[dabcom]

Anyone got any pictures of current and future developments in Long Island City, NY?

[NYC4Life]

NY Daily News

N.J. firm seeking to build 2,400 housing units along Hallets Cove

BY JOHN LAUINGER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, October 19th 2008, 9:04 PM

http://s3.amazonaws.com/trd_three/images/53718/hallets_cove_midsize.jpg

Undaunted by the floundering housing market, a New Jersey real estate firm is looking to build 2,400 residential units on the Astoria Peninsula, the Daily News has learned.

Lincoln Equities of East Rutherford has a contract to buy five parcels of land once used for manufacturing on First Ave., along the portion of the East River waterfront known as Hallets Cove.

Lincoln plans to bulldoze several warehouses on the land and build five residential buildings, one of which would rise 40 stories, company officials said.

"We don't know what the market will indicate, but it is our intent to have a blend of rentals and condos," said Hank Sheinkopf, a prominent Democratic political strategist who has been hired as a spokesman for the project.

The project, known as Hallets Point Development, would require the zoning be changed from manufacturing to residential.

Formal plans, which also could include ground-floor retail space, are expected to be submitted by the end of the year.

The proposal would join a growing list of high-density residential developments under construction or planned for the Long Island City waterfront - a list led by the state's Queens West megadevelopment in Hunters Point and the city's proposed Hunters Point South community.

Sheinkopf said 20% of the 2,400 units will be affordable housing, but it was unclear how the prices for the project, which is privately funded, would be determined.

Company officials have quietly begun presenting their plans to the community in recent days. The zoning subcommittee of Community Board 1 got a preview Thursday night.

Lucille Hartman, district manager of Community Board 1, said the board has not taken a position on the project. But she added that the board has "always been supportive of development on the waterfront," and said there is a need for a neighborhood community center.

Joel Bergstein, a principal at Lincoln Equities, said the company is looking to discuss the community center with the residents.

"We want to ensure that Hallets Point will be fully integrated into the Astoria community," Bergstein said.


© Copyright 2008 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.

[NYC4Life]

Curbed

Long Island City Megaproject is Healthy, Happening

Friday, October 17, 2008, by Joey

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_10_gothamcenter.jpg

Tishman Speyer's years-in-the-making megadevelopment near Queens Plaza in Long Island City, called Gotham Center, appears to be moving forward.

Well, at least the first phase—a 21-story office building where a six-story municipal garage currently stands—is in motion, while the rest (housing, retail) is still up in the air performing some sort of circling pattern. The Times reports that the city has signed a lease to move the Department of Health to the office building at 28th Street and Thomson Avenue, a total of 2,700 employees.

Tishman Speyer had been looking for an anchor tenant (the above is an ad that ran on the back cover of Crain's) before it broke ground, but with tons of office space at the WTC and Hudson Yards and elsewhere around the corner, it was unclear if Gotham Center would ever happen. But the rent is cheaper in LIC, and the city bit. The DOH rumor was first floated by The Real Deal in May. Charles Bagli writes, "The city has wanted to create an office district in Long Island City for companies unwilling to pay higher Midtown Manhattan rents. It is using government offices to anchor the project with the hope that private companies will follow." A dangerous bet in these harsh economic times, no?