Queens Plaza hotel site, LIC

Looks like the hotelification of Long Island City is experiencing a hiccup… one of the more prominent hotels planned for Queens Plaza has been Starwood Capital’s ‘W Hotel’ offshoot ‘Aloft’, which is now officially in foreclosure, and worse:

“Lender U.S. Bank won a judgment for $17.2 million, in a decision published yesterday, against a developer that sought to build a Starwood Aloft hotel in Long Island City, but the project stalled and the site remains vacant »

The beginnings of a new hotel on Vernon Blvd & 9th St, Long Island City

Meet the newest addition to Long Island Hotel City: a ‘new 7 story transient hotel’ is apparently going up on Vernon Blvd in the huge lot at 44-29 9th St, near 44th Dr – girders are already starting to peek up above the blue construction fence. The lot is across the street from the Board of Education building and around the corner from the lovely old red brick building that once housed Next Level Floral Design.

Moving south on Vernon »

Z-Hotel de-shrouded, 11th St and 43rd Ave, Long Island City

While traveling on 43rd Ave anywhere near 11th St, it’s pretty much impossible to miss the snazzy new kid on the block: the Z-Hotel.

Since last we checked, Long Island City’s latest hotel has lost its shroud and revealed itself for the gray and glassy, razor-thin wonder that it is »

Rendering of Z Hotel, 43rd Ave & 11th St, Long Island City

Z Hotel, the hotel that was aiming to bring a “Gansevoort Hotel-like vibe” to LIC, has been popping up on the wire since as far back as 2007. Via the signage at the development site on 43rd Ave & 11th St, the 10-story, 100 room building that will be used as a hotel and restaurant is scheduled to be completed by June 2010, and as you can see, Z Hotel is well on its way. It’s HUGE, and the “razor-thin form” originally mentioned on architect Andre Kikoski’s website has materialized as well »

Site of slated ‘Toyoko Inn’ hotel, LIC

The mantra of “Condo, Condo, Condo” in Long Island City could also be sung “Hotel, Hotel, Hotel”. In case anyone hasn’t noticed, Long Island City is quietly (or loudly if you live nearby) turning into a nexus of lodging options. Dutch Kills and Queensboro Plaza are definitely getting hit with the brunt of the hotel development, as developers took advantage of the City’s slow rezoning of the neighborhood.

Hunters Point of course, is getting slammed with condos, but still there’s a hotel or two in the works. The largest hotel deal to date in Long Island City, occurred in Hunters Point last year, brokered by Itzhaki Properties. It’s a huge parcel of Jackson Ave (2405-2419) right at the 7/G/V juncture (which is currently going through major renovation itself), that was sold to Japanese hotelier Toyoko Inn.

The parcel has been razed, but many rumors are flying around »

View from 49th Ave & 5th Street looking South, Long Island City

The hotel development boom in Long Island City is not limited to Dutch Kills, though it certainly is concentrated in Queens Plaza. But never fear Vernon/Jackson, we are on the hotelier’s radars as well. It looks like a couple of adjacent parcels on 50th & 49th Aves between Vernon & 5th St are going to be transformed into a hotel »

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 »

LIC Greenmarket, Saturdays 8am-4pm, 48th Ave & Vernon Blvd, LIC

LIC linkage galore! First up is an audio/photo slideshow about the rising disappearance of light industrial real estate, and the impact it’s having on the city as well as the businesses themselves. LIC is one of the main neighborhoods profiled »

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.

• Starwood Hotels pipeline

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.”