some potential for new office projects.

Joseph Pistilli, president of Pistilli Realty Group, says the market is already picking up. He's constructing a 10-story office building with two floors of underground parking on Newtown Avenue in Astoria. The Class A building should be open to tenants by fall 2007, and Pistilli is in negotiations with a local government agency that will likely occupy 20,000 square feet in the building. He expects other tenants to be mostly medical-related businesses.

The 70,000 square feet of office space, which he's planning on naming Pistilli World Plaza, will be a full-service building with parking for 60 cars.

Pistilli believes office buildings like his Astoria project will be welcomed by local business owners. "What we are lacking," he explains, "are office buildings with good lighting and a comfortable environment."

The professional spaces in the borough, located above stores, are often in converted apartments that limit options for companies to physically grow. "With so much residential development, a lot of businesses are growing," Pistilli says. "They need a place to work and continue to thrive."

Pistilli's office space portfolio already includes high-end office buildings in other areas of the city and he has plans to continue expanding in Queens. He has a 65,000--square-foot building, Pistilli Corporate Plaza, near the Whitestone Expressway, and other facilities on Long Island. He has also just purchased the old Jamaica Savings Bank building from North Fork Bank and plans to build offices there.

Forest Hills is also touted as another area with office growth potential. It's an attractive neighborhood and has a good infrastructure, but it sits farther out from Manhattan than Long Island City, making it less desirable for large companies to move even their back-office operations there.

Nikolay Diankov, a Massey Knakal sales director specializing in Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens, says he knows of no major office projects under way.

The mayor's office can also help generate commercial development, as it did in Flushing, where TDC Development International in November completed a mixed-use commercial project that included more than 190,000 square feet of office space.

Diankov points out that the mayor wants to rezone a chunk of Jamaica, which may provide an incentive for commercial development there, but says nothing will materialize for another two to three years.

Sammons agrees that there just isn't enough quality space in Queens. The only major Class A office project currently under way that Sammons knows about is at Court Square Two, Citigroup's building in Long Island City. That 570,000 square feet is set to open sometime in 2007. "Certainly I think Queens is underserved," he says. "Not only for Manhattan back-office operations, but also for businesses already in Queens."

Long Island City, he says, is particularly ripe for development. When the New York City Planning Commission approved rezoning in Long Island City in 2001, developers, brokers and retailers saw great potential for commercial and residential development to replace the area's manufacturing zones. Now, nearly six years later, the promise of major growth has yet to be realized and few projects have been built or planned.

One project planned in Long Island City is Silvercup Studios West, a 3-million-square-foot mixed-use development at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge that will include 650,000 square feet of office space.

"There just isn't the service industry there yet to support office workers," Sammons says about Long Island City. "It will come together, but it's taking a lot longer than anyone expected."

Still, renting in Queens is a bargain compared to Manhattan. Average rent for office space in Queens for Class A space is $31.17 per square foot. Though that might seem steep, says Sammons, the market is pretty tight with a solid 8.2 percent vacancy rate.

The only major vacancy he knows of is 125,000 square feet at 24-01 44th Road, the United Nations' credit union building, a recently completed project in Long Island City. Manhattan Class A space, on the other hand, rents for more than twice the Queens rate, at an average of $68.29 per square foot.

Rent in Queens has only risen slightly in the past few years with Class A rent in 2004 averaging $28 per square foot, while Manhattan rents increased by 30 percent in 2006, making it a record year.

The one thing that might push more offices to the outer boroughs, says Sammons, is that the Manhattan market has gotten so expensive in recent years that price-sensitive businesses, particularly nonprofit organizations that want to stay in New York City proper, are forced to move to outer boroughs.

Pistilli agrees and expects more companies to move to Queens.

"The smart money is going to come on this side of the river," says Pistilli. "Plus, the views are better here."

Copyright © 2003-2007 The Real Deal.

NoyokA

February 8th, 2007, 02:02 AM

ajulius

February 9th, 2007, 12:39 PM

Rogers Marvel Architects.

GERARD PLACE DEVELOPMENT Queens, New York

The mixed-use development at Gerard Place in Forest Hills, Queens is currently in schematic design. RMA has prepared a feasibility study in which various options for the development that will support the growing community of Forest Hills are explored. Scope of work has included analysis of traffic impact, building height and use, zoning envelope and massing studies, and physical and digital models. Currently, a commercial base with residential space above is planned.

http://www.rogersmarvel.com/images/0512_gerardPlace/GerardPlace.jpg

The website says it was started in 2005 for the plans. Its now 2 years later. Was the project actually sent to the go ahead phase or did you just find out about the website just recently?

Also note: This area is actually on the corner of Yellowstone AND Queens Boulevard and is not on Gerard Place (which is right next door) so I find it odd they would call it Gerard Place Development, but it is in the vicinity.

Any updates on the Windsor 2 or was the permits rejected and costs too high for building for that project?

So far theres a new 5 Star hotel in the works on Austin Street which is in project mode, the Windsor 2, this which was proposed back in 2005.

The area could use more redevelopment and NEW units since much of the housing stock is very very old.

antinimby

February 9th, 2007, 12:50 PM

So far theres a new 5 Star hotel in the works on Austin Street which is in project mode, the Windsor 2, this which was proposed back in 2005.You (or anyone else) have more info on this 5-star hotel?

ajulius

February 9th, 2007, 03:23 PM

You (or anyone else) have more info on this 5-star hotel?

Krulltime did a good job with it. www.heskelgroup.com (http://www.heskelgroup.com) seems to have the older news on it than the New York Times which had recent articles.

I am more interested in the Residential highrises going up in the area. The area by that Gerard Place Development going east to 75th Avenue by the Pinnacle are the highly desirable sections of Forest Hills. Obviously closer to 71st and Continental subway like the Windsor or if the Windsor 2 would be built would be the primest locations, but anything there is VERY DESIRABLE.

Anything outside of this area in Forest Hills IMHO is not as desirable and worth substantially less.

www.themuranocondominum.com (http://www.themuranocondominum.com) in Philadelphia, PA is beautiful which is selling for 400kish for a one bedroom condo.which is under construction. Wish they would build something like that in Forest Hills since Philly is just too long of a commute (2 hours each way), plus the cost of the commute would be high as well. Gerard Place Development looks a bit like a disappointment.

From the picture it looks like they kept the HSBC bank building in tact, will knock down the brick wall section and built a corner unit highrise. But what doesn't make any sense is that the land is very small in the back, in fact it looks like it is on PARKER TOWERS owned property because its behind the fence line there and that corner unit COULD NOT FIT A HIGHRISE. Its a very very very small piece between that building.

Something sounds amiss, but will be interesting to see if it goes through and to how they actually do construct it. Seems like it makes more sense to build a highrise from scratch and demolish the existing structure.

peterd

February 22nd, 2007, 06:38 PM

Here is some info. I hope it gets built...

