Queens West

Queens West Developing LIC

Sitting right on the East River, the City hopes to revitalize Hunter's Point with commercial and residential development.

By Noah C. Zuss
Queens West, a mammoth development project which aims to transform the formerly inhospitable Hunters Point industrial area into a desirable residential neighborhood directly across the East River from Manhattan is one of the most ambitious and massive development projects in the more than 200 year history of the borough of Queens.
The project will change the face of the Queens waterfront – making riverside property more sought after and pricier. This massive development project is in line with the City’s overall goal of giving Western Queens a complete makeover and transforming the area into one of the New York’s most exciting and attractive residential and commercial destinations.
The plan entails large-scale development on a massive scale. The first step in preparation was getting the area rezoned to allow for commercial and residential development.
Now, the project is really rolling along, with the finish line in sight.
The plan envisions dozens of residential towers rising on a 75 acre patch of prime waterfront property, directly across from midtown Manhattan. The Queens West Waterfront Development is one of the City’s largest and boldest mixed-use projects in the history of New York.
This $2.3 billion development is targeted at working professionals wishing to work close to Manhattan. It is ideally located for commuters with easy access to transportation.
Developers on the site are taking advantage of panoramic river-views stretching from the Upper East Side to downtown Manhattan, landscaped parks and recreational areas.
They hope to provide a great location for residents, retailers and office tenants at Queens West as the area is transformed into a residential community.
The parcels at Queens West are ready for development, with zoning and environmental approvals secured, and necessary infrastructure improvements in place. Queens West is also eligible for New York City and State sponsored economic development incentives, relocation assistance for residents, tax relief and energy savings credits for businesses.
This 9.1-million-square-foot project includes 1,457 apartments, 20,000 square feet of retail space, an early childhood learning center, 769 parking spaces and two public parks. An additional residential tower offers 400 residential rental apartments and 35,000 square feet of retail space and a 150-unit condominium complex are also under construction.
The economic impact of the project will be huge for the borough as Queens West is expected to generate an estimated 14,000 construction jobs and $428 million in wages and salaries. When complete, the development is estimated to provide nearly 10,000 full-time positions and $100 million in sales, income, corporate and business tax revenues for the City and State.
The Queens West project is sponsored by the New York Empire State Development Corporation, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, in cooperation with the Queens Borough President.
In October, 2006, The Port Authority Board of Commissioners agreed to sell the agency’s property in the Queens West development to the City of New York.
The approved development plan calls includes 19 development parcels. Residential neighborhoods are to be peripherally located on the north and south ends of the site, with a commercial core anticipated for the lower central area. When complete, the Queens West project will house 6,400 residential units, 2.3 million square feet of office space, 225,000 square feet of local retail, two elementary schools, parking for over 5,500 vehicles. Also, a 20-acre park system is interspersed among the development.
Retail and services will also accompany the project with a supermarket, restaurants, and medical offices planned to provide services to residents and businesses.
Two new elementary schools will be added as well; a 650-student pre K to fifth grade public school and a 300-student early childhood learning center and 40,000 square feet for various uses-including health and day care facilities, meeting rooms, and a public library will provide future generations a home at Queens West.
The project will also include a recreational full-service community center with a pool, gymnasium, fitness center and meeting rooms.
Also, a 20-acre public park system intended for a variety of activities, with 12 acres of a continuous waterfront esplanade and larger multi-purpose park areas of various sizes for residents to enjoy will be included.
Stages one and two of a four stage development are already under construction and two residential buildings have been completed. The General Project Plan has been fully reviewed and approved through established environmental and public policy procedures.
The sponsors established the Queens West Development Corporation (QWDC), a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation, in 1992 to facilitate implementation of the approved development plan. There are six members of the QWDC Board of Directors, two from each sponsor, who play an instrumental role in formulating policy and authorizing major actions.
The Port Authority has committed $190 million for property acquisition, planning and pre-development activities and infrastructure design. The City of New York has funded construction contracts for building the first stage area streets, infrastructure and parks. Portions of this work are completed and the balance, currently underway, is scheduled for completion in the next several years.
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Hunter's Point South

Approval begins for Hunter’s Point developments

 

