Façade installation is beginning on Magnolia Gardens, a seven-story transitional residential and community facility at 39-03 College Point Boulevard in Flushing, Queens. Designed by Urban Architectural Initiatives and developed by Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) under Magnolia Gardens Developer Inc., the 72-foot-tall structure will yield 62,932 square feet of community facility space, 90 supportive housing units sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and a 30-foot-long rear yard. Urban Resources Institute (URI) and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) will manage the facilities at the property, which is alternately addressed as 133-04 39th Avenue and located at the intersection of College Point Boulevard and 39th Avenue.
Recent photographs show crews prepping the exterior for façade installation behind a shroud of scaffolding and black netting. The grid of windows is already in place, and workers are in the process of covering the cinderblock walls in a layer of pink paint ahead of the installation of the white brick façade and gray paneling.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The site had sat vacant and overgrown for years, as seen in the below Google Street View image from before construction broke ground last March.
3903 College Point Boulevard in Flushing, Queens via Google Maps
The rendering in the main photo depicts the exterior composed of white brick and gray metal paneling, with a distinctive beveled frame of copper-hued metal wrapping around the northwest corner of the building. This copper trim is utilized at a smaller scale in staggered boxes around the recessed windows near the corner, and for frames around the windows on the outer wings. The ground floor features floor-to-ceiling windows, and the structure culminates in a flat parapet topped with a photovoltaic canopy.
Each family apartment will come with kitchens and bathrooms. The community room will be accessible to the public, and the building will have 24-hour security. URI has also proposed the inclusion of a digital fabrication laboratory (fab lab) to help clients, community youth, and other residents develop job skills for the future.
Construction is expected to meet or exceed the Enterprise Green Communities 2020 program, Phius+ 2021 CORE, Energy Star, Multifamily New Construction, and EPA’s Indoor air PLUS.
The nearest subway from the development site is the 7 train at the Flushing-Main Street station along Roosevelt Avenue.
39-03 College Point Boulevard’s anticipated completion date is slated for spring 2025, as noted on site. However, sometime around the end of 2025 is more likely.
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This is yet another residential building being erected in the former commercial/light industrial district of Flushing. A large project was proposed for the other side of College Point Boulevard along Flushing Creek, but this was seeming abandoned due to public opposition. There were fears Flushing was getting too crowded. The intersection of Main St. and Roosevelt Ave. is claimed to have the highest pedestrian traffic in NYC behind only Herald and Times squares. The subway terminus at Main St., often the busiest outside of Manhattan, was recently enlarged to have 11 entrances.
So nice there is only excitement for real estate, that there are no lawsuits for trespassing: Thanks.