The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking proposals for the adaptive reuse of the Vernon Building at 44-36 Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens. The six-story, nearly 700,000-square-foot facility currently serves as a hub for various New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) functions including storage, warehousing, and trade shops. The RFI builds on the Adams Administration’s OneLIC Neighborhood Plan and follows a two-year public engagement process involving more than 1,800 participants.
The Vernon Building, situated along 44th Drive near the East River waterfront and Anable Basin, offers floorplates of approximately 100,000 square feet. NYCEDC is soliciting adaptive reuse ideas that could incorporate a mix of light industrial, retail, office, cultural, and community-serving uses. Respondents are encouraged to address implementation strategies, financial feasibility, and alignment with community priorities outlined during the OneLIC engagement process.
The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, which recently entered the public review process, includes zoning changes and the introduction of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing to bring approximately 14,700 new homes and 14,400 jobs to the area.
“We’re using every resource available to build a more dynamic and prosperous Long Island City, and this site is an important resource to achieve that goal,” said New York City Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick. “This RFI is an important first step to bringing more community-serving uses to the area, ones that will benefit the New Yorkers who live, work, and play in this vital neighborhood.”
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This is dumb. That whole neighborhood will be rezoned and this lot should be sold (or leased) to advance housing goals. Make the site RFP include all the community uses you want, like the city did in the Brooklyn Cultural District. But keeping a building this short at this location is frankly criminal.