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/nyregion/thecity/04hote.html

February 4, 2007
Queens Up Close
On the Horizon in Queens, Less Travel for Travelers

By JEFF VANDAM (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/v/jeff_vandam/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Gas and food can easily be had in Queens. Lodging is harder to come by.
Though many travelers begin their trips to the city in Queens, thanks to the presence of New York’s two major airports, the borough has few hotel options outside the immediate areas of Kennedy and La Guardia.
“The airports have a bunch of hotels, and there’s the one in Flushing on Main Street,” said Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6, which covers Forest Hills. “But if somebody had to stay over from out of town, how far do you want to drive to get them into a hotel?”
If the answer is not far, Queens residents may be in luck. Plans are in the works for two new hotels in the borough. But while one seems likely to find favor with its neighbors, the other is already provoking criticism.
On Austin Street in Forest Hills, in the middle of a busy shopping strip, a developer named Yeheskel Elias is seeking approval for a 100-room luxury hotel. It would be the first hotel in the neighborhood since the Progressive-era hotels of Station Square in Forest Hills Gardens were converted to apartments long ago.
“The idea for me is really not to build a generic Holiday Inn,” Mr. Elias said, noting that families of local residents as well as tennis fans attending the U.S. Open might stay there. “We want to do a five-star hotel.”
The hotel, which would be neo-Tudor style to fit in with the neighborhood, would be built on property Mr. Elias already owns at Austin Street and 70th Road. The developer hopes to start construction within a year, and Mr. Gulluscio of the community board said the proposal would probably pass muster with Forest Hills residents.
But another proposal is drawing opposition, because of its size. It calls for erecting a 10-story, 130-room hotel, SpringHill Suites, on Northern Boulevard in Corona. The hotel would rise on a lot across from a six-story co-operative called the Dorie Miller Apartments, the tallest buildings in a low-rise neighborhood.
Borough President Helen Marshall is among those expressing criticism of the plan. She said she had received several irate calls from residents of the Dorie Miller apartments, some of whom attended a recent community board meeting to protest the proposal.
Kathy Duffy, a spokeswoman in New York for Marriott International, which operates SpringHill, confirmed that the hotel was planned for the site, which is occupied by the empty white warehouses of American Auto Accessories. There is no timetable for the plan, Marriott said. She added that a franchising deal for the hotel had not yet been signed.
But in Ms. Marshall’s opinion, a hotel on the site would be out of scale.
“We like that space and air in between,” she said, arguing that the arrival of such a tall building might set a dangerous precedent. “This is not Manhattan. To see a whole stream of tall buildings along one of our avenues is just not acceptable.”
JEFF VANDAM

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17856491&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574907&rfi=6

Forest Hills Hotel Still Planned, But In Limbo
by Colin Gustafson, Assistant Editor
02/15/2007

http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/Zwire2731/zwire/images/021507CQFront_U637.jpghttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://images.zwire.com/images/spacer.gif

A developer’s plan to build a world class hotel in the heart of Forest Hills is still on the drawing board, but the project may not be quite as sweeping or ambitious as originally thought, city officials said.
This week, developer Heskel Elias insisted he is still intent on bringing luxury lodgings to the neighborhood, but may have to revise earlier plans as he negotiates with city officials over zoning and traffic rules.

Last November, the developer unveiled plans to erect a 15 story hotel, with a spa, restaurants, high end shops and up to 150 rooms, at the corner of Austin Street and 70th Road. Located in the middle of one of Queens’ busiest shopping strips, the five star lodging would create hundreds of jobs and lure countless tourists, Elias said.
“My goal is to turn this (neighborhood) into a mini Manhattan,” he said, “to create the old synergy that brought people — not just the local people, but the out of towners ... like when we hosted the U.S. Open.”
But realizing this vision has not been easy. Last year, Elias proposed adding public parking spaces below the hotel in anticipation of the increased traffic flow it would generate. But those plans hit a snare when city officials resisted creating new municipal spots in the area, he claimed. The Department of Transportation did not return calls.
Elias has since vowed to allot a portion of the new spaces in his proposed underground lot for community use at fees equal to municipal rates. “The city told me they were no longer in the business of municipal parking,” he said. “So we will create our own.”
A potentially bigger hurdle for the developer is zoning. The block’s current C8 2 zoning allows commercial and manufacturing uses, but not the residential uses necessary to build a hotel. Under Elias’ plan, the entire block would likely have to be rezoned C6 to allow both residential and commercial uses.
Elias met with Queens City Planning officials in December to discuss the matter. But Queens Planning Director John Young said Elias would have to reconsider the scale of his project, if he expected it to pass muster with the City Planning Commission.
“His requests seemed very ambitious for a very constrained site,” Young said. “Based on the commission’s past actions, we told him a smaller scale project resembling the surrounding structures would be more likely to work.”
Under a rezoning, Young added, the hotel would likely have to match nearby structures — many of them one and two story retail spaces that would be dwarfed by a high rise hotel. But Elias contended that his building should be allowed to match the size and dimensions of nearby residences, like The Windsor, a 21 story condominium tower two blocks away.
The hotel would be designed in the Tudor style to match the historic Station Square apartments, many of them part of a former hotel. Additionally, the building would be the borough’s first “green” hotel by relying on solar energy to power its internal heating and cooling systems, Elias said. It may also house a large catering hall.
Still, all of these plans, he added, hinge on two factors: being able to amass enough public support for the project and negotiating a compromise over zoning with city officials. So far, Forest Hills Councilwoman Melinda Katz, who chairs the city Land Use Committee, has yet to weigh in publicly on the project. Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said he expects the hotel to gain support from retailers and much of the community, but is waiting for the developer to submit plans before the board decides whether to favor it.
In the meantime, the developer plans to lobby other community leaders while preparing to return to the Planning Commission with a new rezoning proposal. “The thing is, if we don’t get enough usable square footage for the hotel, it won’t justify building it, unfortunately” Elias said. “So now it becomes a matter of getting enough momentum to make the city see things our way.”

ajulius

February 23rd, 2007, 02:43 PM

Everything here is nothing new, its all pretty much old rehashes of information obtainable elsewhere though for some it could be the first time they see it.

clubBR

April 4th, 2007, 04:49 AM

Any new condo apts. going up in Sunnyside or Woodside? or are these neighborhoods family owned?

waverly

May 16th, 2007, 12:36 PM

Does anyone know what is being built on 94th St and 46th Avenue, right off Corona Avenue? It has been an abandoned factory site for many years now and demolition appears to have just begun.

clubBR

May 29th, 2007, 06:22 AM

Does anyone know what is being built on 94th St and 46th Avenue, right off Corona Avenue? It has been an abandoned factory site for many years now and demolition appears to have just begun.
If im not mistaken, I believe that is the site of Gran Rancho Jubilee- A latin club located East Elmhurst

antinimby

August 6th, 2007, 08:17 PM

Pol rips big buildings as big problem
Avella calls homes 'out of character'

BY DONALD BERTRAND
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, August 6th 2007 (http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/queens/2007/08/06/2007-08-06_pol_rips_big_buildings_as_big_problem.html), 4:00 AM

Standing in front of a three-family home under construction in north Flushing, a Queens councilman lambasted the city for moving too slowly in rezoning the area.

