The CUNY dorm proposal was passed last night by the Community Board, in a vote 21-10. The Queens Council on the Arts sweetened the deal, and they are very excited to move to LIC.
CUNY will have to meet certain conditions, and as far as we know so far, the building will be 13 stories. The details on this will be posted when the board releases their write -up .
liQcity spoke to QCA today, and essentially they help make sure art happens in Queens. And all kinds of art: visual and performing. They also give out micro-grants of $500-1500 to artists and organizations. Currenty located in Woodhaven, they are exited to inhabit a space so accessible and within a very alive artist’s community, though somewhat endangered.
Grad students and hipsters on the way. LIC further diversifies… that should be good news to some.
» UPDATE »
Alternate viewpoint on the CUNY dorm received via liQcity inbox:
“The vote was 10 against, 21 for which unfortunately was predictable. There was a rather slick misinformation campaign where many local politicians were told of QCA’s and CUNY’s outreach to the arts community. This hasn’t been supported by fact.
Their lawyer has one of those curious political backgrounds where one cannot quite tell what he really stands for and I suppose he likes it that way.”
It’s the day of reckoning for the CUNY dorm proposal. Tonight’s Community Board (CB2) meeting is sure to be a riveting wrestling match: community vs developers vs gov’t. You can be sure we’ll have ringside seats.
If you want to see the action yourself, the meeting is held at Sunnyside Senior Center, 43-31 39th St (2nd floor), Sunnyside, NY 11104. At 7pm.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 1st, in the same location at 7pm. Essentially CB2 meetings are held the first Thursday of every month.
If you would like to contact the CB2, they’re located at 43-22 50th St, 2nd floor, Woodside, NY 11377. The phone number is 718.533.8773, and email addresses listed are: qn02@cb.nyc.gov and commboard2@nyc.rr.com.
liQcity received sneakpeek renderings of the new Rockrose Eastcoast building that everyone is so in love with. There an interesting and funny watermark - in what we can only assume is an attempt to prevent brokers from marketing units in the building. (think?) Looks like it will work.
Officially titled The View at East Coast by Rockrose, the view heavy, corporately designed, 184-unit glass tower hits the market next month, starting at a whopping $1100/sqft.
Coincidentally reported, it seems Rockrose has offered all their current East Coast tenants a $500 rebate on rent, for every buyer they refer to The View. How sweet of them. The broker commissions are tens of thousands of dollars. But hey, who’s counting?
Purves St, Court Sq, LIC
So the word on the street is 44-15 Purves St (or Purvis St, whatever suits your fancy) is going to break ground this spring, like everything else. It’s brought to us by the Lions Group, who also produced the top ten hits Vantage Purves and 10-50 Jackson Ave.
So far, the deets are: 57 units, condos, to be listed by Corcoran.
Purves really has some mojo going on. Not to mention this development site might produce a behemoth sibling as well.
- Photos of Purves St (Purvis) [liQcity Flickr]
New Development - Murray Park, 45th Ave between 11th st & 21st Streets, LIC.
Top o the rainy morning to you, liQcity readers. Here’s an interesting new development: live/work lofts at the Murray Playground at 45th Ave between 11th & 21st Streets. Simply entitled “Murray Park”. There’s not much specifics, except what’s on the architect’s website, which is interesting:
“Located in the heart of the Hunt’s Point section of Long Island City, this 7 story residential building overlooks a small city park. Twenty-eight bi-level, live/work lofts with large full height windows provide generous light and unobstructed views for the apartments over to Manhattan. Scheduled for completion in 2007.”
Hunt’s Point is in the Bronx, but hey we all make mistakes. And clearly they missed the target date, but given the work permits on the development site, it’s possible they could be breaking ground soon. Goodness knows everyone’s trying to get their foundations poured before the 421-a abatement expiration.
