Exterior work is progressing on La Vita, a highly anticipated 16-story mixed-use development located at 133-25 37th Ave. in Flushing.
Once completed, this modern complex will rise 198 feet tall and span 263,151 square feet, offering a blend of residential, hospitality, and retail spaces.
La Vita will feature 150 condominiums, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, alongside 202 hotel rooms. The development also includes 23,000 square feet of ground-floor and below-grade retail space and 300 parking spaces.
The structure’s exterior is rapidly taking shape, with its reinforced concrete frame now largely clad in recessed floor-to-ceiling windows. These windows are accentuated by a grid of bronze-hued metal and corrugated gray panels, giving the building a striking and contemporary façade.
Plenty of work remains to be done on this property, which is bound to the north by 36th Road, to the south by 37th Avenue and to the west by a construction project at 133-09 37th Ave. The southern end of the development site, which features the taller portion of the building, still has blue waterproofing exposed throughout most of the exterior, indicating work there is further behind. Smooth gray paneling will clad much of this area. Its broad faces on the east and west have several balconies in a staggered arrangement and protruding vertical dividers.
Hoists are anchored to the eastern end of the taller portion of the development site and at the center of the lower volume’s wide northern elevation. Another feature that can be spotted is a pair of V-shaped concrete columns supporting the elevation of the lower volume’s northeast corner above the ground.
When completed, the structure at 133-25 37th Ave. will be L-shaped. The taller portion will be dedicated to housing residential units. Several balconies lined with glass railings can be seen in the renderings. The northern edge of the site will have the hotel wing and stand 10 stories tall. The top of that portion will feature a landscaped roof deck. A rooftop restaurant is also planned for the hotel part of the development. Additionally, the development’s southwest corner along 37th Avenue will have a low-rise podium that will also be topped off with a landscaped terrace.
Once finished, the structure’s public-facing retail and hotel buildings are expected to have warm copper finishes. The hotel will glow in the dark during the evening. A neutral nickel finish will be on the residential tower, meant to evoke a sense of calm subtleness. Both the hotel and the residential building will have facades that balance materiality and glass. These facades will be expressive and textured.
The architectural firm FXCollaborative is the design architect for La Vita. The architect of record for this project is Raymond Chan Architect. The developer of La Vita is Gary Tsan, under the 37 Richouse LLC.
Tsan bought the property in 2020 for $60 million. It was previously made up of low-rise buildings and a parking lot. The private equity firm Madison Realty Capital provided a $90 million loan to Tsan in April 2022 for the purpose of helping to complete the project.
Construction is expected to finish in the summer of 2025. Sales and marketing for the condominiums are currently being handled by Xiao Rui Lin and Adrian Lupu of Nest Seekers International. Prices for these units range from $660,000 to $2 million.
