16 THE QUEENS COURIER • 2022 PREVIEW • JANUARY 6, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
2022 Preview
Top real estate stories to watch for in western Queens in 2022
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
For more than a decade, the skyline of
western Queens has been transformed
with real estate development, and this will
continue to trend in 2022.
High-rise towers in Hunters
Point South change the
waterfront skyline of
Long Island City
The affordable housing lottery application
opened in the fall of 2021 for
Gotham Point, two residential towers
at the mouth of Newtown Creek
and the East River waterfront. The
development consists of two towers
that will include 1,132 total residences
with 75% of units priced at affordable
rates. There will be senior housing,
shared amenities, community facility
and retail space.
Gotham Point’s South Tower, or
Parcel G, will be 33 stories tall and is
estimated to be completed in early 2022
between Second Street and Newtown
Creek. The North Tower, or Parcel F,
will stand at 57 stories and is expected
to be completed in 2022.
A total of 98 homes will be set aside for
low-income seniors in an 11-story dedicated
wing, equipped with its own personal
lobby space, a lounge and laundry
room on each fl oor, as well as a
library and a community room with
a shared pantry. RiseBoro will also be
leading special programming for the
senior community.
Along with rooft op terraces with
sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline,
available amenity spaces will
include multiple resident lounges, an
indoor-outdoor fi tness club, a children’s
playroom, a publicly accessible urban
rooft op farm and a community boathouse.
Residents will also have access to
co-working lounges with breakout meeting
rooms, private phone rooms and
multi-person desks to facilitate collaboration
and a sense of community within
the building.
Additional components include a publicly
accessible underground parking
garage, ground-fl oor retail in the North
Tower and a 3,000-square-foot community
facility in the South Tower.
TF Cornerstone to open
two towers at Hunters
Point South Park
In early December, TF Cornerstone
cut the ribbon on their new towers
across Center Boulevard from Hunters
Point South Park. A housing lottery
opened for the nearly 1,200 apartments
– 60% of which have been designated as
aff ordable. Th e 55-story north tower is
located at 52-03 Center Blvd., while the
south tower is located next door at 52-41
Center Blvd. and is 44 stories high.
“TF Cornerstone’s Hunter’s Point
South project is a win for Long Island
City, creating more than 700 units of
aff ordable housing and bringing the
neighborhood many amenities that
will benefi t both existing and future
residents,” Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards said. “I commend
all those who are helping Hunter’s Point
South reach its full potentialas a vibrant
and sustainable mixed-use community.”
A rendering of Gotham Point, two residential towers at the mouth of Newtown Creek and the East
River waterfront.
Innovation QNS will
transform an entire
Astoria neighborhood
Th e developers behind the $2 billion
Innovation QNS proposal for transforming
fi ve blocks of “vacant or underutilized”
property near Kaufman Astoria Studios
into a “vibrant hub of activity and a new
anchor of opportunity” in the neighborhood
are gearing up for its fi rst public
hearing in the city’s public review process.
Th e project would bring more than
2,800 units of mixed-income housing
and offi ces for startups and other businesses
in the creative and tech sectors,
supported by more than 5,400 on-site
jobs, including 1,700 permanent jobs
and more than 3,700 during construction.
Th e development is a collaboration
between Kaufman Astoria Studios,
Silverstein Properties and BedRock Real
Estate Partners.
Th e project team devised Innovation
QNS following three years of dialogue
with local stakeholders, and the plan
includes 700 permanently aff ordable
apartments for individuals earning an
average of $50,000 including dedicated
aff ordable housing for seniors.
Photo courtesy of VUW
Th e project also has more than two
acres of public open space that will be
programmed with input from the community.
Th ere are also plans for a new
state-of-the-art cinema and community
arts and culture hub as well as a fullservice
grocery store at the site, which
spans fi ve blocks and is centered at the
intersection of Steinway Street and 35th
Avenue.
Th e developers expect to get fi nal
approval by fall.
City to build massive Northern
Boulevard High School
As real estate development exploded
across western Queens for more
than a decade, essential infrastructure
improvements have lagged far behind
the needs of its growing population.
In early December, the School
Construction Authority broke ground
on the massive, state-of-the-art, 3,066-
seat Northern Boulevard High School
in Woodside, which will be the largest
facility ever constructed by the SCA.
Construction is already underway at
the huge lot at Northern Boulevard
and 54th Street, which was the location
of an old Sports Authority store and
most recently hosted one of the city’s
COVID-19 testing hubs.
Th e new, six-story school building
will be a fully air-conditioned, accessible
facility and will contain 94 regular
classrooms, six resource rooms,
a 55-seat auditorium, a library, a full
kitchen complex with two student
dining areas, as well as a competitionsized
gymnasium with bleachers and
locker rooms.
Th e new building will house three
high schools, including a District 75
program providing instructional support
for students with special needs. Th e
school is expected to open at the start of
the 2025-2026 school year.
Photo courtesy of SCA
A rendering of the exterior of the planned Northern Boulevard High School.
Photo courtesy of TF Cornerstone
A rendering of TF Cornerstone’s 5203 Center
Blvd. development.
Photo courtesy of Innovation QNS
A rendering of the $2 billion Innovation QNS
proposal.
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