"Here is another example of out-of-character construction," said Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), standing last week at 172nd St. and 27th Ave.
The three-family house towers over the existing one-family homes on the block.

"The entire neighborhood is one-family homes," Avella said.

Although the neighborhood is predominantly comprised of single-family residences, the current zoning, which has not been changed since 1961, permits all residence types, including multifamily buildings, Avella said.

"I have been pushing the Department of City Planning to do something for 21/2 years," said Avella. The study is a year and a half late.

"If city planning had been moving ahead as effectively as promised the zoning would have already been changed and this building would never have been allowed," he said, standing alongside numerous civic leaders on Friday.

"I think that it is very important that the areas that have not been rezoned as yet be rezoned as soon as possible, so that everything is zoned properly - the way it should be, the way the houses are at present," said Henry Euler, a member of the executive board of the Auburndale Improvement Association.

Avella said the mayor's commitment to preserve neighborhoods changed dramatically after he was reelected.

"Now he is pro-development," said the councilman. "The interest from the administration in doing these rezonings clearly isn't there."

Meanwhile, the councilman said that the "entire staff of the Queens unit has been totally usurped for the Jamaica rezoning."

Last month, the city Planning Department approved the rezoning of 368 blocks in downtown Jamaica and portions of the adjacent neighborhoods of South Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans. It is now awaiting consideration by the City Council.

"You can't just stop everything else while you do one proposal which the administration is interested in," said Avella.

A spokeswoman for the Planning Department said the agency is committed to a rezoning in north Flushing. "We are aiming to bring recommendations to the community and elected officials when they are ready," said the spokeswoman, Rachaele Raynoff.

Since 2002, 23 rezonings have been adopted in Queens covering more than 2,500 blocks, and currently both Jamaica and Forest Hills south are under review, said Raynoff.

© Copyright 2007 NYDailyNews.com

krulltime

October 3rd, 2007, 11:19 PM

Some hotel by Chan somewhere is Queens...

http://www.pbase.com/image/86659149.jpg

http://www.raymondchanarchitect.com/index.php

krulltime

October 3rd, 2007, 11:21 PM

Some Commercial/Residential building by Chan.

http://www.pbase.com/image/86659126.jpg

http://www.raymondchanarchitect.com/index.php

krulltime

October 3rd, 2007, 11:23 PM

There is much more stuff on his website. Here are two developments but I am not sure where, LIC?

http://www.pbase.com/image/86659178.jpg

investordude

October 4th, 2007, 12:08 AM

ramvid01

October 4th, 2007, 12:43 AM

The latter image sounds like this: http://www.licnyc.com/2005/02/river_east_project_on_44th_ave.html

I don't think the River East project ever happenned though :( Note that the image seems to claim a zoning change was required, so i don't think it will happen. Hopefully its something else.

It never died. As recently as a month ago I passed by the site and noticed that there was some work being done. From my understanding they had a problem with the soil as it was more contaminated then they expected and they were delayed because of it. Of course I have no clue what the timeline is on this project, and also the last one that krull posted would not be River East as the project itself is a bit small. This is probably a bit to it's north.

investordude

October 4th, 2007, 01:04 AM

ramvid01

October 4th, 2007, 02:49 AM

I'm glad to hear the Vernon buildings are still happening. Hey ramvid, since you pass by that ways sometimes, do you know what's going on with the SilverCup project? I personally think that's the most exciting proposal in Queens, especially because it will bring jobs to Queens, but I don't see any action there.

From my understanding nothing will happen until 2008 because of the power plant Con Ed has there. So there should be no movement until next year sadly.

Dynamicdezzy

October 25th, 2007, 10:18 PM

Square Feet
A Planned ‘Airport Village’ Near J.F.K. Finds a Cornerstone

By TERRY PRISTIN
Published: October 24, 2007
When the transit hub in the Jamaica section of Queens was expanded in 2003 to enable passengers arriving by subway or train to get to Kennedy International Airport in eight minutes by light rail, community leaders hoped the glassy new AirTrain station would encourage additional development.

In a sign that this dream was not far-fetched, the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation said last week that the South Korean developer of Techno-Mart, a shopping complex in Seoul that houses more than 2,000 electronics retailers, plans to build a 13-story $260 million wholesale merchandise mart on Sutphin Boulevard and 94th Avenue, cater-corner from the station.

The 979,000-square-foot building will have 10 floors of showroom space to accommodate 500 businesses, 172,000 square feet of retail space and parking for 800 cars, said Paul Travis, a New York developer who is teaming with the Korean company, Prime Construction. It will be Prime’s first foray into the United States.

The project is the first to be announced since the area was rezoned last month to encourage development of a lively “airport village.”

The wholesale mart will replace the former Merkel meatpacking plant. Built in 1919, the plant once employed more than 500 people but was permanently shut in 1965 after the authorities seized 20 tons of tainted beef and horse meat.

Though many, if not most, of the businesses in the new mart will be from Korea, the project is expected to generate hundreds of jobs, said F. Carlisle Towery, the president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, a nonprofit group that has worked for four decades to stimulate investment in the area. “It will be catalytic,” he said.

This is not the first time, however, that a wholesale Korean market has been planned for Queens. In 2004, a group of 53 Korean wholesalers from Midtown Manhattan was chosen from among 12 applicants as the developers for a 26-acre city-owned site in College Point that was once Flushing Airport.

The wholesalers planned to provide a new home for about 180 businesses between 26th and 36th Streets, near Broadway. With the neighborhood becoming increasingly residential, these business owners, who import toys, bags, costume jewelry, souvenirs and other goods from Asian countries and sell them to retailers, had found themselves squeezed by escalating rents.

But the proposal for an International Merchandise Mart drew heated opposition from many older residents of College Point, and eight months later, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg shelved the project. The wholesale group’s leader, Jay Chung, the owner of Jay Joshua, a company on 27th Street between Broadway and the Avenue of the Americas, which carries a wide assortment of souvenir items, said the members had spent more than $1 million on the College Point plans.

After the project collapsed, the city tried to help the Korean wholesalers find another site. For months, Mr. Chung negotiated with Mr. Travis and his partner, James Levin, who had acquired a long-term lease to the Merkel site. But eventually, members of Mr. Chung’s group began drifting away and he gave up on the Jamaica site. “We couldn’t agree on a number of issues,” Mr. Chung said.