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By Michael Lanza
Mayor Michael Bloomberg will leave many legacies when his term expires a little more than a year from now – some positive, many controversial.
Despite his habit of jumping front and center on hot-button political issues, the mayor’s most visible legacy probably won’t be his stand against global warming or his position on same-sex marriage. Instead, it will probably involve his sweeping development initiatives – reclaiming stagnant waterfront property in a city where many assumed land resources had long been exhausted.
The city began what will be an eight-month rezoning certification process, a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, on Monday for one of the mayor’s major waterfront initiatives in Queens.
The Hunter’s Point South project seeks to add 5,000 housing units across 30-acres along the East River coastline in Long Island City. The development will provide nearly 60 percent of its units at an affordable fixed rate for middle-income families, making $50,000 to $158,000 per year, according to projections by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Bloomberg said that the beginning of the ULURP process for Hunter’s Point and other development projects was “a major step forward in our five-borough plan to revitalize the waterfront, create mixed-use neighborhoods on once blighted or underutilized land, and protect existing neighborhoods from overdevelopment.”
The Hunter’s Point project also seeks to reserve 10-acres for retail and community spaces.
“It is a vital part of the mayor’s $7.5 billion New Housing Marketplace plan, the goal of which is to provide 165,000 units in affordable housing over 10-years,” Janel Patterson, a spokeswoman for the NYCEDC, said.
The mayor plans to acquire the land from Empire State Development and the Metropolitan Transit Authority, who believe the city is more capable of developing the massive housing initiative, Patterson said. If the project survives the ULURP process, the city will begin seeking private bids to develop the land to meet the community’s needs.
Despite the project’s clear goals, details on any initial designs and cost estimates are still thin – and will remain thin until the ULURP process is complete.
“It’s all conceptual at this point,” Patterson said.
Like many of the mayor’s initiatives, Hunter’s Point South is not without controversy. With the nation on the cusp of economic crisis and in a borough where the median annual household income barely broke $51,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey, community leaders are questioning the mayor’s middle-income hook.
Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley believes that the Hunter’s Point South developments should reflect the economic diversity of the surrounding community, not simply cater to one or two income groups.
“We’d like to see a percentage set aside for middle-income; a percentage for low-income; a percentage for senior citizens; a percentage for civil servants – cops, teachers, fireman and nurses,” Conley said. “The 60 percent (middle-income) needs to have 20 to 30 percent set aside for lower-income groups.”
The Hunter’s Point project’s nearby relative, dubbed Queens West - North, drew criticism for its inflated luxury housing prices, far outside the means of the average Queens resident.
“In 1989 we were saying we had million dollar views of Manhattan – we never thought you’d actually need a million dollars to move there,” Conley said.
Despite disagreements over pricing, as well as some zoning and crowding issues, Conley is confident that they’ll be able to work out a compromise.
“It’s a very exciting project,” he said.
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Queens Plaza

