Despite the construction boom that includes roughly a dozen towers of fifty floors or more, Long Island City is still relatively lacking in name-brand hotel projects. That is about to change in a big way, and YIMBY can now reveal the first renderings of the new Dream Hotel coming to 9-03 44th Road, just a block in from the East River waterfront.
Dream Hotel Long Island City, 9-03 44th Road, image by SBJ Group
The 13-story building will have 199 rooms spread over 84,600 square feet, and Stephen B. Jacobs is designing. The property was originally supposed to have 128 rooms, but it’s possible the first permits were filed to avoid the new building code that took effect after December 31st. Even with the changes, the most recent plan exam was disapproved just last week.
Despite administrative hang-ups — the function of an egregiously incompetent and corrupt Department of Buildings — additional permits were filed for demolition of the existing structure this past January, and for new construction fencing just last month, hopeful signs that work will soon begin.
The site is a perfect example of New York’s outdated zoning, given the abundance of underutilized M-zoned land that remains in Long Island City. Proponents of a new zoning change would ban hotel construction in these areas, preventing their conversion from forlorn industrial wastelands into places that can accommodate tourists while also providing new jobs.
Dream Hotel Long Island City, 9-03 44th Road, image by SBJ Group
The old warehouse at 9-03 44th Road takes up the entire block, and it appears that a sliver of the structure will be preserved and integrated into the new design, which will position the hotel tower above a very large one-story base. Above, there will be a 10,000 square foot event space.
No completion date has been announced, but with groundbreaking occurring soon, a 2017 estimate would not be unreasonable. As YIMBY first reported, the project’s permit filings appeared this past December.
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