Photo of the development site [liQcity flickr]
Architect’s website with renderings of the interior [Fogarty Finger]
Corner site of the controversial CUNY dorm building, 46th Rd & 5th St, LIC
Hunters Point new development fanatics: remember our mystery development at 46th Rd & 5th St? Well we did solve the mystery a while ago, that the site is (was?) to be a CUNY dorm.
According to an article released today in the Daily News:
“The initial proposal, which called for a 13-story residential building on Fifth St. with 169 apartments, ground-floor retail and 220 grad-student dormitory units, was unanimously rejected by Community Board 2’s land use committee in November.”
The main reason for rejection was the lack of community use, and a concern on the part of local residents that in the face of so much high-rise condo development, such a large scale dorm will add little value to the hood.
“Now the owner, OCA LIC, plans to reintroduce the plan this spring, and has offered space to the Queens Council on the Arts to sweeten the deal…”
Development site for Kimaya Lofts, Jackson Ave - Courthouse Sq, LIC
Remember the Kimaya Lofts? How could you forget? Well we got some scoop on this precarious looking development, and if you are afraid of heights then do not buy at Kimaya. The teeny tiny 25X100sqft lot is going to host a 200FT, 14 story, mixed residential and commercial loft building. Ground floor retail, lower level offices, and residential upstairs. Starting asking price/sf are reported to be in the range of $550/SF, and for residential there’s likely to be a mix of floor-throughs and 1/2 floor apartments.
The interesting thing about this building, is that it’s delivering RAW loft space, with some apartments featuring 18ft ceilings. There’s also reported to be a slight setback around the 10th floor to allow for a terrace. And perhaps to maybe stabilize the building?
Aah well, if you buy on the upper floors, just maybe invest in some hang-gliding gear or a parachute so you can make a soft landing in case of a light breeze. I jest, but the raw loft space is actually a nice alternative to the cookie cutter luxury condo. Sales are rumored to begin in May/June.
The backside of East Coast 3, Rockrose Development, Queenswest, LIC
The developments around here are moving at such a clip, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with them. The weather’s been pretty dismal for photos, but here’s a nice one of the progress on Hunters View. It’s part of the Hunters Point Condos double whammy - between both buildings they’re 40% sold according to them. Enjoy the view
11-15 50th Ave has teeny tiny windows
11-15th 50th Ave at the Pulaski Bridge, Hunters Point
Oy. We’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on at 11-15 50th Ave for some time now. Various sources have indicated that they’ve also been trying to figure it out, but chronically get no response from the developer. Oh, liQcity gave it a shot too of course. A woman on the phone said she had no idea if it was rental or condo, and that it currently has no other name besides 11-15 50th Ave.
We speculated it’s likely to be condo because the developer filed for a CPS1 period with the attorney general’s office, but now we’re seeing the teeny, tiny windows and wondering if that means it’s going to be rental. Large open windows are ideal in condo sales because obviously they’re more desirable to buyers, and owners pay their own heating bills (usually, if not, they’re lumped into condo fees). If it’s a rental building, small windows are preferred because the landlord picks up the heating bill. It’s unfortunate how tiny the windows look on this building as it currently will have gorgeous views of the skyline, especially on the west side of the building.
Toyoko Inn development site, Jackson Ave, Courthouse Sq
If you thought the only hotels going up in LIC were in Dutch Kills, oh boy were you wrong. A while ago it was announced that a Japanese hotel chain, Toyoko Inn, purchased 5 adjacent parcels of land on Jackson Ave for for $17.75M. The parcels are located in Courthouse Square at 2405, 2409, 2411-2415, 2417 and 2419 Jackson Avenue. It’s a huge footprint!
- Long Island City is turning Japanese [Curbed]
Queens Plaza, as it looks today
In the Starwood Capital pipeline, is an alofts Hotel at 29-43 41st Ave in Dutch Kills, aptly dubbed ‘By the Bridge’. That would be the Queensboro Bridge folks, and this building is right at the entrance juncture with Northern Blvd. It’s slated to be completed in 2010, which will probably be a development crazed time for QP, since so many projects are in the pipeline for that ‘little’ spot.