Queens Plaza Garage at Center of Construction
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 By Noah Zuss
Development is the order of the day in Long Island City with the area rezoned and ready for a renaissance. Formerly an industrial patchwork of factories and warehouses, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has staked much of his legacy on transforming the area into a desirable residential and commercial hub.
Along with major housing redevelopment projects, the city will alter several streets in the area to allow for more neighborhood growth.
Consistent with the City’s overall efforts to assist development in Long Island City, the Economic Development Corporation’s first step was to issue a Request for Proposals for development of the Queens Plaza Municipal Garage in October 2000.
The garage is located at the intersection of Queens Plaza South and Jackson Avenue. Its public parking capacity is 1,150 spaces and it also includes 180,000 square feet of commercial space.
Ground floor retail and office uses occupy a portion of the Queens Plaza South front and the entire Jackson Avenue facade. Under the rezoning proposal, an approximately 1.5 million square foot building could be constructed on the site. Developers of the site will be required to retain public parking access at the garage.
Community Board 2 Chairperson Joseph Conley commended the project. “Everybody’s anxious for project to get started, it’s long overdue,” he said. And it will improve the quality of life in Long Island City.”
In her state of the borough speech in January Helen Marshall, Queens Borough President praised the work happening at Queens Plaza.
“Queens Plaza and Jackson Avenue, is poised to undergo a $30 million dollar beautification and traffic improvement project,” she said. Thanks to a $20 million dollar grant from Congresswoman Maloney, we will break ground this year. And when completed you will see a beautiful oasis-a brand new entrance to Queens with greenery and open space.”
She continued by mentioning developer Tishman-Speyer’s work on the garage.
“The long-awaited renovation of The Queens Plaza garage is moving ahead. Tishman-Speyer is finalizing negotiations for the development that will include office and retail tenants and much needed parking. The project is expected to bring 6,000 jobs to the area.
In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg announced the City’s $30 million commitment to fund key infrastructure improvements in Long Island City, a 37-block area the City rezoned to spur commercial and residential development.
“Long Island City represents one of the City’s best opportunities to develop a central business district and create capacity for job growth, a key part of our economic development strategy,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Expansion and commitment to create more jobs is a clear sign of the business community’s confidence in Long Island City. Combined with the City’s $30 million allocation for key infrastructure improvements, this new building will prove to be a tremendous boost for the area.”
Other commendations for the development come from the Economic Development Corporation.
“From the start, our Administration has followed a five-borough economic development strategy that focuses on creating jobs and growing diverse areas of the City,” said EDC President Andrew Alper. “By investing public dollars to improve Long Island City’s infrastructure, we are creating the conditions to catalyze additional private investment.”
In 2002, the Administration identified Long Island City as a major opportunity to attract and retain commercial businesses because of its proximity to Midtown and its superior transportation access. To encourage commercial development, the City allocated $30 million to reconstruct Queens Plaza, Jackson Avenue and other local streets.
Officials say the reconstruction of Queens Plaza will improve traffic flow, increase pedestrian safety and enhance the environment through streetscape improvements and the creation of 1.5 acres of open space.
The City received $17 million in federal funding for the project including $7.4 million from Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-Queens).
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall will provide additional funds.
The Queens Plaza project is currently still in the design phase with construction to begin imminently.
Jackson Avenue-envisioned as the business district’s main boulevard linking Queens Plaza with Court Square-will also be revitalized with new planted medians, public art, benches, street lighting, and improvement of nearby open spaces.
Of the need for the project Congresswoman Maloney said, “Queens Plaza has become known for its rusty elevated tracks, traffic snarls and take your life in your hands crosswalks—but all that is about to change. Queens Plaza will soon become the welcoming gateway that the residents of Long Island City deserve.”
Long Island City officials are hailing the project as a significant step toward attracting residential development and business to the area, which has been historically industrial.
“This will help Long Island City reach its full potential as one of the great business districts of our city. We expect this transformation to further catalyze reinvestment in this dynamic, transit rich and culturally distinct district,” said Amanda Burden, the director of the New York City Department of City Planning.
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Silvercup West

Silvercup Studios still on track with it’s $1 billion expansion.

Queens Plaza Garage at Center of Construction

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 By Brad Groznik
Silvercup West was unveiled to the public in August of 2006.
When built, the towering design will welcome those traveling across the East River to the borough of Queens with striking presence.
However, rumors have surfaced from an inquiry by “New York Magazine” that the project, slated to start this year, is stalled.
“The project is now in the ‘post-approval or pre-development’ phase, where almost all of the activity is behind the scenes,” said Silvercup spokesman Lee Silberstein in an e-mail. “The next level of design, determining site conditions, negotiating with potential partners and tenants and working with the public sector to ensure that the site will be available as promised are all happening now. So there is no truth in the statement that the project is not moving forward – it is in the typical ‘quiet period’ before construction actually starts.”
The approved plans designed by acclaimed architect Richard Rogers shows an expansion of its studio space with a new sound stage 1,000 apartments, retail shops, a gym and revived waterfront for the cool price of $1 billion.
According to Silberstein, the Long Island City studio has “never been busier.” Five of the seven television pilots being filmed in New York City are are using the Queens space. American and foreign commercial producers are working there as well.
“We expect that the studios provided in Silvercup West will help fill the demand for additional production space in New York City,” Silberstein said. “It is important that the City remains economically viable and that it has the needed infrastructure, because the industry generates billions of dollars in economic activity and creates thousands of jobs that are a real access point to the middle class.”
Silberstein said Silvercup has established a series of relationships with nearby organizations like Socrates Park, Queens Museum of Art, Long Island City Business Development Corporation and Business Improvement District, Museum of the Moving Image and Queens Theatre in the Park.
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Arverne