By then, executives of the Acreciti Development Group, the company that built and manages Seoul Plaza Shopping Mall in the Flushing section of Queens, had brought Mr. Travis and Mr. Levin together with Prime Construction. Prime is building a second Techno-Mart in southwest Seoul and is creating a Chinatown in Goyang City, a suburb.

Mr. Travis said that Prime’s track record would make it easier for the project to secure financing. “We needed a major player who could stand behind the mart,” he said.

Prime Construction will be responsible for operating the mart but will sell — rather than rent — space to individual wholesalers, who will work side by side without being separated by partitions, he said. Prime expects that many of the businesses in the Seoul Techno-Mart — where the same merchant has both retail and wholesale customers — will want to set up operations in New York, Mr. Travis said. He said that Prime also intended to offer space to Manhattan wholesalers, and that those that sell electronic goods would fit in especially well. “I think we made it very clear to them that we would certainly welcome them as tenants,” he said.

Dynamicdezzy

October 25th, 2007, 10:18 PM

A Planned ‘Airport Village’ Near J.F.K. Finds a Cornerstone

Published: October 24, 2007
(Page 2 of 2)

But Mr. Chung said he did not know whether his members would agree to participate in the new project in a subordinate role, especially if they were relegated to the higher floors. He also expressed bitterness that Mr. Travis had sought another partner while the talks with his group were still under way. But he said the wholesalers would base their decision on business considerations, not emotion. Mr. Travis declined to respond to Mr. Chung’s complaints.

For Mr. Travis and Mr. Levin, the Merkel site seemed to offer the same potential they saw in the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx when they developed River Plaza, a shopping center at 225th Street and Broadway that opened in 2004. Then Mr. Towery introduced them to the Korean wholesalers. “What could be more ideal — the connection to the airport and this site?” Mr. Travis said.

He said it took them two years to get the plant’s owner, Rita Stark, to agree to a long-term lease for the site. Ms. Stark inherited a local real estate empire from her father, who died in 1988, but has frustrated advocates of urban renewal for years by keeping many of her properties off the market.

The lease was signed more than a year ago, Mr. Travis said. But Prime would not commit to the deal until the rezoning was approved.

The other participants in the project are the HRH Construction Company of New York and Acreciti Development.

Even before the lease was signed, demolition of the building began, with the city providing a $4 million loan. The partners expect to begin construction a year from now and complete the project in 2010.

City officials said they were happy that the project was going forward. “This reinforces the bigger goal that the administration has — to diversify the city’s economy not just by industry but by borough,” said Robert C. Lieber, the president of the Economic Development Corporation.

Jonathan Bowles, the director of the Center for an Urban Future, a New York City research organization, and a critic of the Bloomberg administration for abandoning the plan for the College Point mart, said he hoped the new project would make room for the Midtown Manhattan wholesalers. These businesses, which sell goods to retailers up and down the East Coast, are suffering the same displacement as other niche industries, he said.

“These industries don’t get a lot of attention,” Mr. Bowles said, “but they are not unimportant to the city’s economy.”

brianac

March 20th, 2008, 07:23 AM

Slideshow.

Living in Woodside, Queens.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/03/16/realestate/0316-LIVINGIN_index.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

brianac

March 20th, 2008, 09:09 AM

'Gateway to Douglaston' considered for historic status

BY JOHN LAUINGER
daily news staff writer
Tuesday, March 18th 2008, 4:00 AM

The effort to expand the Douglaston (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Douglaston) Historic District could take a major step forward this week.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Landmarks+Commission) is expected to vote on whether to call a public hearing on a proposal to add 17 homes to the Douglaston Historic District, a collection of roughly 600 residences on the Douglaston Peninsula that were granted landmark status in 1997.

If the 11-member commission votes to hold a public hearing on the so-called Douglaston Historic District Extension, a report would then be drafted containing detailed descriptions of each building under consideration.

That report would serve as the basis for the final step in the process - a vote by the commission on whether or not to create the proposed extension.
The final vote is expected sometime during the 2009 fiscal year, which begins July 1, according to commission spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Lisi+de+Bourbon).

The 17 historically significant homes that make up the proposed extension, many dating to the mid-1800s, are known in the community as the "Gateway to Douglaston."

They line Douglaston Parkway and side streets immediately to the south of the Douglaston Historic District.

The area also includes the Douglaston Hill Historic District (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Douglaston+Hill), 31 homes south of the Long Island Rail Road (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Long+Island+Rail+Road+Company) landmarked in 2004.

To further protect the waterside dominion from the spread of "McMansions," the historical society asked the Landmarks Commission to have the proposed extension include 35 homes.

But the agency selected 17 of what it termed the most "high society" homes.
It also included a handful of old garages and outbuildings, a Tudor-revival co-op, Public School 98 and the Community Church of Douglaston.

jlauinger@nydailynews.com (jlauinger@nydailynews.com)

Copyright 2008 The New York Daily News.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/images/misc/progress.gif

brianac

April 6th, 2008, 05:47 AM

Maspeth

For a Church Bathed in History, a Last-Minute Miracle

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/06/nyregion/church600.jpg Uli Seit for The New York Times
The 161-year-old St. Saviour’s is to be restored and relocated to a cemetery in Middle Village.

By JAMES ANGELOS
Published: April 6, 2008

FOR the past few weeks, a large excavator with tanklike wheels has stood a few ominous feet from St. Saviour’s, an old Gothic-style church atop a small hill in Maspeth, Queens. At 11 a.m. on March 24, the machine was just hours from turning the rickety structure, built in 1847 for the Episcopal Church, to rubble.

But St. Saviour’s got a stay of execution, thanks to a last-minute agreement between the developer of the property and Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association. The church was designed by Richard Upjohn, the architect who designed Trinity Church in Manhattan.

“Saint Saviour’s Church will be saved,” Mr. Holden announced last Monday at a news conference outside the church. Mr. Holden, whose group represents local residents, said the developer had given him about a month to move the church from the property. The plan is to restore the building and relocate it to All Faiths Cemetery in nearby Middle Village.

The church, in a neighborhood dotted with warehouses and aluminum-sided homes, has become a symbol of what many residents feel is Queens’s often-neglected history. But for a single lamppost, there are no designated landmarks in Maspeth, a sore subject for some residents. Those trying to preserve the church are dismayed that the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, which reviewed the church on three occasions, never took action toward designating the building. The church was damaged by fire in 1970, and Lisi de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the commission, said the commission had determined that “the original fabric of the complex was too altered.”

After the fire, the original building was covered in a layer of unremarkable white vinyl siding. But Mr. Holden and other preservationists insisted that a rare jewel lay underneath.

Maspeth Development LLC, the firm that bought the 1.5-acre church property for $7.5 million in 2005, had intended to demolish the church, but its plans were obstructed by a lawsuit and at times bitter protests by local residents. A compromise proposal to build 27 three-family homes around the church fell through.