As I’ve said before, Queens Plaza and Dutch Kills are rife with potential. Not to mention that Queensboro Plaza has so much development planned within the next 5 years, that 10 years from now the area will be unrecognizable. Which is a good thing. It’s inarguably kind of a dump right now. alofts dwellers won’t really have to worry about that though - it’s right next to the Queens Plaza subway stop so they’ll be whisked away into Manhattan before they choke on car fumes.
11-15 50th Ave, Hunters Point
This morning, a special liQcity source gave us the scoop that the mystery building at 11-15 50th Ave, just south of Hunters View (by the Pulaski), filed a CPS1 with the Attorney General’s office. CPS1 = Cooperative Policy Statement 1. Essentially, this allows the developer to advertise the project in order to collect ‘expressions of interest’, before the offering plan is accepted. Usually a building does this to test the waters of going condo or rental.
The developer can’t market units with any specific sale prices while in a CPS1 phase, but can engage in general marketing. For example, The Kimaya is currently in this phase. If you read the fine print on their website, they don’t have an accepted offering plan, but the advertisement is pursuant to CPS1. Once the offering plan is accepted and on file with the Attorney General, a developer can market with specific sales prices and execute contracts.
5th floor terrace at the 5th Street Lofts
Did you know that 5SL is actually not one building but two? The building on 48th Ave is larger, and hosts the majority of the amenities including two roof decks. There’s a smaller adjacent (via the backside) building on 47th Ave that is ‘a little more boutique and cozy’ according to the sales agent. The smaller building does not feature a doorman, and the layouts are a little more ‘unique’ so beware of that boutique buyers.
5SL in general is all sold out of 1BR’s, so get a roommate or get married, or you know… start a business from your home office with a closet and maybe even a nice view. Views from the 5th floor terrace at the 47th Rd building weren’t half bad actually. Though they do look straight at the mystery development where we suspect a dorm might be going up.
Casa Vizcaya’s coming along nicely. Haven’t seen too much chatter about this development, except of course, the usual LIC bashing on curbed. A search for listings pulls up seven, all listed by Corcoran. Seems like prices have dropped since the original offerings, but don’t quote me on that.
As an interesting side note, these are the same developers bringing us the Kimaya Lofts on Jackson Ave.
For some more construction shots on the Viz, as well as a glimpse of what else is on that street, check out our flickr set. One lucky bonus Casa Vizcaya enjoys, is the proximity to my favorite bar in LIC, the LIC bar on the corner of 46th Rd & Vernon. Killer place.
A collaged view of Fusion LIC, 4251 Hunter St, Courthouse Sq, LIC
It’s hard to get a unobstructed shot of the well-known condo development Fusion LIC, so liQcity photographer Jenni Snead fused (pun intended) one together. There’s an Open House this weekend for the 6 listings still on the market, all listed by Halstead.
Star Building at 42-26 28th St
We’re running into some more unidentified conversions going on in LIC. How surprising. The latest one is the old Star building, which is located near the Fusion LIC site in Courthouse Square. It seems work has just recently begun. Anyone have any knowledge of what’s happening to the Star Building?
From Forgotten-NY: “Long Island Star building, 28th Street and 42nd Road, was home to the Long Island City Daily Star, founded in 1865 by Thomas Todd, memorialized in a plaque on the building’s exterior. The paper merged with Flushing’s North Shore Journal in the 1930s and soldiered on until 1968 as the Long Island Star-Journal. Developers have it in their gunsights.”
It’s been reported that Dutch Kills is headed for hotel-land, thanks to developers trying to beat out impending re-zoning. Though this site is a little remote, Queens Plaza in general is actually a decent spot for hotels… maybe not right now, since it has some serious cleaning up to do, but judging from the amount of slated development, and also the prime subway location, Dutch Kills is really just a neighborhood in waiting. It’s only a matter of time.