More Than A Summer Destination

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 By Ben Hogwood
Development along the Rockaways is well underway and there is plenty more to come, with some residential communities of the Arverne by the Sea complete and the project known as Arverne East expected to get underway later this year.
Also, the Department of City Planning Monday initiated the start of the public approval process for the Rockaway peninsula to make sure future development in the area is in accordance with the current neighborhoods.
Arverne by the Sea is the larger of the projects and will consist of 2,282 residential units, a 30,000-square-foot YMCA, a Super Stop & Shop, a Retail Transit Plaza and an estimated 200,000 square feet of shopping and fine dining facilities when complete.
A spokesman with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the lead government agency on the both projects, said 590 of the residential units planned for Arverne by the Sea have been completed. Another 266 are under construction and slated for completion by the end of the summer. The remaining units will be completed over a five year period.
Kathy Sheck, senior vice president for the Beachwood Organization which is working on this project, said people have already moved in to the Sands and Palmer’s Landing communities and The Breakers - the community currently under development - is about 90 percent sold. Also, a groundbreaking ceremony for the YMCA was held earlier this year, though plans for the structure are still being finalized with the community. Both the YMCA and the Super Stop & Shop are slated for completion by the end of the year.
Arverne East, also known as Beach Green, consists of 1,650 residential units and is expected to begin in the fall. The project also includes 250,000 square feet of retail space, a 35-acre nature preserve, a 15-acre dune preserve, a town square and possibly a hotel.
Both projects have a percentage of the units reserved for families that meet certain income limits.
Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) represents the area being developed and said he was pleased to see the property, which has been empty for the past 30 years, finally being developed.
“In the Rockaways, we have been praying for these projects for more than 30 years,” he said.
Sanders said homes in that area were torn down 30 years ago when the City wanted to revitalize the area. However, the project was never finished and the lots sat empty until just over three years ago, when development began.
And while he was looking forward to the development of Arverne East, he said he had concerns that so many residential units were being developed, but construction of a school had not been included at this time.
“We have to correct this,” Sanders said.
Without a new school in the area, students would be pushed into the other public and private schools, which Sanders said are already operating over capacity. “This is a point of concern,” Sanders said. “We have time to work it out if there is a good faith attempt to do so.”
Dolores Orr, chairperson of Community Board 14, agreed and said the Department of Education has said a new school wasn’t needed at this time.
“We all know that not to be the case,” she said.
While the department has not provided funding to construct a new school, Orr said land has been allocated.
Orr said she liked the overall look of the project, but had some concerns with the number of residential units. “I don’t know it’s the best use for the land,” she said. “I would like to see more retail and recreation than the housing.”
Another concern Orr has is with traffic. She said the Department of Housing Preservation and Development did not include a section of Rockaway Beach Boulevard for expansion from two lanes to four lanes. As a result, she expected traffic to bottleneck.
As far as the City’s plans to rezone the project, Orr said it was a long time coming. City Planning Director Amanda M. Burden announced the beginning of the public review process for a comprehensive rezoning proposal of 280 blocks of the peninsula. The proposed rezoning is a block-by-block approach that reinforces and protects the special character of five Rockaway neighborhoods: Far Rockaway, Edgemere, Somerville, Rockaway Park and Rockaway Beach.
The proposal is an attempt by Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s administration to curb overdevelopment in the area.
“The Rockaway peninsula has evolved from a summertime destination to a series of unique and varied oceanfront communities, but today’s zoning is outdated and does not relate to the area’s existing character,” said Burden.
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Rego Park Mall

The four-level shopping center provides Queensites with one-stop shopping.