Shortly after the church was saved from a deathblow, its vinyl siding was removed to reveal the redwood building Mr. Upjohn had created — a rare example of what is known as Carpenter Gothic, according to Mr. Holden. The original bell tower and southernmost wall are missing because of the fire, but the rest of the early building appears largely intact.

Mr. Holden, a tall, gray-haired 56-year-old who sees history where others see mundane warehouses and homes, toured the muddy grounds of St. Saviour’s on a recent rainy afternoon. Remnants of the church’s interior lay in a heap. Mr. Holden pointed his umbrella at areas of historical interest beyond the church grounds, among them the home owned by James Maurice, a 19th-century congressman, now covered with white aluminum siding and sprouting a few television satellites. Past a lumberyard across the street from the church, he pointed toward what he said was a Colonial burial ground turned into a parking lot. “There’s no respect for the history here,” he said, adding, “Queens is so disrespected.”

Copyright 2008 The New York Times.

Jaffster

April 12th, 2008, 02:14 PM

Does anyone know what is going on the corner of 63rd Drive and 99th Street?

antinimby

April 12th, 2008, 07:19 PM

8 stories, 63 units. Permit here (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=7&passjobnumber=402597668&passdocnumber=01).

Now it's your job to document the construction by taking pics. ;)

Jaffster

April 13th, 2008, 01:55 AM

There is nothing to see now. They are just excavating. However, major progress was made on the Rego Park II mall. The parking structure is mostly done, and steel is rising.

antinimby

April 13th, 2008, 02:04 AM

Excuses, excuses. :cool:

Jaffster, do you live in or frequent the area? I know there's also another somewhat large (5 stories, 96 units) residential project a few blocks away. It's at Yellowstone Rd. bet. 64th Ave. and 64th Rd.

I know that project has been going on for awhile now so there's things to see.

Maybe you can snap a few pics and then swing by the mall site also. Or do we have to wait until I go there again and do everything myself (but that won't be until later this year)?

Jaffster

April 13th, 2008, 02:09 AM

I do live in the general area. I guess I can try to take some pics for you guys. The one on 64th and Yellowstone is called "Novo 64". That one is supposed to be done by the end of the summer. There is a lot of progress on that one.

antinimby

April 13th, 2008, 02:16 AM

Thanks.

Found this for 'Novo 64':

http://www.queenscentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/novo64.jpg

Not bad at all. It's especially satisfying since this is taking place on what was before, a parking lot.

I wonder if they'll have ground floor retail somewhere in there.

antinimby

April 13th, 2008, 02:25 AM

Here's their website (http://www.novo64.com). There's a big rendering there also.

Sadly, doesn't look like there'll be retail there. Dumb zoning.

antinimby

April 13th, 2008, 02:32 AM

Jaffster, do you know anything about the McSam condo project at 63-14 Queens Blvd. (bet. 61 St. & 64 St.)?

It's suppose to be 8 stories with 96 units. I don't hold any hopes (for anything of quality) for this one because it's:

1) a McSam

2) designed by a Michael Kang.

Anyway, I think it's still in the early stages, so you might not see anything there (although I could be wrong).

antinimby

April 13th, 2008, 03:07 AM

Oops. Never mind Jaffster about that McSam one. It's all the way over in Woodside. :o

(I've got a ton of projects written down and they're all mixed up as far as neighborhoods are concerned so it can get a bit confusing even for myself).

ramvid01

April 13th, 2008, 01:54 PM

Jaffster, do you know anything about the McSam condo project at 63-14 Queens Blvd. (bet. 61 St. & 64 St.)?

Seeing how I live only 7 or so blocks away I will tell you that A) it has been almost done since last summer B) it does not have a one story setback and actually goes up flush against the sidewalk and C) looks actually bearable compared to other McSams. However I do not remember if it had a retail component.

antinimby

April 13th, 2008, 05:02 PM

That's good to hear.

McSam condos are usually nothing like their Kaufman-designed hotels (remember this is by a different hackitect, Michael Kang)). They're still cheap looking but at least they're not offensive to the eyes.

Pics?

ramvid01

April 13th, 2008, 06:11 PM

When I go out later I'll try to snap some.

TREPYE

April 14th, 2008, 08:56 PM

Some Commercial/Residential building by Chan.

http://www.pbase.com/image/86659126.jpg

http://www.raymondchanarchitect.com/index.php

This is what I define as progressive archtiecture. ;)

antinimby

April 15th, 2008, 02:18 AM

^ I wonder which version of East Lake Plaza is the one that is going up on at 42-33 Main St. (NE corner at Franklin Ave. in Flushing).

That one above by Raymond Chan or this one (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=204350).

Has anyone checked in on the progress of that project lately?

ramvid01

April 15th, 2008, 12:32 PM

^^ Still on foundation work, but it has been like that for a while. Smells like the project has stalled.

antinimby

April 15th, 2008, 05:29 PM

Oh no! That was a very busy and lively corner (had a restaurant and a whole row of food/retail stores) before.

We don't want to take this corner out of action for too long as it contributes a lot to the street activity in the area.

Stalemate

April 16th, 2008, 11:23 AM

While doing some Condo shopping this weekend in Sunnyside I noticed an empty lot next to Starbiznuks on 46th st (46-09 Queens Blvd). Does anyone know if the empty lot will be a possible new condo or used for commercial purposes? Im hoping it will be like the Phenix on the other side of Qns Blvd, only with more sq feet per apartment.

antinimby

April 17th, 2008, 08:01 PM

Queens condo plans go rental

http://s3.amazonaws.com/trd_three/images/32066/elmhurst_articlebox.jpg
Broadway and Queens Boulevard, Elmhurst

By Adam Pincus
Updated On 04/17/08 (http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/queens-condo-plans-go-rental) at 01:04PM

Twin 17-story condominium towers proposed in 2005 in Elmhurst that would have been the neighborhood's tallest buildings have been scaled back because of the tightening financial market and local opposition, the developers said.

Instead of residential and commercial towers on either side of Broadway at Queens Boulevard, a six-story, 83-unit rental apartment building will be built on the east side of the street, while a two-story commercial building with two or three floors of parking on top is being considered for the west side.

James Pi, CEO of Queens-based Pi Development, said he was stymied by local opposition, the difficulty of arranging financing residents and even nature.

"Maybe is it better it happened like this," he said. "Either way we have to do something there. That is important."

He said he expected the east side building to be completed in 2010, but the west side structure, which needs a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals, would not begin for about two years. The west side is above a subway line and an area with a very high water table.

Despite having support from elected officials at the time, including Democratic City Council Member Helen Sears, residents opposed the plan.
Community Board 4 members complained that the area was too congested, said Richard Italiano, the board's district manager.

Swain Weiner, Massey Knakal Realty Services' senior director of sales and associate broker in Elmhurst, Corona and Jackson Heights sales director, said developers have been having a harder time obtaining commercial construction loans, but he knew of no other cases in the area of a builder changing a project from condos to rentals. But more could happen, he said.

