Small rental building on 51st Ave nears completion, Long Island City

While condo construction in Long Island City is tangibly stalled by the economic slowdown, some projects (new and in progress) are still going forward »

L Haus condos, Long Island City

It seems the time has come for more creative financing for condo buying in Long Island City. The first development to fall down the rabbit hole (or, rather the second) is the L Haus condos located at the base of the Pulaski Bridge. There are three options:

1) Price Protection will offer buyers the opportunity to receive a rebate should any similar home be sold at a discount to their individual sales price »

Ten63 Condos revealed, Jackson Ave, Hunters Point, Long Island City

Once upon a time in Long Island City, there was a building called the Hackett Building… ok ok nevermind, we won’t dwell on the past. The future is the Ten63 condos, which has finally come out from under it’s shroud. The facade is not bad actually…it’s nice to see some brick in the face of all the glass and steel.

The residents are getting organized and reaching out to find other buyers. One future ten63 dweller wrote to liQcity with a building update »

Prism Condos, Borden Ave, LIC

Broker blogger Andrew Fine has the scoop on the building quietly (haha) going up next to One Hunters Point on Borden Ave, between Vernon & 5th St. Facing the LIRR Railyard.

“”The Prism” (working name for now), an 81 unit condo building, will rise 125 feet on Borden Avenue between 5th Street and Vernon. This no ordinary condo comes with a 24 hour color light clock. As you can see from the rendering »

Two Gotham Center, Queens Plaza South & Jackson Ave, LIC

The municipal parking garage at Queens Plaza South and Jackson Ave, an eyesore dubbed the “white elephant” by local residents, is continuing its transformation into a Class A, LEED Certified Green Building:

“First phase construction has started for a mixed-use development here in Long Island City, Queens–dubbed Gotham Center »

Vere Condos, 2626 Jackson Ave, LIC

liQcity welcomes its newest sponsor Vere Condos, the latest condo building to pop up in Court Square at the corner of Purves St & Jackson Ave. We’ve been watching this building for a while, and the general development in Court Square which rivals the Long Island City waterfront in development activity.

Purves St, a small street off Jackson which dead ends at the railroad tracks, is undergoing probably the most major transformation of all the little streets in Court Square.

Vere Condos is hitting the market »

OCA & CUNY development site, 5th Street, Hunters Point, LIC

Long Island City developers O'connor Capital Partners won a long fought variance for their development site on 5th Street between 47th Ave & 46th Road. This means »

View from the Vere Condos 26-26 Jackson Ave & Purves St, Court Square, LIC

1) Vere Condos is hosting an opening party this evening from 6-9pm at their sales office located at 26-23 Jackson Ave, across the street from the building. At the corner of Purves St. Free, just drop by.

2) Elliman’s hosting “A Night in LIC” tonight from 6:30-8pm at three Hunters Point development projects »

Here’s some more low-rise real estate action on 5th Street, a 5-story rental building with ground floor commercial at 49-09 5th St, between 50th & 49th Aves. Brought to us by Plaxall, who also have another rental building in the works, around the corner on 49th Ave adjacent to the 5th st site. Both sites are currently beautified with artwork provided by The Space.

In the last 5 years, 5th street has undergone a serious transformation »

Prestige Condo Development, 5th St & 50th Ave, Hunters Point, LIC,

The Prestige Condos (formerly known as Greenview) at the corner of 50th ave are hitting the market in the fall. Loft units in a low rise building, with staggered roof-decks and rolling Hunters Point views… and of course, the skyline of an other unmentioned borough, as per the standard luxury amenities in LIC »

Casa Vizcaya – circa Aug 2008, Hunters Point, Long Island City

Last we checked into Casa Vizcaya, they were having some trouble regarding damage to a neighbor’s home. Work on the new dev was shut down for a couple months, and we checked in with the sales office and the neighbor for an update on where things are.

Casa Vizcaya has 4 units left for sale, all 1-2BRs with 1000+SF of space. Looks like the sales office on Vernon is being transitioned by Corcoran for another new condo project further down Vernon in Astoria/LIC, called the Orient.

And what’s up with the neighbors? »

Corner of Purves & Jackson, mystery Scarano building dubbed Vere 26 Condos, LIC

Around the time we first launched, liQcity covered the Scarano designed building at the corner of Purves St and Jackson Ave as a mystery development. Today, the name of the condo building has been revealed as Vere, or Vere26 Condos as indicated by the website address on the new signage. Currently, nothing on the website except for a holding page.

The sales center for the Vere »

The L Haus Condos are materializing. Pulaski Bridge, Hunters Point, LIC

As we expected »

OCA/CUNY Dev Site, July 2008

The next BSA hearing for the very controversial OCA/CUNY development site on 5th Street is set for next Tuesday, August 19th. According to Queens Chronicle, the latest issue on the table is whether or not the OCA‘s granting of space to the Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) counts as an official community benefit:

“In a submission to the Board of Standards and Appeals »

There’s one spot at the intersection of 11th street and Jackson Ave where you can stand in place and swivel around to catch four new developments taking shape around the Pulaski Bridge base. We checked in during the spring, and here’s the summer update:

First up is Hunters View, brother of One Hunters Point on Borden Avenue. The outer facade is almost finished, and it’s starting to look more like the condo building we all knew it would be. (Live like a rocket, right?) According to the sales agent, both buildings of the Hunters Point Condos are just over 50% sold.

