Rendering
Aug. 18, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
An image of Long Island City’s future has come into clearer focus, with detailed images posted online of the massive tower planned to soar over Queens Plaza.
This proposed luxury residence would be located at 29-37 41st Ave., hugging the Clock Tower building. According to Property Markets Group, which is developing the project with the Hakim Organization, the 1,000,000 square-foot, 70-story tower will contain more than 800 units.
Building plans include amenities such as a pool, health club and open roof. There will be retail space and a 100-car garage.
6sqft first reported on the new renderings.
Construction plans were filed with the Department of Buildings in March, quickly inspiring doubts that the project was possible due to zoning restrictions.
However, later that month, the MTA voted to transfer air rights to developers, allowing them to build this tower – which would be the Borough’s tallest – as of right. The MTA sold the rights for $56 million, and stated to the LIC Post in April that the deal has “clear benefits for our Capital Program and thus for our growing ridership.”
The project has drawn criticism from the local community, including Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, who released a statement in April calling it “out of character with the neighborhood and not supported by the present infrastructure.”
Developers did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
The renderings, which were drawn up by project designers SLCE Architects, are available online at City Realty and Property Markets Group.
Featured Events
26 Comments
When will there be a halt on the developers taking over the design of this neighborhood. Long Island City was a sweet place to live until this rampaging development with no consideration for the enormous burden it places on the community and commuter situation. The trains cannot hold this influx of people. There are only the two trains the 7 and the E which service LIC and they have become a nightmare to ride at rush hours. The infrastructure is not changing, there is no room to add more trains.
Holy crap that is gigantic.
Good. I love watching LIC grow up. Lets face it, this isn’t downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Cobble Hill area. There are very few architectural gems here. Very little worth saving. This neighborhood is an empty slate that has been overlooked far too long. Sad to see artists and studios get pushed out again, but really, this neighborhood was due for an overhaul. One stop from Manhattan. There are 20,000 apartments planned in the area. Almost all of them will be rentals. Expensive rentals. Very transient place. Nobody stays more than 2-3 years. This place is for new parents who can’t come to grips with leaving NYC. A few years of rising rents in LIC and it is time to find a house in the burbs. We can get an $800,000 mortgage for the same price as our 2 BR rental. Ridiculous. Too much money in NYC.
Who needs you in LIC? Go right ahead to the burbs.
why such a dickhead comment?
They are correct! They haven’t done anything to preserve the area from.
everything is ugly tall glass and brick buildings lacking character and overall appeal.
TFC alone basically took a giant shit on the waterfront with their East Coast development project.
There’s not retail here, and what is here is all garbage. The owners in the area charge such high rents for a storefront that anyone wanting to open a new restaurant or store basically has to sacrifice an arm and a leg just to do so.
Why the anger? Why not talk to me? You act like a high school kid and I am the one who should get out of dodge?
lmao I will be retired by then and out of this god forsaken city – think the # 7 sucks now???just wait!!! cya suckers!!!
Hey Daniel – go away. Please.
Hey, LIC Post, do us all a favor and stop posting DB’s comment.
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
Good luck riding that 7 train!
This building would be serviced by the E, F, M, N, Q, R, and 7 trains. I expect the lettered lines would be more popular, since they do downtown vs just cross town.
I’ve lived in LIC only 18 months and the area is changing fast, I’m sure by 2019 there will be many more amenities, there already are compared to 18 months ago, at least 3-4 new bars, 3 coffee shops, more on the way, Citibike just moving in this month, Fooodcellar on Crescent St almost finished, Smorgsburg etc… The subway is however a mess everywhere, MTAs fault for years of underinvestment. I agree and wonder how long the ever inflating rents can be sustained though and there clearly could be oversupply
By the time this is completed in 2019, will this building really be necessary for the area? There’s so much luxury housing going up right now and a lot of new buildings will get built before this even opens.
I get the feeling in a couple years the housing bubble is going to burst in Long Island City. The demand has to stop somewhere. And if it starts to fade, you are going to be left with this huge building sitting mostly empty in an area that has no grocery stores, little to eat and nothing to do.
Also the infrastructure doesn’t support the location at all. Queensboro Plaza is an overcrowded mess and the E and M trains are already packed to the gills during rush hour. By the time this building opens, the already too-old subway track and systems will be falling apart even more.
Don’t you think that by 2019 (or later probably if the building has delays, which they all do) that there will be grocery stores, bars and restaurants?
Agreed. That said, the subways by that point…
I don’t believe they’ll upgrade the infrastructure by 2019. I have no faith in this city to look beyond their greedy agenda in regards to real estate.
Changing topic a bit, they’ve granted a permit for a homeless shelter in Court Square. The property owner is a slumlord with a very bad record. Why is this not posted on LIC Post and how can the community organize against this?
Do you have any more info regarding the homeless shelter? That is terrible news. We need to unite as community and fight this.
And they are calling it a “hotel”
That may be, businesses are going to catch up but aside from the transportation as mentioned by Amadeo, the even bigger problem is going to be schools. They build more and more housing without matching education infrastructure. For families, it’s going to be a nightmare.
The reality is that this area is not going to be family dense. It is mostly rentals and the pricing is targeted right at professionals in their late 20s through late 30s, ie, about to get married through about to have kids. I would bet that the typical resident stays in the area for 3-4 years, then moves to the suburbs or someplace where they can buy. That isn’t to say that you are incorrect about more schools being a good idea, but just I don’t see this area becoming one where families settle down (other than ones that can afford private schooling).
I doubt it. There’s so much focus on throwing up these luxury rentals, and very few developers are making room for commercial or retail space in any of the buildings that are now being planned.
it’s .47 miles to that grocery store adjacent to Linc LIC, which hasn’t opened in 3+ years – it’s been “under construction” for that long. It also requires crossing the Plaza and walking to the south of the bridge; on the north side of the bridge, no, there is no plan for large-scale grocery stores, nothing to accommodate a multi-hundred unit building.
Don’t ask simple questions; think complex thoughts.
The real victim in LIC is good taste. That building is atrocious.
hahahah “Empty Area” You are just Jelly that you won’t be able to live there.
hell no! i think most people will have moved in and moved out by then. the area is already too transient as it is, and with the lack of retail and prices they charge new business to even open…..good luck LIC!
i say this as a broker……this area will be so densely overpopulated it will be insane riding the train, insane riding the bus, insane walking the streets, insane using the ATM at Chase, insane riding in your elevator and overall just too damn crowded in 5 years.
Everything they are building besides 1 Queens Plaza is a relatively large building. Look at Tishman Speyer……1700-1800 apartments. Right on top of Queens plaza station, and a short walk to the 7 at Queensboro Plaza.
Imagine the crunch during rush hour. This will be the L in Williamsburg on a whole new level.
Everything besides the water front in Williamsburg is a low/ mid rise building.