Astoria Grand Hotel, 39th Ave & 29th St, Dutch Kills, LIC
Here’s a hotel sprouting up on 39th Ave & 29th St (gotta learn those Queens streets) that we’ve been trying to identify for weeks. Eureka! It’s going to be the Astoria Grand Hotel. liQcity photographer, Jenni Snead reports:
“As I’m nearing the mystery construction of 39th ave & 29th st, I hear some little kids say, “Thats gonna be a nice hotel”. I asked a construction worker on a cigarette break, and sure enough, it’s going to be a hotel. Seems like an odd location for one, but whatever. It’s called the Astoria Grand Hotel and here’s the contact info: Jung T Lee, 917.733.3066. So that solves that mystery. The architect is Peter Casini.”
Kimaya Lofts, 2608 Jackson Ave, Courthouse Sq.
Only thing better than a ‘Name that Dev’, is stumbling upon an identified new development that hasn’t really hit the presses. I’ve barely seen mention of this new addition to Jackson Ave, near the Purves twins. But here it is!
Roving liQcity photographer Jenni Snead reports:
“I discovered a new development being squeezed into a teeny, tiny lot between Dykes Lumber & Mr. Wonton on Jackson Ave. It’s going to be a high-rise; kind of a tall, skinny, triangular building that never quite meets a point at the top. There was no construction work started at the site yet but there was a big banner tied to the fence with the architect’s rendering. It is apparently going to be luxury lofts and office space. The development is called Kimaya Lofts and I got several photos of the sign itself and the lot it’s going to go in.”
Seems there could be a whole blog just dedicated to Name That Development in Hunters Point, considering how many there are.
Well, regardless, here’s another one discovered: 44-30 Purvis (aka Purves) St. This site also wraps around to Thompson, facing a very notorious neighbor: Arris Lofts. Maybe the hookers will expand their territory? Well, they’ll have to wait a while, because it looks like the development site is still up for sale. Here’s the listing, as advertised by Greiner-Maltz.
For some more shots of the dev site, including a peek through the fence, check out the flickr set.
I saw some work being done on 51st Ave this weekend to an empty lot. Well it wasn’t an empty lot before Dec 07… there was a small house and a small one story industrial building standing there. I went away for two weeks and came back to discover the buildings razed.
The word on the street (gossipy neighbors who are remarkably accurate at times), is that 3 small townhouses are going up, similar to the adjacent renovated townhouse, with Fedders and Gargoyles. Incidentally, the lot(s) in question and the gargoyle building are owned by the same owner. If it’s a few small townhouses being built here, likely these will be rental units, adding some volume to the low-rise offerings in LIC.
All references to this multi-named building are 26-26 Jackson Ave, 44-01 Purves, or Corner of Purves. (DOB even has it as Purvis) Let’s go with Corner of Purves.
Corner of Purves & Jackson
The building went up very quickly, and then there was work stoppage for a good while. Seems like things have picked back up, because DOB (Dept of Buildings) has a complaint filed today against the building for unsafe working conditions. Interestingly enough, the Certificate of Occupancy is for a garage and factory.
Upon doing some digging, it’s been uncovered that the building is going to be 43 units, mixed residential and commercial, and designed by controversial architect Richard Scarano. He’s controversial for many reasons… here’s one, and here’s another, and if you want more….
Then & Now Shots: The Gantry
Since I’m doing a blog about LIC now, I decided to poke back through my photo archives and dig up shots from the spring of 2006, when I was not working that much and spent days biking around LIC taking photos.
Left– shot of the Gantry, on the corner of 49th & 5th St, from April 2006 while in construction:
Right behind (or in front of, depending on your perspective) the Rockrose fortress, I found a corner lot being broken down at 46th & 5th. I asked the guys across the street what was going up…they said a building.
Anyone know what this is?
Prev Entries
Next Entries 
