An 86-unit, two-family town home complex that will become one of the last private gated communities along the waterfront in College Point officially began sales recently, announced the project’s developer, JTR College Point, LLC.
Bordering the East River at Fifth Avenue and College Place, Soundview Pointe will offer homes to be sold at $875,000, with 3,200 square feet of living space of three to four floors, with at least five bedrooms and four bathrooms. The extra rooms can be easily converted into a home office, den or library and each owner will have the safety of a state-of-the-art keypad security and video intercom. The units will include a private garage and will be built to give each resident a choice between living in one unit and renting the other.
“It’s a nice development,” said James Servino, a College Point native and marine biologist and professor at Pace University and Columbia University. “This is by far the nicest new development I’ve seen in College Point in a long time.”
Made of natural brick, with limestone trim and the recreation of classic stone details, each home will include balcony patios that look out onto the East River. Designed with Feng Shui principles that reflect the traditions of northeast Queens’s large Asian community, the area will offer beautiful sights, with evergreen trees in front of the private community and McNeil Park, a 29-acre park with a full playground, basketball and handball courts, and baseball fields, across the street.
“We are raising the bar for new town home construction in the city, bringing a sense of Manhattan style and built-to-last quality to a residential enclave of Queens that is a charming waterfront community,” said Jason Halpern, a principal of JTR College Point. “This is a community with a distinctly suburban flavor, a great place for families, kids and nature lovers.”
The complex will offer several amenities nearby, such as local shopping at 14th Avenue and College Point Boulevard and just a mile away is the Triangle Center, with grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies and some of the biggest names in retail. The Soundview Pointe Jitney will offer homeowners personal shuttle service. The bus will make trips to and from the number 7 subway line and Long Island Railroad on Flushing Main Street weekday mornings and evenings. Furthermore, several bus lines stop at 5th Avenue in front of Soundview Pointe’s entrance and head into central Flushing.
Initially, however, the project found speed bumps. Built over an 8.6-acre plot of land that for years sat on a contaminated industrial landfill and was used to store cars, JTR College Point had to invest millions of dollars to clean out the piece of land, going 18 feet deep to remove all the pollutants.
“They stepped up to the plate,” said Servino, who opposed the project at the outset. “I think, basically, what they did is they met all the state DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) regulations. They went above and beyond and satisfied my concerns.”