"It is hard to tell in today's market," he said.

© 2008 The Real Deal

BrooklynLove

April 17th, 2008, 10:54 PM

meh

ramvid01

April 19th, 2008, 05:31 PM

This is the Woodside site you were asking about AN. I couldn't find my camera so its my camera phone :o

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2843/41362994108btm7.jpg

antinimby

April 19th, 2008, 06:26 PM

Ugh, it looks absolutely like a 1980's piece of shiat! :mad:

Now we know Kang is the Asian version of Kaufman, not that that is a surprise.

You'd just about have to be bad in order to be successful in this city.

ramvid01

April 19th, 2008, 06:56 PM

I don't know AN. Aside from the white framed windows, it looks similar to just about most red bricked apartment buildings in Queens.There are no exposed floorplates and no dumb colors, it isn't even setback from the street. To tell you the truth that's as good as you'll get from a McSam. :confused:

Also that picture is so blurry and small I'm tempted to retake it, since you can't really see what the building looks like. It has a weird balcony design that I kind of want to check out again. Maybe tommorow.

antinimby

April 19th, 2008, 07:23 PM

I'll let you try to "show" it in a better light but I don't think I will change my mind. Being like all the rest before it doesn't make it all right.

By the way, when I said Kang is the Asian Kaufman, I was referring to their incompetency, not necessarily their styles. Each obviously have their own atrocious styles.

Michael Kang I noticed is doing a lot of the projects in Queens, particularly Asian developments in Flushing, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, etc.

Between this Kang putz in Queens, Kaufman in Manhattan and Bricolage in Brooklyn, this city is going down the architectural crapper fast.

antinimby

October 15th, 2008, 12:41 PM

Bushwick is in Brooklyn, not Queens. ;)

NYC4Life

October 15th, 2008, 03:33 PM

Brian, you're still one of the best :)

brianac

October 15th, 2008, 04:56 PM

Whoops and Thanks.

NYC4Life

November 4th, 2008, 05:18 PM

NY Daily News

Queens convention centers in works

BY JOHN LAUINGER
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Monday, November 3rd 2008, 8:32 PM

The economic downturn may be pushing the city close to recession, but Queens appears poised for a building boom in convention centers.

Plans are in various stages of development to build convention centers or conference space in five neighborhoods of Queens - and close a missing link in the borough's economy, business leaders said.

"Right now, it's a race to see who is going to get there first, because everyone recognizes the need," said Queens Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jack Friedman.

"Queens lacks any kind of convention space," Friedman added, noting that the absence sends potential conferences and trade shows into Manhattan and Brooklyn - depriving many Queens companies, like car services and caterers, of revenue.

The grandest of the five plans calls for construction of a 400,000-square-foot convention center as part of Mayor Bloomberg's proposed megadevelopment for Willets Point. The City Council will cast a make-or-break vote on the controversial plan later this month.

Aqueduct race track also could be home to a 60,000-square-foot conference center and a 3,000-seat event center, according to Delaware North Cos. of Buffalo, which will spend $370 million to build a Las Vegas-style video slot machine parlor at the down-at-the-heels track.

"We think the excitement of the destination that we will create, its hospitality amenities and its proximity to JFK Airport, will help attract a significant audience for moderate-size conferences," said Delaware North President William Bissett.

The project that is the closest to becoming reality is the New York Mets' new ballpark, Citi Field, which will open next spring and feature more than 60,000 square feet of "hospitality space."

Silvercup Studios in Long Island City wants to build 40,000 square feet of conference space as part of its planned expansion.

Meanwhile, the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. says it is in talks with multiple developers to build 30,000 square feet of conference space at two hotels in the so-called "Airport Village" planned for downtown Jamaica.

With so much conference space planned for Queens, a question arises:

How much is too much?

Friedman and other Queens business leaders said there is high demand for a less expensive alternative to the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.

"We're confident that we are going to draw people from the regional area," Friedman said. "We think it's sort of a 'Field of Dreams' scenario where if we build it, they will come."

Greater Jamaica Development Corp. President Carlisle Towery said the market will decide.

"Too much could be planned, but how much will get built will be decided by how the financing goes," he said.

John Seley, a professor of urban studies at Queens College, noted that some companies have come to prefer online forums over expensive conferences and business junkets.

He added that the economic downturn will make public financing extremely scarce.

"I just don't see it as a very likely possibility that any of them will happen without public funding," he said, excluding Citi Field.

© Copyright 2008 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.

Tectonic

July 9th, 2009, 09:26 AM

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2578/3704240888_86ae0827d7_o.jpg

ToastyPotato

July 10th, 2009, 05:35 PM

What exactly am I looking at here? I am not familiar with the borough!

RoldanTTLB

July 10th, 2009, 06:36 PM

What exactly am I looking at here? I am not familiar with the borough!

That's Eastcoast 1, 2, and 3 (the View) as well as the northward expansion of Gantry State Park. All of that is along the East River south of the 59th St bridge.

To the poster of the photo - Have they broken ground on the 4th tower yet? They added the model to the diorama a while back and I heard that would be soon.

Derek2k3

July 10th, 2009, 07:06 PM

Seeing what other developers throw up (pun intended) on master planned sites around the city, I'm kinda glad Battery Park City has all those contextual design rules.

It seems impossible to craft design guidlines to create good modern architecture though.

BrooklynLove

July 11th, 2009, 09:51 AM

Have they broken ground on the 4th tower yet? They added the model to the diorama a while back and I heard that would be soon.

It's been a while since I stopped by but when I was in the area several months ago Rockrose was in full gear remediating the soil at the building 4 site.

If kyle comes on here anytime soon he should be able to share the full details. There may also be some pertinent discussion at queenswest.com.

RoldanTTLB

July 12th, 2009, 01:46 AM

It's been a while since I stopped by but when I was in the area several months ago Rockrose was in full gear remediating the soil at the building 4 site.

If kyle comes on here anytime soon he should be able to share the full details. There may also be some pertinent discussion at queenswest.com.

Strangely enough, I was over there last night, but I was completely smashed from Dutch Kills and we decided sushi at Shi would be a great idea. That meant I actually had no idea what was going on or if anything was happening at the site. If they're working on it, there's isn't a crane yet. That I would have seen. I'll have to make a fieldtrip to LIC sometime in the near future, as there are other buildings I haven't seen in a while I'd like to check up on.

Going to the Mets game the other night, they appear to be chugging along on the Gotham site. I assume that's still very much underway. I didn't notice any work going on at Citi plaza where Rockrose tore down that nice little red and white number that was there.

RoldanTTLB

August 24th, 2009, 12:48 AM

Strangely enough, I was over there last night, but I was completely smashed from Dutch Kills and we decided sushi at Shi would be a great idea. That meant I actually had no idea what was going on or if anything was happening at the site. If they're working on it, there's isn't a crane yet. That I would have seen. I'll have to make a fieldtrip to LIC sometime in the near future, as there are other buildings I haven't seen in a while I'd like to check up on.

