Twin Towers of Yes

 

 Queens Eagle

A major developer has plans to build two nearly 50-story towers in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Central Queens – but locals want no part of it.

Marx Development Group aims to construct a two-tower complex, which will be as high as 47-stories – or 572-feet tall – between Parsons Boulevard and Park Avenue in the generally low-density, suburban-eque community of Kew Gardens Hills.

While the project is still missing some needed permits, according to Department of Buildings documents, the dual-tower skyscraper is an as-of-right project and can be constructed without a potentially lengthy rezoning process.

However, locals and elected officials in the neighborhood nonetheless want the project halted.

The lot for the building is nestled amongst several low-density blocks, characterized by two- to three-story apartment buildings. It is directly between an assisted living facility, which the developer also owns; an office building, which houses the office of Assemblymember Sam Berger; and the NYPD’s 107th Precinct.

The majority of the area is listed as an R6 zone, according to the Department of City planning.

DCP said that the plans, as they were outlined as of Thursday, would not require the developer to undergo any kind of rezoning process, a potentially lengthy procedure that would require approval from the local community board, borough president and City Council.

The lot has long been owned by MDG subsidiary Atria Builders LLC, which is headed by CEO David Marx, and the company has been working to file permits for the building since 2019.

Currently, according to the Department of Buildings, the tower’s construction is not fully approved, and is missing a few documents. Mainly, the application is missing what is called a zoning diagram, a document that proves the builders plan to use the building solely for its allowed zoning use – in this case, residential use.

However, the developer has approved permits to do preliminary ground work at the site, which is currently ongoing.

But as work began on the lot, so too did local opposition.

Negative community response to the building began to pick up when housing outlet New York YIMBY published an article on Oct. 2, reporting that the owners are beginning the development process.

New York YIMBY also reported that the structure would bring 800 units over the property’s 1.1 million square feet, and around 27,000 square feet for community facility space.

It is currently unclear if – or how much – affordable housing the building would include.

It is scheduled to be completed by 2028.

“It will be a disaster,” said Sorolle Idels, a local Jewish leader and community board member. “It's a congested area, making it unbelievably more congested…This is a big fat mess.”

Idels said that even though the developers were not required to come before the community board to pitch the project, she believes they should have at least given them a heads up giving the project’s size and scale.

“This absolutely went under the radar with no input from the community board or the community,” she said. “No one discussed it with anybody, and that's not right. How do you build a skyscraper and not get the community input?”

City Councilmember Jim Gennaro said that while the project is still in its preliminary stages, he wants to work with the developer to make sure community concerns are addressed.

“My job is to bring the community and the developer together to work out common sense accommodations, common sense mitigations, work on people's concerns and expect some consideration and some acquiescence to the community's concern,” Gennaro told the Eagle.

“I think it's in the developer's best interest to be neighborly and be attentive to community concerns,” he added. “Nothing has been approved by the DOB as of this date, but we're not going to wait. We're going to get out there and we're going to mix it up.”

 

The MTA and the city is moving the Jamaica Bus Terminal to please a real estate developer

  

 

Passengers United

City sues developer for damages to Elmhurst firehouse

 

PIX News  

  Firefighters are a beloved part of the neighborhood and the firehouse represents safety and security.

But in Elmhurst, Queens along Grand Avenue, the building that houses the FDNY is showing some wear and tear. Neighbors fear it may have to close. The city says the structure needs to be rebuilt or significantly repaired.

In a lawsuit filed this month, the New York City Law Department, which represents the mayor and city agencies, seeks to recover $23 million.

“We are determined to hold these owners and their contractors responsible. They should pay for the costs the City has incurred to address the dangerous conditions and get this firehouse fully repaired,” said NYC Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix.

The city built a shelter across from the firehouse in a side street to park the heaviest vehicles.

James McMenamin lives nearby and works with the Newtown Civic Association. “There had been no work for 11 years and then this past year work began again by another development company,” he said.

