Completion is near for the 10-story, 74-room hotel under construction at 40-47 22nd Street, in northern Long Island City. The property will most likely operate under the Howard Johnson brand, which completed another 10-story hotel four blocks northwest at 38-61 12th Street in 2014. The project’s developer is Ratan Realty Three LLC, with Michael Kang serving as the architect.
The first residential high-rises in Long Island City’s Court Square neighborhood rose along Purves Street about a decade ago. Today, the block-long street forms the borough’s densest high-rise canyon. The cul-de-sac is built out from end to end, except for the roughly-triangular plot at its southern terminus. A seven-story, 33-unit residential building was proposed for the lot early last year. Though the site was cleared for construction, 44-46 Purves Street has not seen any activity in a year, in contrast to bustling construction activity along the rest of the block. As we await news of further progress and building renderings, the site’s pivotal location as a neighborhood gateway gives the developer an opportunity to present an architecturally notable design.
Foundations have been completed for a four-story, eight-unit residential building at 47-09 5th Street, in the Hunters Point neighborhood of Long Island City, close to the East River waterfront. Building permits list Shahram Nassi as the owner, with Jieming Wang of LMW Engineering Group LLC attached as the applicant of record. Brooklyn-based MC Superstructure Inc. is listed as the general contractor.
Exterior work is in progress on a five-story building at 47-09 5th Street in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, a block and a half away from the East River waterfront. In a typical development for Long Island City, an aging commercial property is being replaced with residences anchored by retail. In an unusual move, the developer, Studio Square per the DOB, opted to add three floors on top of the existing building rather than demolishing and starting anew. The eight residences would occupy 11,075 square feet, giving an average of 1,384 square feet per unit.
Six of the seven subway lines that connect Queens to Manhattan converge at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge, where Queens Plaza meets Queens Boulevard, Northern Boulevard, and Jackson Avenue. There, the elevated Queensboro Plaza station handles the N, Q, and 7 trains, while the E, M, and R serve the underground Queens Plaza stop. The two stations face increasing pressure from steady growth in both Long Island City and the borough as a whole, as well as the impending overflow of Brooklyn commuters displaced by the L train shutdown. The need for a transfer connection between them has become more pressing than ever.
