Briarwood, a low-slung and middle-class neighborhood in central Queens, was largely downzoned to prevent development in 2008. But the developer-friendly zoning along Queens Boulevard was left in place. There, not too far from the Briarwood stop on the E and F trains, one builder plans to replace a small roadside diner with a seven-story, mixed-use apartment building.
Earlier this year, Crystal Cruises proposed to transform the re-commission 12-deck passenger liner SS United States as a 400-suite luxury cruise ship. Sadly, the ship’s conversion is now being abandoned followed a feasibility study that indicated the project would be too challenging, the New York Times reported. After an inspection of the ship, it was found that roughly 25 percent of the hull would have to be replaced, in addition to new mechanical equipment and engine infrastructure. Also, since Crystal Cruises is owned by a foreign entity, the Jones Act would have made it challenging for the liner to operate as a United States-flagged ship. That means much tougher travel regulations, which is a significant disadvantage in the industry.
A preliminary rendering has been revealed of the proposed six-story, 156-key Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 43 Broadway, located on the corner of Broadway and Langdon Place in downtown Lynbrook. That’s in Nassau County along the South Shore of Long Island. It was reported a year ago that Browning Hotel Properties signed a tentative ground-lease with the village for the project, although the actual building has not yet been approved. The village board is expected to make a final decision this fall, once all studies have been reviewed and public hearings have been held, LI Herald reported. The hotel would include a built-in 306-car parking garage, where 96 spaces would be used by the hotel and the remaining for municipal and commuter purposes. The village’s Long Island Rail Road station is located two blocks away.
Williamsburg-based Jen Urban View Development has filed applications for a four-story, eight-unit residential building at 45 Troutman Street, in western Bushwick. It will measure 5,500 square feet and its residential units should average 687.5 square feet apiece, indicative of rental apartments. There will be two units per floor, although the top two apartments on the fourth floor will also feature space in an upper penthouse level. Woody Chen’s Elmhurst-based Infocus Design & Planning is the architect of record. The 25-foot-wide, 2,500-square-foot property is currently occupied by a two-story townhouse. Demolition permits haven’t been filed. The Myrtle Avenue stop on the J, M, and Z trains is two blocks away.
Originally filed in 2012, new building permits have again been submitted for a four-story, 102-unit hotel at 132-15 Nassau Expressway, on the southern edge of South Ozone Park. That’s the vacant, 14,280-square-foot triangular property, bound by 149th and 150th avenues and 132nd Street, near JFK International Airport. The new building will encompass 36,997 square feet. The hotel rooms should average a budget-sized 280 square feet apiece.Guest amenities include a fitness center, a breakfast dining area, a meeting room, and storage for four bikes. Sam Chang’s Great Neck, N.Y.-based McSam Hotel Group is the developer and Michael Kang’s Flushing-based architectural firm is the architect of record.