Neighbors are working with local elected officials and community boards. “The firehouse must stay open. If they’re thinking of closing it, it has to be relocated close by,” said Sally Wong.

Part of Councilmember Bob Holden’s district is covered by the firehouse. “It’s unfortunate a firehouse is to be displaced and an entire street closed. The community is distressed by this on a number of levels. What do we do if we build another building? How long will that take,” he said.

Developer brings down AMI qualifications for incremental affordable units in luxury public housing building at Trylon Theater

QNS 

A zoning application for the proposed Trylon development in Forest Hills has been modified to allow deeper affordable housing units so more families can live in the community, according to newly elected City Councilwoman Lynn Schulman.  

After extensive negotiations and discussions with the developer, Trylon LLC., the mixed-use residential development at 98-81 Queens Blvd. will utilize Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) Option 1, which is more affordable for prospective renters. 

The project will bring approximately 40 housing units to Forest Hills with the majority of these units targeted for households making between $30,000 and $70,000, Schulman said. Under MIH Option 1, developers are required to set aside affordable units for residents earning 60%, 40% and 100% of the AMI.

“According to the NYC Housing Preservation and Development’s ‘Housing New York Open Data,’ only one new construction affordable housing project was located in Queens Community Board 6 during the entire eight years of the de Blasio administration. There are other conditions that were expressed by the community board which are still being explored with Trylon LLC., but the housing agreement is the most significant,” said Schulman, who thanked the community board and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards for their guidance and input in the process, as well as Trylon LLC. for working with the community. 

After public hearings and discussions regarding the demolition of the Tower Diner and Trylon Theatre to make way for the new development on Queens Boulevard, Community Board 6 in November 2021 voted in favor of the project, but with certain conditions.

The Grinch that killed a pizzeria

 

QNS

 
A longtime Bay Terrace pizza shop is closing its doors after nearly 50 years in business.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Jack’s Pizza and Pasta would be going out of business amid a dispute between the restaurant’s owners and Cord Meyer, the development company that owns the Bay Terrace Shopping Center where Jack’s is located.

The owners of Jack’s Pizza posted a sign outside of the establishment at the shopping center claiming that Cord Meyer’s CEO Matthew Whalen refused to renew the restaurant’s lease, effectively forcing them out after decades of business. The sign also stated that Jack’s had stayed open “at the height of the COVID pandemic.”

But Cord Meyer issued a statement saying that the restaurant’s lease had expired in September 2020 and they had failed to renew it.

“Their lease expired in September 2020, but in acknowledgment of their long history, we agreed to let them stay until the end of 2021 and offered them generous rent concessions. We are disappointed that our relationship with Jack’s has been mischaracterized. If a tenant refuses to meet agreed-upon obligations, we need to focus on ensuring that the Bay Terrace remains a vibrant shopping center,” said a Cord Meyer spokesperson.

Laura, the daughter of Anna and Jack Sapienza who opened the business in 1972, told Patch that finances were tight when they ran a takeout-only operation during the pandemic. During that time, Laura claimed that the Sapienzas paid Cord Meyer “as much as we could” from March through December 2020 but had their rent check returned in January 2021 followed by a 30-day eviction notice.

Several reports claimed that the owners of the pizzeria were planning to pay back Cord Meyer for the missing rent, which the company allegedly approved during COVID.

Cord Meyer said that they will allow Jack’s Pizza to stay in its current location until Jan. 15 before shutting down the operation for good.

 

Rest in peace bubala

  

Crains New York

Rumors about the future of a Jewish funeral home in Queens have been laid to rest.

Parkside Memorial Chapel at 98-60 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park will become a 51-unit residential project spanning about 72,000 square feet, according to plans that owner David Matatov filed Tuesday with the city Department of Buildings.

The mixed-use development would stand 7 stories tall and include commercial and community space, along with 15 parking spots. JFA is the architect of record.

