Library rendering
Sept. 6, 2013 By Christian Murray
Construction of the Hunters Point Library is likely to be delayed yet again following the city’s inability to find a developer willing to build it for the $28 million that was budgeted.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, speaking at the Hunters Point Civic Association meeting last night, said the city has had to modify the design plans to keep the construction cost below $28 million. He didn’t say what those design changes would be, other than saying they would merely be “cosmetic.”
The library, if all goes to plan, will feature a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of the city skyline, a garden, a gallery, a conference room, a computer center and youth and teen spaces. The 21,500 square-foot facility, which will be built at Center Blvd and 48th Ave (next to Gantry Plaza State Park) , will be largely a glass and cement structure.
Van Bramer did not disclose how much the construction companies quoted to do the initial job.
The revised plan is about to go out for bid. Van Bramer said the city is trying to expedite the whole process so there will be a groundbreaking late fall. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.
Featured Events
9 Comments
Maybe it’s time for the City to look a little closer at Queens Library’s finances. Their management of this project has been absolutely awful and, the case could be made, negligent.
It’s a beautiful design. Too bad the full plans aren’t available to evaluate what’s keeping developers from bidding. Tempted to think the city only approached three developers.
A simpler, cheaper design that can actually GET BUILT and OPEN would serve the community 100% better than a fancy concept which continues to only exist on paper.
WOW who needs a 28 mil library building … Especially in this economy
That building is uuuug-leeee
If this turns into a simple concrete block I say we hang Fred Harris, the ****bag from Avalon who made this back-end deal with no community input.
Who’s with me?
The land is leased through the Queens West Development corporation, I beleive so land costs shouldn’t be an issue. Perhaps it’s the new post-Sandy specifications giving people pause?
Either way, at this point I’d expect all phases of the HPS project to be completed before this library.
I agree. Most high-end condos cost anywhere from $300 to $400/sf in construction costs, add another $150/sf for soft cost and you are at $550/sf tops (land not included). If you add land then you are at $750 to $800/sf and a condo is much more expensive to build since it has a lot more pluming, high end finishes, appliances, and marketing costs. What am I missing here? Does the $28M include land costs?
Doing a rough back-of-napkin calculation, $28mill for 21.5k sq foot works out to over $1300 / sq ft. I am wondering how that is not enough to entice some developers?!