Going to the Mets game the other night, they appear to be chugging along on the Gotham site. I assume that's still very much underway. I didn't notice any work going on at Citi plaza where Rockrose tore down that nice little red and white number that was there.

So I didn't get a photo (only had my iphone), but I was riding the 7 to the game Saturday night, and I have to say, there is definitely steel sticking out of the ground at the Gotham Center site. Here's the older rendering (thanks curbed!). Does anyone know which building(s) they're actually putting up? I know the NYCDOHMH took space in one of/all of the building(s) for 20 yrs (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/nyregion/17tishman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin), so it was almost a sure thing they'd be building SOMETHING, but I don't know if it'll be all this...

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_10_gothamcenter.jpg

It's also impossible to see how the site is put together from the rendering since there aren't any landmarks (Citi, subway, etc) to tell. I'll get over there in the next few weeks for some photos, but I'd be happy for someone to beat me to it as well!

ramvid01

August 24th, 2009, 09:48 AM

^^ That reminded me of the picture I took on my phone a few weeks back:

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=49&pictureid=211

RoldanTTLB

August 24th, 2009, 11:56 AM

^^ That reminded me of the picture I took on my phone a few weeks back:

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=49&pictureid=211

That's excellent! Thank you. One of the reasons I noticed it from the train Saturday was that the first floor of steel is out of the ground as well. I didn't notice a tower crane on site, though. If they're actually building towers, I assume one is coming soon.

Merry

October 5th, 2009, 12:02 PM

City Closes on Willets Point Land as Opponents Question Funding

By Eliot Brown

October 5, 2009
http://www.observer.com/files/article/willetsrendering_2.jpg (http://www.observer.com/files/full/willetsrendering_2.jpg)
Rendering of city's Willets Point redevelopment.

In the past month there’s been a fair amount of deals closing at Willets Point, with the Bloomberg administration finishing up the acquisitions that it negotiated with some of the property owners on the industrial site by Citi Field that’s slated for a major redevelopment.

In the run-up to a City Council approval of the redevelopment plan last year, the Bloomberg administration made deals with more than a dozen property owners, most of the major owners, shelling out undisclosed sums in order to gain control of much of the land.

By our tally, more than $78 million in nine separate transactions have closed—though far more have previously been negotiated and yet to show up in city records.

There’s a number of things that aren’t told in that number, particularly what the city is spending in terms of relocation costs. There’s been $424 million allocated for both acquisitions and off-site infrastructure, an amount that would seem to be too small to do everything the administration has discussed.

The city has said the off-site infrastructure will cost about $150 million, for one.

And then there are land costs, which are substantial. Here’s the most recent closed deal: $11,993,825 for a lot that is 57,000 square feet (on the less valuable northern end of the site), according to the real estate tracking firm PropertyShark. That comes out to $210 a square foot, which, if extrapolated across the full 45 or so acres that are privately held on the site, would come out to $412 million.

The city’s Economic Development Corporation, which runs the Willets Point project, contends it would be misleading to apply these early deals' costs outward for the whole project, as the city paid more to find early sellers, and different sites have different values.

“We’ve paid a premium for early acquisitions,” David Lombino, an EDC spokesman, said.

The city also seemed to be responding to the pressure put on it by the City Council just before it approved the project, as Council members urged the city to control a large portion of the land in an apparent attempt to avoid a “land grabber” label.

According to an EDC document from December 2008, there was language written into some of the larger land purchases that would seem to give the landowners a pretty good deal.

For both businesses, House of Spices and Fodera Foods, two of the larger property owners on the site, an EDC board action said that EDC “must use its best efforts” to “promptly purchase replacement property,” then sell the property to those businesses for $1. Given that EDC would be condemning their land, then buying them new land (though “best efforts” seems a loose term), this could get expensive as well.

THE NEXT MAJOR STEP in the Willets Point plan is the eminent domain process, which the city expects to begin with hearings in the next few months. As that process readies, the business owners—the bulk of them automotive repair—are trying to apply new pressure on a number of legal and political fronts.

The businesses, which have formed a group named Willets Point United, are pursuing an environmental lawsuit with the firm Arnold and Porter, have hired Michael Rikon as an eminent domain attorney—who submitted a brief in support of the property owners in a lawsuit over Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project—and have brought on the rabble-rousing lobbyist Richard Lipsky, who has been beating the drum over allegedly improper/illegal uses of local development corporations. (The city, in effect, funded a firm to lobby the City Council and community boards to win approval at Willets Point. The state attorney general’s office is said to be investigating the use of local development corporations.)

Mr. Lipsky said that the efforts of the businesses—which organized a cohesive opposition after the project was approved by the Council—are aimed at raising questions about the broader viability of the project, the unrealistic budget, fighting the use of eminent domain, and raising concerns about the business relocation plan.

“There is no strategic plan in place that would pay for this,” he said. “There is no relocation plan that will enable these jobs to be safe.”

GOING FORWARD, THE Bloomberg administration has taken a phased approach to the project, attempting to develop the southwest corner first, likely to be followed by two other phases. This would seem to suggest the city is learning from some of the turbulence experienced at other major development sites—Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project, for instance, has one developer controlling all 22-acres, but few or no assurances that everything will be built out in full.

Still, the prospect of a phased development directly contradicts statements made by the city in the run-up to Council approval: officials insisted that everything had to be developed at once, lest the pollution in existing properties seep into the rest of the development (the city even had an environmental consultant emphasize this point). This was a major justification for the use of eminent domain.

http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/city-closes-willets-point-land-opponents-question-funding?page=all

BiggieSmalls

October 5th, 2009, 06:18 PM

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/chamber-of-commerce-eyes-islanders-move-to-queens-1.1501382?localLinksEnabled=false

The luring of the Islanders is officially underway.
Less than two days after Charles Wang (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Charles_Wang) said he is ready to explore all his options, the executive vice president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce said Wang's search should begin in his borough.
"Option number 1 should be Queens," Jack Friedman said. "We are ready for him."
Friedman believes a potential new home for the Islanders would fit perfectly as a centerpiece in the city's plans for the Willets Point area. The project is still in the early stages; Friedman said ground-breaking probably won't take place for another four or five years.
But the Islanders' lease with Nassau (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY) County stipulates that they must play their homes games through 2015, so the team is still six seasons from a potential move, anyway.
"You're talking about a property that has access to the Long Island (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY) railroad, the subway system, the airports," he said. "It already has a huge parking lot because of Citi Field (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Citi_Field). It already has the parkway access. It's so ready for a development like this. The Lighthouse project would be a perfect fit."
Friedman sent Wang a letter saying as much back in March, and Friedman said he never received a response. At the time the Islanders released a statement that said they were focused only on working with the Town of Hempstead (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY).
Obviously, that's changed now. Wang set this past Saturday - Opening Day for the hockey season - as his deadline for certainty, and the Town of Hempstead (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY) let it pass without an answer. So Wang announced before the game he would be exploring all of his options starting today.
If Wang is interested in the Willets Point area, Friedman said the first step in the process would be for him to meet with representatives of the city's Economic Development Corporation, which oversees all new development projects within the city limits.
connections

