Community Board 2 approves mixed-use development
led by Titan Machine and RXR Realty in Long Island City
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Queens’ Community Board
2 voted to approve a zoning application
for a mixed-use development
by Titan Machine and
RXR Realty for a new commercial
building at 42-111 9th St. in
Long Island City on Oct. 5.
The mixed-use development
will feature approximately
70,000 square-feet of
modern industrial space at
the building’s base, 270,000
square-feet of commercial office
space, and 2,900 squarefeet
of ground-level retail.
The project is in partnership
between Titan, an elevator
manufacturing and repair
company founded in Long Island
City in 1973, and RXR, a
real estate company that owns
and manages approximately
25.5 million square feet of
commercial properties in New
York like the Standard Motor
Products building in Long Island
City.
Developers say the project
will transform Titan’s current
21-employee facility into
a mixed-use industrial and
office building that preserves
as well as expands the neighborhood’s
existing industrial
character, and strengthen
the local economy in terms of
post-COVID recovery and the
sustained growth that will follow
.T
hey say it will create 1,500
permanent jobs, including up
to 300 to 350 industrial jobs.
The building’s location
outside of Manhattan’s dense
central business districts will
create walk- and bike-to-work
options for employees that reside
in Queens and Brooklyn.
The building will include 43
on-site bike parking spaces, as
it’s within five blocks of three
Citibike stations and is a short
walk from three subway stations
served by eight subway
lines.
“We’re fortunate that we
found in RXR a partner that
shares our goals and values
and is just as New York bornand
raised as we are,” said Carlos
Escobar, president of Titan
Machine. “Long Island City is
an industrial stronghold in a
changing city, and this project
will help maintain that character
by creating even more
industrial space than exists
in our building today. Titan
A building rendering facing west along Queens Plaza South. Courtesy of Perkins Eastman
will remain invested in this
project for the long haul, and
we’re eager to continue our
work with RXR to give back to
the community that gave us so
much and provide meaningful
opportunities for our friends
and neighbors in Long Island
City.”
The project certified into
ULURP on Sept. 14.
Community Board 2’s review
of the project — the first
formal stage of the city’s public
review process, the Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure
(ULURP) — urged developers
to consider ways to ensure industrial
rents are affordable,
but voted overwhelmingly
in support of the mixed-use
building.
The project will now go
before the Acting Queens Borough
President Sharon Lee for
review.
The ULURP application
seeks to designate the project
site as an Industrial Business
Incentive Area (IBIA), a mechanism
developed by the city
to encourage private development
of new industrial space.
The Titan-RXR team believe
the project represents a
successful model for private
development that allows additional
commercial floor area to
cross-subsidize the building’s
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | OCT. 23-OCT. 29, 2020
industrial space, removing
the need for public subsidies.
This model, they say, delivers
the dual benefit of strengthening
endangered industrial
neighborhoods while creating
new commercial office space
that expands access to higher
paying jobs.
“We’re grateful for the
support we’ve received from
Queens Community Board 2,
which will help us to not only
preserve but expand the space
available on site for industrial
uses,” said Jeffrey Nelson, senior
vice president of RXR Realty.
“We look forward to continuing
our work with Urban
Upbound and LaGuardia Community
College, and to forging
new relationships with other
local organizations to ensure
this project benefits the Long
Island City community.”
The development will feature
4,500 square-feet of landscaped
public open space, new
tree pits and landscaped planters
surrounding the building,
lighting enhancements
to brighten the surrounding
streets, 2,900 square-feet of
ground-floor retail space and
on-site and underground parking.
In terms of job creation,
RXR and Titan say the have
established partnerships with
local organizations to create
a workforce development program
that could connect local
residents to the roughly 300
construction jobs the project
will create.
One of those partners includes
Urban Upbound, a Long
Island City-based non-profit.
Urban Upbound will be the
lead partner for the first phase
of the program, helping identify
100 local residents, with
priority given to tenants of the
Queensbridge Houses, who
will receive Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
(OSHA) 30-hour certification
and other training required to
enter the construction field.
“RXR and Titan’s commitment
to our community is as
strong today as it was two years
ago when they reached out
to discuss an equity partnership
for the community,” said
Urban Upbound CEO Bishop
Mitchell Taylor. “We are so excited
to see investment in our
community, especially with
a focus on industrial development.
This project will serve
as one of many projects needed
to incite recovery from the devastating
impacts of COVID-19.
The industrial development
will serve as a catalyst to goodpaying,
skilled jobs for the surrounding
community. We look
forward to this project coming
online.”
LaGuardia Community
College will also provide 30
participants with intensive,
hands-on training in the
skilled trades through the College’s
Electrical 1 and Plumbing
1 Courses. Students will
graduate with credentials
from the National Center for
Construction Education and
Research (NCCER), including
the NCCER Core and Electrical
1 or Plumbing 1 cards.
LIC Partnerships President
Elizabeth Lusskin said the development
will help Queens’
industrial business.
“This is a great example
of the type of investment that
will buoy Queens on its road
to recovery,” said Lusskin.
“We’ve seen so much manufacturing
space disappear over
the years, so it’s encouraging
to see a project reverse that
trend by expanding Long Island
City’s industrial building
stock and the great jobs that
follow – especially at a critical
time like this. RXR is a longtime
member of the LIC Partnership
and Titan has been in
the neighborhood for decades,
and it’s easy to see that reflected
in their efforts to tailor this
project to the needs of the local
community.”
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