A firm linked to RB Realty Capital purchased the building from Parkside Memorial Chapels in July for slightly less than $11 million, property records show. The developer filed an application Wednesday to demolish the 2-story building, but the application has not been approved yet, and the demolition permit has not been issued, according to the DOB.

Parkside has multiple other locations in the city, including at 1700 Coney Island Ave. in Midwood, Brooklyn, and at 114-03 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills, Queens, according to its website.

Representatives for RB Realty did not respond to a request for comment.

City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz told the Queens Chronicle in February that the project planned to replace the funeral home would be an affordable-housing development for senior citizens. Her office did not respond to a request for comment on whether that is still in the works.

Why are these people so shy? Don't they want to help the housing insecure and retired senior citizens?

Developer demands upzoning for apartment building where Shalimar Diner once was

 

 

  Queens Post

A developer has filed plans with the Department of City Planning to have a Rego Park site where the Shalimar Diner was located rezoned.

The application was filed earlier this year by David Koptiev, the owner of the Forest Hills-based company Platinum Realty, who is looking to construct a nine-story, 74-unit project on the 63-68 Austin St. site.

The plans were certified by City Planning on Oct. 5 and the public review process has begun.

The site had been occupied by the Shalimar Diner from 1974 through to the end of 2018. The corner property was purchased by two LLCs owned by Koptiev for $6,550,000 on Nov. 15, 2018 from Alderton Associates.

Alderton was owned by Hildy Limondjian, whose family had the property for decades.

The Austin Street site is currently located in a R4 zoning district—with a C2-2 commercial overlay—which typically allows for a three-story mixed use building, according to City Planning documents.

 

W.W.R.D.? (What will Reynoso do?)

Hi folks,

One of the advantages of having a blog with longevity is that you get to follow the tweeding stories as they unfold. Then you get to call out the tweeders on their BS. Let's take a little trip down memory lane...

It was 2014, and a lot in Ridgewood close to the Bushwick border was being rezoned to allow a filthy eyesore truck lot to be transformed into a gleaming new residential project. Hopes were high that the developers would include affordable housing in their plans. The electeds got to work:

From the Times Ledger:

Some argued the rents described by developers — with studios going for about $1,000 and two-bedroom apartments renting for up to $1,800 a month — would not be affordable to most in Ridgewood and invite an influx of young, wealthier inhabitants...

Katz’s nod of approval came with two suggestions. She requested an unspecified number of apartments be reserved for those making 60 percent of the area’s median income and urged a different commercial overlay be used to recruit a wider array of businesses.

An applicant representative said the landlord would be willing to use the zoning suggested by Katz during the June 11 Planning Commission hearing, application documents show.

The spokesman also agreed to permanently offer eight units in the larger development as affordable housing. When prompted by the commission, he committed to increasing this to 20 percent of the building’s apartments provided the city permits a bulkier development than currently authorized by its Inclusionary Housing program.

From DNA Info:

The proposal for the 88-unit building originally had no affordable housing, but developers committed to 50 percent affordable units, along with the affordable community space after discussions with Reynoso's office and community members, the councilman's office said.

"Any project that runs through a ULURP process will need to meet demands of real affordability, and I’m pleased that we were able to achieve that here," Reynoso said.

The affordable units, of which 20 percent will be permanently affordable, will be distributed to people earning between $23,000 to $105,000 per year.

50% of 88 units is 44. 20% of 44 is 8. Eight units will be "permanently" affordable.

Now, let's take a look at what the community actually got, courtesy of Ridgewood Post:

Forty apartments in a newly constructed building in Ridgewood are up for grabs through the city’s affordable housing lottery — but only for those who make at least $61,000 a year.

The building, called the “The Strand,” is located at 18-81 Starr St. It has a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, which cost upwards of $1,797 a month through the lottery.

Residents must make 130 percent of the area median income to be eligible for the lottery.

