Now that the controversy over the towers that will rise at the site of the old 5 Pointz open-air graffiti gallery has quieted down, construction is soon to commence, according to the developer.
Architect H. Thomas O’Hara filed building permits this morning for the project at 22-44 Jackson Avenue. When reached by phone, developer David Wolkoff at G&M Realty told YIMBY that demolition will likely start in a few weeks, and groundwork and construction should begin in three to five months.
The two towers will contain a total of 1.2 million square feet of floorspace, the majority of which will be spread among the 1,000-plus rental apartments (the building permit put the exact number at 1,116, though previous reports pegged it a bit lower; in any case, around 20 percent will be let at below-market rates). The site will also contain nearly 40,000 square feet of commercial space, including retail and 20 artists’ studios, and significant amounts of open space.
5 Pointz in its heyday, which the Wolkoffs generously allowed to be used as a canvas for aerosol artists for years at rents far below market
22-44 Jackson Avenue will also contain a public garage with room for 262 cars. While so much parking is not ideal for a location with excellent transit accessibility, Wolkoff’s hands were tied by the city: in order to take advantage of the enormous 60 percent density bonus available in this part of Long Island City, which has no minimum parking requirements, he must build a 250-space public garage.
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