Long Island Hotel City sharpening up; Dutch Kills residents fight back

Rendering of Aloft Hotel, LIC – Photo

The razor-like LIC Hotel garden is spiking up again. We mapped out the territory some time ago, but there are a couple of new projects on (and off?) the radar:

1) Starwood is apparently planning to bring a new Four Points by Sheraton Hotel to LIC in 2010, one of 6 hotels they’re planning for NYC this year. Interestingly, Starwood also owns the Aloft brand of hotels, which also had a 16-story, 249-room hotel slated for LIC’s Queens Plaza called Aloft NYC – By the Bridge. Back in May of ’09, Curbed speculated whether the hotel was “in danger of checking out,” and reported that its opening date was set for December 31st, 2010. Oddly enough, the former link to the individual LIC Aloft listing now redirects to the general list of Aloft hotels – the only two remaining for NYC are slated for Brooklyn and Harlem. No more Aloft for Queens Plaza?

2) Checking back on the 7-story hotel project going up on Vernon Blvd and 9th St near 44th Dr, work actually seems to have picked up again despite the site looking a little deserted as of late. Previously, the collection of girders was just sticking up out of the dirt, but for the past few days, workers have been out and platforms have been constructed. No solid deets yet.

Former appearance of 7-story hotel construction on Vernon Blvd & 9th St, LIC

3) The super-thin and glassy Z-Hotel is still looking sleek and progressing over on 11th St and 43rd Ave. You can even see it peeking up above buildings when you’re further along 11th going towards the Pulaski Bridge – it’s pretty massive, but not finished yet. Are they still barreling towards their June 2010 completion date?

4) There’s been some fightin’ words being thrown around in Dutch Kills in an effort to block further construction of a hotel at 39-35 27th St, right in the heart of the area’s hotel explosion. The Dutch Kills Civic Association is battling a developer’s variance request because.. Well, aside from trying to prevent that area from looking even more like a battlefield, the developer was unable to lay the foundation before the rezoning took place, even though it was one of the 14 hotels approved by the DOB. Whoops.

• Sheraton overhaul includes 6 new hotels in NYC including LIC [Globe St]

• Coming in ’10: Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City? [Market Watch]

• LIC real estate update: 7-story hotel breaking ground on Vernon Blvd [liQcity]

• Long Island City’s Aloft Hotel in danger of checking out? [Curbed]

• Dutch Kills Civics battles developer [Queens Gazette]

• Dutch Kills hotel proposal draws local ire [YourNabe]

• Long Island Hotel City blossoms; LIC to sprout tallest outer-borough hotel [liQcity]