on the project in two years. Rendering courtesy of Brause Realty LIC Partnership offers a ■REAL ESTATE BY LIAM LA GUERRE [email protected] I @LiamLaGuerre ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LIC BUILDING BREAKS GROUND Earth Day is a time for reflection on how to be more environmentally conscious. It was also the best day for Brause Realty and Gotham Organization to break ground on its 35-story rental building in Long Island City, which will be one of the most eco-friendly structures in the neighborhood. The building at 44-28 Purves St. was designed by FXFowle Architects, the same group behind the massive green roof on the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It will have 272 market-rate rental apartments with a mix of studios, one- and twobedroom apartments, and various green features, such as generating energy from wind turbines and solar panels. “We are creating a lot of our own energy, which is going to power a lot of the common areas in the building,” said David Brause, president of Brause Realty, at the groundbreaking ceremony on April 22. “There is a lot of green in this building.” Additionally, a three-floor “amenities building” will be built in conjunction with the tower on the lot, and that smaller structure will have a green roof with grass and plants. The project is designed with LEED Silver certification standards, which is the third-highest green level a building can obtain by the U.S. Green Building Council. The amenities building will have space for a fitness center, yoga studio and a 2,000-square-foot commercial space on the ground floor, which Brause said could be home to a restaurant. Between the amenities building and the 35-story tower will be a courtyard with seating, a pool with a 50-foot lap lane, a grilling and bar area, and a large weatherresistant movie screen. In the main 35-floor tower, the ground level will contain the lobby and a mail room, laundry room and a space for a small coffee shop or convenience store. There will be additional common space on the second floor, including a kitchen, fireplace, social areas, a children’s playroom, and a private lounge and conference room with an attached outdoor patio. Also, on the 35th floor there will be a residents’ lounge with a billiards room, wet bar and an outdoor terrace with views of the Manhattan skyline. There will be a 75- spot parking garage under the building. Brause Realty acquired the land for 44-28 Purves St. in 2013. The site, which was home to manufacturing firms, is in the state Brownfield Cleanup Program because of contaminated soil. Currently, the toxic soil is being trucked from the site. Brause said he plans to complete construction snapshot of LIC’s growth now and for the future It’s no secret that real estate in Long Island City is booming. Thousands of apartments have been built within the last decade and land prices have risen to historic highs. With the influx of residents, the retail side is witnessing growth and more offices are moving across the East River. In front of hundreds of real estate industry members at the LIC Partnership’s ninth annual real estate breakfast on Wednesday, experts agreed that it’s a good time for the area as it blooms into one of New York’s most desirable neighborhoods, and that real estate activity is set to multiply. “Today’s breakfast featured a very enthusiastic discussion among some of the area’s industry leaders on the growth and demand for real estate in Long Island City,” said David Brause, president of Brause Realty, who moderated the panel discussion at the event. “The general consensus is that it’s a great time to be in this market, and that the area will only continue to take off in the coming years.” More than 8,600 residential units have been completed in LIC since 2006, and more than 22,500 units are in the planning or construction phase, according to a LIC Partnership analysis released simultaneously with the event. Some additional growth may come by way of the Sunnyside Yards — a rail yard used by Amtrak, the MTA and New Jersey Transit — where Mayor Bill de Blasio hopes to develop 11,250 affordable housing units, schools, open spaces and community facilities. The city’s Economic Development Corporation will announce the company that will perform a yearlong feasibility study for that plan in the coming weeks. If accomplished, the Sunnyside Yards plan could again expand LIC, but panelists at the event weren’t immediately on board with the ambitious idea, which has been pitched for decades by various figures. “My attitude is every time everyone gets all these visions, I’m like you know what I don’t have time for this,” said panelist David Dishy, president of development and acquisition at L+M Development Partners. One thing that is clear is that more and more people want to buy homes and stay in LIC. To meet the high demand for homes — and rising land values — developers are pushing to build more condos. However, buying residential property in the neighborhood is also becoming a pricey endeavor. The average price for condominiums in the first three months of 2015 was $678,333 for a studio, $820,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, and $1.1 million for a two-bedroom unit, according to the LIC Partnership analysis. The neighborhood has also emerged as a hotel destination for New York City. More than 20 hotels have opened in the area in seven years and 26 more are planned or currently under construction, the Partnership said. The foot traffic increase in LIC has helped fill in vacant spaces on retail corridors, but for most it’s still hard to pinpoint the neighborhood’s Main Street. “It’s hard to point it out, but I would say Vernon Boulevard,” said Matthew Baron, president of Simon Baron Development. “There’s really no Main Street, but I think that’s okay.”
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