Ok, so now we're at 40 affordable units instead of 44? Rent for a studio was supposed to be $1000, now it's starting at $1800? Instead of 60% of the median income, the applicants have to make 130%? Minimum income of $23,000 has now become $61,600?

So, Antonio Reynoso, what are you going to do about this developer pulling a fast one? Or is being complicit with this part of the overall plan?

JQ Update:

Another tidbit from that old DNA article mentions that the developer behind this was the Slate Property Management Group LLC.

You remember those guys right? They were the ones who bought Rivington House for a song from the city and then tried to flip the building to some "mysterious buyer" for luxury condo development for 10 times for what it's worth as de Blasio was busy with his pay to play Campaign for one New York fundraising shenanigans and meetings with his "agents of the city" in city hall.

And speaking of Ridgewood and longevity (you're welcome), the creative geniuses behind Slate joined forces with craft swill makers Rockaway Brewery and attempted to open a pop up beach when this fraudulent affordable housing building was a toxic dirt yard about 4 years ago, which I called out for weeks in my role as a muckraking commenter back in the day.

Sometimes you just can't win (even when you do)

From Politico:

On hyper-local issues, however, upstairs-downstairs divides can become acute—and the symbolic positions that feel good on a national level can turn into real-world decisions that impact people’s lives. Most voters in liberal cities have seen these fights: Upscale parents in Democratic neighborhoods whose liberalism vanishes when it comes to bringing in students from poorer neighborhoods (as on Manhattan’s Upper West Side) or pooling PTA funds between richer and poorer schools (as in Santa Monica, California). This is even more common in the area of housing, and in particular affordable housing, where well-off liberals tend to lose interest in “affordability” the minute it threatens to change their neighborhoods or dent their real-estate values.

This problem played out in Queens as well, in a way that suggests the gulf between insider get-it-done politics and symbolic wins. On 82nd Street, just down the road from Crowley’s district office, developers proposed converting an abandoned movie theater into a 13-story mixed-use project with three stories of affordable units in it. Crowley was in favor of it—it meant permanent jobs at the Target that was going in on the ground floor, union construction jobs in the building of the thing, and more housing, in particular affordable housing.

Ocasio-Cortez opposed it, saying that it would bring gentrification and that the affordable housing wasn’t affordable enough. Politically, it was a winner for her: It gave her a chance to bash Crowley for being in thrall to the real estate industry. The portion of the district where it is slated to go up isn’t so much gentrifying as changing; Latinos are moving away and Asian immigrants are moving in. It has grown less white over the past decade, if anything, but she got a boost from the surrounding, whiter neighborhoods that have helped spearhead the opposition, fearing that the project was out of scale with the neighborhood and would increase vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Ocasio-Cortez won the election, and three weeks later, the local councilman who supported the project withdrew his support. Neighborhood activists claimed victory—over the real-estate industry, over gentrification, over the old insider system.

Just one thing: The project is still going forward.

Crowley and other local elected officials had been negotiating with the developers to add more affordable housing, but once he lost, any leverage to add it to the project vanished. Legally, the developers can still build 10 stories without any go-ahead from the government—and without bringing any new affordable housing to Queens at all. Which is what the developers have suggested they intend to do.

The wheel no one wanted

From Curbed:

Developers behind Staten Island’s ambitious New York Wheel have officially pulled the plug on the project, ending months of speculation about its future. Staten Island Advance broke the news of the development, which is a startling turn of events for a project that was once touted to usher a renaissance for the North Shore section of Staten Island.

For over a year now, the observation wheel project has been beset by infighting, construction woes, and more recently, legal troubles. The developer, New York Wheel LLC, was battling its former contractor Mammoet-Starneth on ownership of some of the Wheel’s parts, and last month a court granted the developers an extension to hire a new contractor and show that it had enough funds to procure those parts.

