Crescent Club Condos, LIC

Oh, Crescent Club. What has happened there? The unfortunates in contract seem to be log-jammed in a buyers remorse situation that has everyone seeing stars. And not the good kind.

Quick condo buying recap 101: when one purchases new construction in progress and the closing doesn’t occur by a certain date (usually contract specific), one enters a rescission period during which it’s possible to legally opt out of the contract and received a full refund on the deposit held in escrow by the developer.

Clearly the Crescent Club developers are having serious financial troubles because they’ve failed to complete the building by all deadlines, and have now reached a second round of irate condo buyers in their rescission period trying to get their deposits back (as documented in forum/comment threads here and here).

Here’s the sordid story direct from a Crescent Club buyer via email »

1063 Jackson Condos, Long Island City

Well well well. Apparently fancy shmancy Long Island City condos have drug busts, too.

There’s a substantiated rumor floating around that there was a raid in the 1063 Jackson Ave condos this past weekend, but this ain’t some schoolboy prank. The massive bust supposedly unearthed a very large, but officially unknown amount of marijuana, and half a million bucks in cash.

Who said it wasn’t possible to keep a business going in this economy?

The ‘Flower Tower’ Condos, as imagined by architect Karen Bausman — photo

Wow. Say hello to the ‘Flower Tower’ condo project. Curbed has the scoop on Long Island City’s latest new development, mysteriously slated for a ‘location near the East River’. Bye-bye curtain wall. Hello Solar Panal facade.

The brainchild of Karen Bausman, who says about the project: “As its name suggests, Flower Tower’s façade is designed to operate like a wall of morning glories—adjusting to sunlight throughout the day, both regulating light and gathering solar energy.”

From the website »

Powerhouse Condos, 2nd St & 51st Ave, Hunters Point, Long Island City

Over at Curbed, where they love the juicy goings-on of the LIC real estate market, they received notice of condos gone rental at the Powerhouse. Nothing too surprising there, considering the sales slump, except that upon investigation, it seems the building is not officially offering any units for rent, but a private buyer who purchased many units.

Here’s the offering »

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 »

Condo building at Vernon/Jackson continues to rise, Long Island City

In Long Island City real estate news, the buyer incentives being offered by various local condo developments are getting more press. With video. On the flip side, buyers in contract already at some of the local developments are, um, not happy »

Cars getting smarter in Long Island City.

Long Island City linkage galore. Highlighted is a very long but extremely thorough analysis of NYC’s current condo glut:

“In recent years, ordinary New Yorkers saw new condo construction transform their neighborhoods. This is especially true in hotspots like Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Long Island City, where large rezonings by the Bloomberg administration have spurred the rise of sleek luxury residential towers seemingly overnight. But as New York City’s economy rapidly worsens, people wonder how many of these new condo apartments will languish vacant. Precise numbers are difficult to come by, but government leaders and housing industry experts agree: The condo market is in serious distress. It is not just the vacant units that are worrisome. In many neighborhoods, half-built projects sit stalled and land cleared for development shows no signs of activity, creating a nuisance for residents who now must live indefinitely with deserted construction sites.”

In other LIC news »

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 »

The View at East Coast condos, advertising on Vernon Blvd, Long Island City

If you thought it would be a cold day in hell before condo developers in Long Island City gave money back guarantees on sales…. well that day might be today. Cold Indeed.

Rockrose Development Corp, the developers behind The View at East Coast condos, are offering their version of a Money Back Guarantee to the next crop of buyers »

The facade of the L Haus Condos, Pulaski Bridge, Long Island City

A lot of condo buildings in Long Island City are in the home stretch of completion, including the L Haus condos with its rather distinct facade.

On the LIC wire »

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 »

The Heart Line at Hunters Point Station, Long Island City

MTA announces service reductions »

Hunters Point South as it is today, Long Island City. — photo credit

“The City Council approved the Hunters Point South project today, which will turn a 30-acre waterfront site in Long Island City, Queens into a neighborhood filled with affordable housing, by a vote of 45 to 0. Hunters Point South will be the largest affordable housing development in the city since Starrett City opened in 1974. The project will include »

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 »

View from the Prestige Condos, Hunters Point, Long Island City

The Fall condo bloom in Long Island City is continued by the Prestige Condos, formerly known as Greenview. Low-rise building and open lofts with more than decent views. Virtual doorman, rooftop gym, built in apt speakers, storage, and standard luxury applicance offerings. You know.

Clocking in »

Aah, we spoke too soon. Or too late, depending on how you look at it »

Elliman brokers take in the Manhattan skyline at dusk, Powerhouse Condos

Yes, it’s a well known fact that LIC is a real estate haven these days, what with all the condo development… Suits and brokers have been a fixture around here for years now, and despite the troubled and confusing times of the NYC real estate market, LIC hasn’t even felt a hiccup, if this weekend’s broker extravaganga is any evidence.

On Thursday night »

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 »

Verizon Wireless coming to LIC

Well, maybe some will sing a happy tune for Verizon Wireless in LIC, but at liQcity, we’re always hoping for more independent commerce to serve the needs of the exploding community. A liQcity tipster sent a photo of the Verizon Wireless sign in the right ground floor retail spot of the Echelon condos. (No word on what’s happening to the left retail spot.)

Interesting »

Here’s a real estate video displaying a 5SL 2BR condo unit for sale, reduced to $799K. It’s interesting in the sense of following the video trend in real estate marketing… and if you never got over to 5SL to check out the lofts.

• All Sales Listings 5SL [Streeteasy]
• 5th Street Lofts [website]

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?

Look away at the future of Queenswest »