Rego Park Mall II Site In Flux

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 By Juliet Werner
Vornado Realty Trust, the developer in charge of Rego Park Mall II, recently told Community Board 6 that the residential component of the mixed-use project has been put on hold.
Dan Berger, Vornado vice president of design and construction, assured CB 6 members he would return in the next couple of months with an update.
“Keeping the lines of communication open is very important,” CB 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said.
When the project was first proposed in 2005, the residential component was vague. Vornado returned to CB 6 in 2006 with a more detailed proposal, which included two residential towers with some 400 units. When the property owner, Alexander’s Inc., submitted a report to the SEC earlier this year, the number of units had slipped to 315.
Gulluscio said the design will accommodate residential units if necessary.
“It will be ready to go from an engineering/architectural standpoint,” he said. “They’re not walking away from the project.”
In the meantime, construction continues on the retail component of the project with completion expected for the end of the summer. The initial groundbreaking on the site took place in October 2006 and construction began in earnest in May 2007.
Adjacent to the Queens Mall, Rego Park Mall II comprises the entire square block bounded by the Horace Harding Service Road (of the Long Island Expressway), 97th Street, 62nd Drive and Junction Boulevard.
The four-level, 600,000 square foot shopping center will include a 134,000-square foot-Century 21 department store, a 138,000-square-foot Home Depot and a 132,000-square-foot Kohl’s, as well as a parking deck containing approximately 1,400 spaces. The cost is estimated at $410 million, of which $156.7 million had been spent by Dec. 31 of last year.
Councilwoman Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights) said forward momentum is in everyone’s best interest.
“Any development doesn’t like delays,” Sears said, adding, “We knew the entire project wouldn’t be done in one fell swoop.”
She said the parking garage and commercial component were the priorities.
“What I find in Western Queens is you can’t have enough good shopping,” Sears said. “They’ll have one-stop shopping in Queens. That’s the most important thing.”
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Airport Village

A public presentation on the effect of rezoning.

Airport Village To Change Jamaica

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By Sasha Austrie
A new day is on the horizon for Downtown Jamaica. The business district will soon undergo a facelift as new development dots the landscape.
A 368 swath of land was approved for rezoning by a vote of 45 to 3 by the City Council in September. The rezoning effort is the largest one ever undertaken by the Bloomberg Administration.
According to the Department of City Planning’s Web site, the current zoning in the vicinity limits growth and vitality in transit accessible areas, especially surrounding the AirTrain. Existing zoning also allows out of character development in residential neighborhoods and does not differentiate density between major thoroughfares and residential streets.
The improvements and rezoning mapped out in the plan includes preserving lower density residential neighborhoods, developing the area surrounding the AirTrain with hotels and offices on industrial land. The plan also calls for the Hillside Avenue corridor to be rezoned to R6A, which would allow a building to be at maximum 70 feet in height.
For the land around the AirTrain to be developed the plan leaves room for public acquisition of the properties in the vicinity, of which Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) said there was a mitigation plan to assist businesses owners in relocation.
“This rezoning effort will help to transform and revitalize downtown Jamaica into a vibrant economic engine that will create much-needed jobs for the Southeast Queens community,” he said.
As of now the area around the AirTrain, which is dubbed Airport Village will see the rise of hotels and residential units.
According to published reports, a-16-story Marriott Courtyard with 172 rooms, a 150-room Residence Inn and a 150-room hotel is planned for the area. The construction on the Marriot will start in a year.
The area is also going to see an increase in retail with the addition of a 929,000 square-foot, 13-story building. It will house three floors of retail and 10 floors of wholesale, which will focus mainly on electronics.
The $260 million project is scheduled to bring 3,000 jobs to the vicinity. The building will rise from a vacant meat parking plant located at 94-01 Sutphin Blvd. Construction is scheduled for the third quarter of 2008.
“This project is an excellent example of what was envisioned by the Jamaica Plan Rezoning,” New York City Economic Development Corporation President Robert Lieber said. “In addition to bringing an attractive international wholesale merchandise mart to Jamaica, it will also offer a home to local and national retailers and restaurants.”
There are limitations to the retailers allowed to operate within the building. The list of unacceptable tenants includes Dollar/99 cents stores, sellers of pornographic material, independent non-national cell phone and electronic retailers.

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Citifield
The Mets have committed to using local, minority and woman-owned businesses for the construction of Citifield.