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/08tN2iHa6b8b5/45x45.jpg Charles Wang (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Charles_Wang)
Rick Dipietro (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Rick_Dipietro)
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/08Tjgnpa5ze9x/45x45.jpg Scott Gordon (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Scott_Gordon)
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/006U8sRh2Rdl4/45x45.jpg Stanley Cup (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Stanley_Cup)
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07VXb5F1Cb4JZ/45x45.jpg Pittsburgh Penguins (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Pittsburgh_Penguins)

A message left with the EDC's press office was not immediately returned, but Friedman said it's his understanding that they are "absolutely" interested in bringing Wang aboard.
"What they didn't want to do is go after him and get in the middle of his negotiations with Nassau (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY) County, nor do they want to do to that now," Friedman said. "But if he's going to pursue other options, I'm sure they are certainly very interested, I'm sure, to listening to what he has to say and see if, in his mind, they have a match for what he wants to bring."
The early plans for Willets Point area, Friedman said, include a 400,000-square foot convention center that could, if Wang wanted, be turned into a new arena to house the Islanders.
"So the footprint is already there," he said. "There's also many of the things Charles Wang (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Charles_Wang) wanted in his Lighthouse project - hotels, family entertainment centers, restaurants. So it would be a wonderful, wonderful area for Charles Wang (http://www.newsday.com/topics/Charles_Wang) to bid on and build his Lighthouse project here in Queens."

BrooklynLove

October 6th, 2009, 09:13 PM

Why is this thread STICKY?

NoyokA

October 8th, 2009, 02:35 PM

The horribly bland first phase of Gotham Center from Queensboro Plaza:

http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/1270/e95d6a0a4a7144b5830deb5bcce8dfa0.jpg

A ten storey building is underconstruction at 31st street and 37th avenue. Besides it having a steel frame I know nothing about it. I hope for the tenants sake that it has double-paned windows.

http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/1270/46bb424f15eb49ac887f628922e016d3.jpg

As far as this thread being sticky its sticky like the Brooklyn and Bronx General Development threads are. On the first page of each you'll find links to individual neighborhoods which helps direct people and keep everything organized.

BrooklynLove

October 8th, 2009, 10:07 PM

I see now, thanks.

Merry

October 27th, 2009, 06:41 AM

Return of the Megaprojects: Willets Point Seeks Developers

October 26, 2009, by Joey

The Mets' season may be long over, but things are just getting warmed up beyond the right field wall (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/02/19/starting_in_deep_right_for_the_mets_the_iron_trian gle.php) of Citi Fieid. There lies Willets Point, aka the Iron Triangle, site of one of Mayor Bloomberg's most controversial, ambitious and downright zany redevelopment plans. Now, with the one-year anniversary of the rezoning win (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/12/stronger_than_iron_bloomberg_will_win_on_willets_p oint.php) fast approaching, there is Willets Point news to report. The city's Economic Development Corporation has announced a new set of acquisition deals with landowners in the, er, colorful area (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/08/05/willets_point_aspires_to_be_less_shitty.php), bringing the total amount of iTri land acquired to about 70 percent. And now the bigger headline: The EDC has issued a Request for Qualifications to interested developers. Could this crazy plan actually be happening? You gotta believe!

Coming before the more serious Request for Proposals, the RFQ (get yours here! (http://www.nycedc.com/ProjectsOpportunities/RFPsRFQsRFEIs/Pages/Opportunity74_PC.aspx)) asks interested parties to "demonstrate their understanding of the Willets Point project; their expertise in developing similar large-scale, multi-use projects; experience with public/private initiatives; and other criteria to determine eligibility to receive future RFPs." Think of it as a mid-term before the final exam down the road. The deadline on the RFQ is December 7, and it'll be interesting to see who wants in on this mixed-use megaproject in these rough financial times. The EDC's press release spells out some development guidelines:
The City is contemplating moving forward with a staged development strategy for Willets Point that will first focus on the southwest portion of the District that includes approximately 18 acres of development area and streets and about four acres of an interim buffer zone. The maximum development for this area includes 980,000 square feet of destination and entertainment retail; 2,000 units of mixed income housing; 500,000 square feet of office space; 400 hotel rooms; a school; and open space and parking. "Contemplating" moving forward on Willets Point? C'mon, EDC, the mayor didn't send in the garbage men (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/03/26/somebody_finally_takes_out_the_trash_at_willets_po int.php) for nothing!
Willets Point RFQ (http://www.nycedc.com/ProjectsOpportunities/RFPsRFQsRFEIs/Pages/Opportunity74_PC.aspx) [NYCEDC]
Willets Point coverage (http://www.curbed.com/tags/willets-point) [Curbed]

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/10/26/return_of_the_megaprojects_willets_point_seeks_dev elopers.php

Derek2k3

April 5th, 2011, 03:41 PM

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4701631905_6849b9f00c_b.jpg
NewNewYork2010 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49869727@N07/4701631905/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

81-14 Simonson Street on Queens Blvd
Elmhurst, Queens
5 Nov 09: 11:00 am
©Steve Fisher

mariab

December 13th, 2011, 05:58 PM

Link on bottom for video

High Line-type project coming to Queens?
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/art/bio/wabc_bio_lisacolagrossi_35x44.jpg (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/bio?section=resources/inside_station/newsteam&id=5771948) Lisa Colagrossi (http://wirednewyork.com/wabc/bio?section=resources/inside_station/newsteam&id=5771948)
More: Bio (http://wirednewyork.com/wabc/bio?section=resources/inside_station/newsteam&id=5771948), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lisacolagrossi.wabc), Twitter (https://twitter.com/LColagrossi7), Stories by Lisa Colagrossi (http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/explore?columnist=lisa-colagrossi), News Team (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/newsteam)

Eyewitness News
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Manhattan's High Line park has been a big success, and now community organizers in Queens want to do the same thing. They are looking to convert old LIRR rails into trails.

The plans for a Queens Greenway is still in the early stages. The abandoned tracks used to be part of the old Rockaway Beach line. Now overgrown with brush and littered with trash, the idea to breathe new life into the three and a half mile stretch from Rego Park to Ozone Park.
A rails-to-trails project was rejected back in 2007, but that came before the success of the High Line.
The Queens Greenway would enable bikers to travel the stretch through Forest Park without ever needing to go on a busy city street. One advantage to the Queens project is that the city of New York already owns the land, so there are no eminent domain issue. There is also growing support among borough leaders. A feasibility study is being launched to get details on the cost and length of the project.
(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8465023