However, two of the lead investors in the development—Lloyd Goldman and Jeffrey Feil—later expressed skepticism about the project moving forward without significant city funding. Both mayor de Blasio and the city’s Economic Development Corporation had previously stated that project didn’t seem like a sound investment for city funds.

McMansion to replace former Halloran house

Ex-Council Member Dan Halloran is still in the clink, but his former Whitestone home won't be waiting for him when he gets out.

The property was sold and is in the process of being redeveloped.

One last pagan parting gift.

Losing their religion in Astoria

From the Queens Gazette:

The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island has filed plans to develop a five-story apartment building at 46-09 31st Avenue in Astoria, the former home of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

The new building will feature a ground floor community room and lobby, 6 apartments on each of the second through fourth floors, and three apartments on the fifth floor, according to the plans.

The Diocese has not announced plans for demolition of the existing building, which is no longer used for Episcopal services, a spokesperson said.

Rats abound at Jamaica site

From the Queens Chronicle:

What once was a private park and playground at the corner of 109th Avenue and 171st Street in Jamaica has long been an overgrown eyesore for nearby residents.

Now it has been designated as a rat-infested danger by the city, which has laid poison in traps around the property and down holes on the lot itself.

“People in the apartment building across the street tell me they don’t want to go outside at night. That’s when they come out,” said Pam Hazel, a neighborhood activist, in one of two telephone interviews with the Chronicle in the last week.

The first treatment was put down on July 7, according to both Hazel and signs posted on the chain link fence around the property by the Department of Mental Heath and Hygiene.

During a visit by the Chronicle in 2013 the property, while already fenced off, had remnants of playground equipment and dilapidated but still recognizable park benches.

A visit last Friday showed the trees to have been cleared out, but that grass, brush and smaller trees have taken over all but the concrete-and-paving stone paths inside.

A handful of residents last Saturday staged a rally outside the property in an effort to draw the attention of the owners and elected officials from the area.

Why did a developer get control of this instead of the Parks Department?

Flagship Diner forced to close to make way for apartment building

From PIX11:

Sunday was a bittersweet day for longtime customers of the Flagship Diner, which closed after decades serving up meals in Queens.

For 53 years, this 24-hour diner with a parking lot out front on Queens Boulevard was the center of so many peoples lives.

Customers would bring their children and grandchildren to the diner. They also made sure to come out to say goodbye.

For a year and a half, the diner’s owners have been battling with the landlord over a lease that was supposed to end next year so the property could be converted into a 7-story apartment building.

This day brought one of the owners to tears.

“We’re very sad, but it is relief that it is over,” Vincent Pupplo, co-owner of Flagship diner told PIX11. “There was a lot of pressure in the last year and a half so this is bittersweet.”

Slán do anois, Shannon Pot!

From LIC Post:

The Shannon Pot, a longstanding Irish dive bar in Long Island City, will be closing down for a second time, but with plans already in the horizon to remain in the neighborhood.

The bar and restaurant, currently located at 21-59 44th Dr., will close on Friday as developers plan on bulldozing the one-story building to make way for a seven-story residential and commercial project.

The business, in the neighborhood since 1999, was already forced to relocate to its current 44th Drive site in 2014 from its prior spot at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Davis Street, which was also demolished as part of the two-story project under construction at the former 5Pointz site.

But a spokesperson for The Shannon Pot told the LIC Post that the developer, Kyriacos Stavrinou, has promised them a place at their upcoming development.

The spokesperson said The Shannon Pot will be back in business when the new building is completed. The bar currently has no plans to reopen elsewhere in the meantime, but could potentially do so if a short-term lease were obtained.

Huge Queens Blvd development is widely criticized

From the Queens Chronicle:

According to plans presented by developer Madison Realty Capital, the taller of the two structures — to be located at the southeast corner of 69th Street and Queens Boulevard — will feature 17 stories and rise 181 feet into the air.

The shorter building — across the plot from its counterpart — will feature 14 stories, stand 151 feet tall and sit at the northwest corner of 70th Street and 47th Avenue.

