Earlier this week, YIMBY revealed renderings for 340 Flatbush Avenue, which could become Brooklyn’s tallest tower. But the borough’s current tallest building, Ava DoBro (formerly Avalon Willoughby West), is inching toward completion a few blocks away at 100 Willoughby Street.
Two big developments, Hallets Point and Astoria Cove, are in the works on Astoria’s waterfront, but smaller developers have begun arriving on the neighborhood’s northern edge. The latest addition is an eight-story mixed-use project planned for 21-07 Astoria Boulevard.
The eco-friendly form of construction known as passive house is still rare in New York City. It saves building owners more money in the long run by cutting down on energy costs. But construction costs developers more up front, because passive house demands a special kind of ventilation system, several additional inches of insulation, and extra thick windows. Few affordable housing developers are willing to take on the challenge, but HANAC—an organization that builds senior housing throughout Queens—has decided to make its low-income project in Corona a passive house building.
Ironstate is slowly building the first phase of its big project on Staten Island’s North Shore, which will bring 571 apartments to the former Homeport naval base in Stapleton. Now the firm has filed plans for the second phase of the development, called URL Staten Island, at 5 Hudson View Loop.
Back in the 1930s, two 19th century wood frame homes stood at 563 and 565 West 170th Street, between St Nicholas and Audobon Avenues in Washington Heights. But by the late 1970s, the two houses had been torn down and replaced by a garage and an unremarkable two-story brick building. Now a new residential building may grow at no. 563, which is mostly vacant except for the dilapidated, single-story garage.
