For more than a decade, the skyline of western Queens has been transformed with real estate development, and this will continue to trend in 2022.
High-rise towers in Hunters Point South change the waterfront skyline of Long Island City
The affordable housing lottery application opened in the fall of 2021 for Gotham Point, two residential towers at the mouth of Newtown Creek and the East River waterfront has been extended to Jan. 17. The development consists of two towers that will include 1,132 total residences with 75% of units priced at affordable rates. There will be senior housing, shared amenities, community facility and retail space.
Gotham Point’s South Tower, or Parcel G, will be 33 stories tall and is estimated to be completed in early 2022 between Second Street and Newtown Creek. The North Tower, or Parcel F, will stand at 57 stories and is expected to be completed in 2022.
A total of 98 homes will be set aside for low-income seniors in an 11-story dedicated wing, equipped with its own personal lobby space, a lounge and laundry room on each floor, as well as a library and a community room with a shared pantry. RiseBoro will also be leading special programming for the senior community.
Along with rooftop terraces with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline, available amenity spaces will include multiple resident lounges, an indoor-outdoor fitness club, a children’s playroom, a publicly accessible urban rooftop farm and a community boathouse. Residents will also have access to co-working lounges with breakout meeting rooms, private phone rooms and multi-person desks to facilitate collaboration and a sense of community within the building.
Additional components include a publicly accessible underground parking garage, ground-floor retail in the North Tower and a 3,000-square-foot community facility in the South Tower.
TF Cornerstone to open two towers at Hunters Point South Park
In early December, TF Cornerstone cut the ribbon on their new towers across Center Boulevard from Hunters Point South Park. A housing lottery opened for the nearly 1,200 apartments – 60% of which have been designated as affordable. The 55-story north tower is located at 52-03 Center Blvd., while the south tower is located next door at 52-41 Center Blvd. and is 44 stories high.
“TF Cornerstone’s Hunter’s Point South project is a win for Long Island City, creating more than 700 units of affordable housing and bringing the neighborhood many amenities that will benefit both existing and future residents,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “I commend all those who are helping Hunter’s Point South reach its full potential as a vibrant and sustainable mixed-use community.”
Innovation QNS will transform an entire Astoria neighborhood
The developers behind the $2 billion Innovation QNS proposal for transforming five blocks of “vacant or underutilized” property near Kaufman Astoria Studios into a “vibrant hub of activity and a new anchor of opportunity” in the neighborhood are gearing up for its first public hearing in the city’s public review process.
The project would bring more than 2,800 units of mixed-income housing and offices for startups and other businesses in the creative and tech sectors, supported by more than 5,400 on-site jobs, including 1,700 permanent jobs and more than 3,700 during construction. The development is a collaboration between Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silverstein Properties and BedRock Real Estate Partners.
The project team devised Innovation QNS following three years of dialogue with local stakeholders, and the plan includes 700 permanently affordable apartments for individuals earning an average of $50,000 including dedicated affordable housing for seniors.
The project also has more than two acres of public open space that will be programmed with input from the community. There are also plans for a new state-of-the-art cinema and community arts and culture hub as well as a full-service grocery store at the site, which spans five blocks and is centered at the intersection of Steinway Street and 35th Avenue.
The developers expect to get final approval by fall.
City to build massive Northern Boulevard High School
As real estate development exploded across western Queens for more than a decade, essential infrastructure improvements have lagged far behind the needs of its growing population.
In early December, the School Construction Authority broke ground on the massive, state-of-the-art, 3,066-seat Northern Boulevard High School in Woodside, which will be the largest facility ever constructed by the SCA.
Construction is already underway at the huge lot at Northern Boulevard and 54th Street, which was the location of an old Sports Authority store and most recently hosted one of the city’s COVID-19 testing hubs.
The new, six-story school building will be a fully air-conditioned, accessible facility and will contain 94 regular classrooms, six resource rooms, a 55-seat auditorium, a library, a full kitchen complex with two student dining areas, as well as a competition-sized gymnasium with bleachers and locker rooms.
The new building will house three high schools, including a District 75 program providing instructional support for students with special needs. The school is expected to open at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