Within the two structures, Madison Realty Capital plans to create 561 residential rental units, including 112 dwellings of affordable housing for residents making 80 percent of the area median income — about $62,000 for a family of three.

Connecting the buildings -— which will contain about 5,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space — will be a courtyard to be built atop a parking garage that will contain 242 spots.

Of the approximately 100 people in attendance at the meeting, no one spoke in favor of the plan. Most of those who took the microphone to shred it were members of the NYC District Council of Carpenters, all of whom donned green or black union shirts.

Many of them asked if a commitment to use organized labor could be made, but Ross Moskowitz, an attorney representing Madison Realty, and other present officials affiliated with the developer responded by saying that it was too early in the process to decide.

That sparked jeers from some in the crowd, with one man even asking how many people the developer expect to die on the job if it decides to hire nonunion workers.

Brooklyn developer listens to community, is ok with landmarking

From Brooklyn Daily:

The confidentiality agreement that blocked the mystery buyer of the Angel Guardian Home in Dyker Heights from coming forward to reveal his intentions for the block-sized complex has loosened enough for him to speak exclusively to this paper about his plans for the site, and how the community’s voice helped shape them.

Developer Scott Barone credited this paper’s extensive coverage of local needs and concerns since the property’s purchase last year with informing his decision to include a senior center, affordable housing, senior housing and perhaps a school along with the market-rate condos he had originally planned for the entire site — as well as preserving the main building, which locals have been pushing to landmark to protect it from the wrecking ball.

“We really heard three things from the community at large: that they need schools and senior housing, that the Narrows Senior Center is something that’s important to this community as a whole, and that this building is important to this neighborhood, and we’re going to do everything in our power to keep it there,” said Barone, the founder and president of his eponymous management company, which has previously developed hotels, luxury apartments, and office and commercial buildings across the city.

The developer said that he has already had meetings with the Landmarks Preservation Commission about the century-old main building, but his current plans are to preserve it as part of the final design, though he’s not yet sure what would go there.

“It is our intention at this time to keep that main building in place,” he said, “and if it were to be landmarked, we’re okay with that.”

Barone said he expects to close the Angel Guardian deal within the next two to three months — pending approval from the Vatican — and that 60 percent of the block-sized property bound by 63rd and 64th streets and 12th and 13th avenues will be devoted to market-rate condos, with an additional 15 percent earmarked for affordable housing and the last 25 percent split between senior housing and perhaps a school.

Crazy big development coming to Astoria

From The Real Deal:

Cape Advisors and Wainbridge Capital secured a $65 million loan to fund their purchase of a waterfront development site in Astoria.

The site at 30-77 Vernon Boulevard spans about 522,000 square feet. Cape Advisors and Wainbridge are planning a luxury five-building residential project with 770 affordable and market-rate apartments. Amenities include lounges, a rooftop deck and a fitness center.

Another hotel planned for LIC

From LIC Post:

Permits have been filed for a 116-room hotel in Long Island City.

The new hotel would rise to 16 stories, or 179 feet, at 38-59 11th St. The site, currently vacant land, is two blocks from the Queensboro Bridge.

The plans call for a hotel spanning over 54,000 square feet, with eight rooms each from floors two through 14. The remaining two floors will hold six rooms.

The hotel will also come with a breakfast area, a business center, a fitness and laundry room, and 31 enclosed parking spaces.

And we all know how successful hotels in this area have been.

Corona gentrification project in the works

From the Real Deal:

Developer Ai Yun Chen is planning to bring a mixed-use building to Corona that will feature 90 residential units and span just under 174,000 square feet.

The building would be located at 37-20 114th Street and be split between about 92,000 square feet of commercial space, 81,000 square feet of residential space and 600 square feet of community space. The project, designed by Angelo Ng and Anthony Ng Architects, would stand eight stories and 70 feet tall.