Hunters View condo building, Jackson Ave, Pulaski Bridge, LIC

Right next door »

Hunters Point South pre-posthumous, Long Island City, 2008

It’s busy season these days for both developers & activists, especially in LIC. While the battle over the OCA/CUNY development plan continues, another controversial project a little further downstream, hits the boardroom again…Hunters Point South. Promise Land or Promissory Note Land? »

CUNY dorm proposal, LIC

Yes. A couple of weeks ago, the CUNY dorm proposal went before the BSA, as it’s final hurdle. We can smell blood in this thread already, but here’s an attempt to sort out the complicated situation »

Clarion Hotel, just built in Dutch Kills, Long Island City

There’s some chatter today in Crains about the rampant development of hotels in the city, especially in light manufacturing districts that are still waiting for rezoning: our beloved LIC of course (Dutch Kills in particular, though Court Square is certainly seeing some activity), and Gowanus, a neighborhood in Brooklyn similar to LIC in that its transitioning from industrial to more residential. Its also on the water, and has extreme toxicity issues to overcome, but that’s best left to a separate post.

Residents and council-people in both communities »

10 Court Square announces its arrival, Long Island City

A few weeks ago, the Post reported on the Skidmore Owings & Merrill-designed commerical tower for Rockrose, that’s going up next to the Citicorp Tower in Court Square. The building, surprisingly entitled 10 Court Square looks like it takes up almost an entire city block, having bought out most of the building owners since 1988. It’s delivering a whopping 800,000 SF to the face of Jackson Ave, conveniently located at the site of the Jackson Ave beautification project.

Reported in June »

Silvercup condo development site, 44th Drive, Court Square, Long Island City

The Silvercup East project at the LIC waterfront might be taking longer then expected, but the Studios are moving forward on another development project near Court Square at 21-45 44th Drive. Located right next door to the Information Technology High School.

A one story warehouse on this 164 x 100 lot has been paved away for a 7-story, 70-unit new construction condo project. Some possible ground floor retail. It will be interesting to see how this turns out, as this is Silvercup’s first attempt at a purely residential project. –Contributed by Eric Benaim

Meanwhile, the latest word on Silvercup’s stalled waterfront project »

Remediation tent at Queenswest

You didn’t think we’d post that video, write inflammatory content, but do nothing? After contacting Joe Conley, Chairman of Community Board 2, he contacted the DEC and this letter arrived in the liQcity inbox today:

Hi Joe:

I inspected the Site today morning and discussed dust problems with Site contractor and engineering consultants. The dust blowing in the video was emanating from the sand which was used to pre-grade the tent (second) lay down areas. It was a very dry and windy day about 2 weeks ago. Since that time, a sprinkler system has been laid out along the truck route and has been effective. The areas near the East River have been covered with a layer of clean fill cover and are in the process of being rolled. After the area is rolled the material will be stable preventing dusty conditions.

As an additional temporary measure…

.

Good morning liQcity readers. We’re back to bring you some footage of the toxic dust kicking up on the Queenswest development site. See those tents in the video? Supposedly they facilitate the toxic remediation that Rockrose is required to perform on the site before they can build more residential towers. That particular site used to host a refinery, and like much of LIC, the soil is extremely toxic.

So the question of the morning is: should that dirt be blowing around hither thither? Supposedly it should be tamped down (perhaps with water?) in order to prevent exactly what’s evidenced in the video. Clearly that’s not happening. Obviously to shoot such a video, one has to be within smelling radius, and it’s not flowers and peaches.

There’s a business idea for LIC entreprenuers: respirators and other toxic dust survival gear. Maybe they’ll start carrying them at the ensuing Duane Reade on the compound.

View 59 and the Ciampa rental building, Dutch Kills, LIC

Well the quiet saga of development in Dutch Kills marches on. The Ciampa rental building, which has been in the works for quite some time, is bringing View 59 some new neighbors. Info on this rental building is hard to find, but we expect to see some listings soon. If anyone comes across them, feel free to send them our way.

Most of the press lately about Dutch Kills »

Has anyone else noticed the demolition frenzy going on in LIC these last couple of weeks? It’s seriously been picking up. July 2008 is right around the corner, and Rockrose seems to be feeling the heat as well, since activity has begun on their site next to the United Nations Federal Credit Union.

Remember the beautiful building they’re knocking down? »

Development at the Pulaski Bridge & Jackson Ave, Long Island City

The mystery building that we’ve been wondering about for a while (the far greenish construction in the photo), is indeed a condo building called The L Haus, named after it’s, well… L-shape. Rumors: The offering plan is about to hit the street; Apple Bank is the investor; Eliman is the marketer; price/sf starts in the $6/700′s; only 5000ish sf of retail (perhaps Apple Bank?). Limited parking spots. Oh and it’s going to be green. Not as in sustainable development, but as in the color.

Folks who buy in The L Haus »