The House That Queens Built

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By Juliet Werner
Citi Field may have fewer seats than Shea Stadium – 12,000 fewer to be exact – but that doesn’t mean Queensites will be left out in the cold.
The Mets have been working closely with the Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises Program and the Program’s Advisory Committee – chaired by Borough President Helen Marshall and Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) – to ensure that at least 25 percent of construction contracts were awarded to Queens-based firms and at least 25 percent of construction contracts were awarded to qualified M/WBE firms.
According to reports recently released by the Mets, 36 percent of construction contracts went to Queens-based businesses with 22 percent of the workforce hailing from the borough. And minorities and women have accounted for 24 percent of the workforce.
It’s an ongoing effort that the Borough President mentioned her State of the Borough Address earlier this year.
“I am working hard to ensure that opportunities are available to local, minority and women owned businesses and workers on the project,” Marshall said.
Hunt-Bovis, a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and Bovis Lend Lease, is managing construction. Hunt-Bovis Diversity Supplier Anthony Miller tracks the participating businesses and sends numbers to Melva Miller, director of Business and Workforce Development at the borough president’s office. Requests for the names of contracted Queens businesses went unreturned by press time.
According to the Mets, however, more than 1,350 Queens residents have been employed since construction began in summer of 2006.
“We understand that’s a flexible number,” Queens Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jack Friedman said. “Numbers vary on a construction site. Still, it’s encouraging. Major development is going on all around the borough and many times the community gets concerned they’re going to bring in people from outside… nonunion workers…people from out of state.”
Mets figures also show that $179 million has gone toward the Queens economy as a result of Citi Field construction, with more than $175 million in contracts awarded to Queens-based businesses.
“It’s a lot easier for us to monitor it during the construction phase than afterwards,” Friedman said. “Once you get your parking or concessions in the stadium, then the Mets are more in control, the unions, the vendors themselves. We’ll have to watch that closely, but we’re very satisfied with what we’re seeing so far on the construction end.”
Queens Chamber President Al Pennisi echoed Friedman’s sentiment.
“We have a lot of people in the construction business in Queens. We thought it would be nice to retain them for Queens-related projects,” Pennisi said, adding, “We’re expecting and hoping to see the same thing happen with Willets Point.”
Construction on the new stadium, slated for completion by 2009, requires hauling 12,500 tons of steel, 2,400 pieces of stadium concrete and 1.2 million bricks. It also entails installing 11,000 light fixtures, 824 sports lights and 850 televisions.
A recent Citi Field newsletter announced that approximately 90 percent of the stadium’s structural steel frame is complete, including the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, as well as the pouring of structural concrete on the Promenade Level. In addition, masonry brick walls for concession stands and restrooms on the Field and Club Levels are well underway. According to Mets officials, they are meeting their construction timeline and staying on budget.
But Comrie, who co-chairs the M/WBE Advisory Committee, questions whether the team is actually complying with its goal of employing local, minority and women-owned businesses.
“I think they could do better, but I’m never satisfied,” Comrie said. “They could exceed their goal with a little more effort.”
Neither Friedman nor Pennisi of the Queens Chamber had details on which Queens-based businesses had profited as a result of construction.
“Clearly there’s still been a breakdown in communication,” Comrie said. “A couple of businesses had reached out and tested the water a couple months ago...I haven’t followed up with them to see who got called back, but if it’s done correctly it should not be a system that creates animosity.”

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Flushing Commons

Queens Crossing will open this summer.

Flushing Faces The Future

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By Brad Groznik
Much has been written about the boom in Flushing Development.
The last stop on the No. 7 train has developed into one of the centers for Asian small business in the City and the infrastructure to facilitate this boon is growing with the ambitions of its residents.
One developer in the area is Michael Meyer, president of TDC Development which is part of F&T Group. TDC Development is responsible for much of the changes seen on Flushing’s Main Street. Flushing Mall, the Prince Center, Sanford Tower and Queens Crossing are all TDC projects completed in downtown Flushing. They are also a finalist for the Willets Point Development.
Of the projects Meyer has worked on, the nearly completed Queens Crossing is his shining jewel.
“I was sold out [of office space] before it was completed,” he said. “Some of the shops are opening just this week. Once we have a hard opening this summer, I’m confident it’s going to be a great success.”
With all the small business thriving in the area, Meyer said Queens Crossing fills a specific demand for office space.
“What Queens crossing does, is it marks an era for Flushing, when it doesn’t become so ethnically insulated,” he said. “You’re going to see Flushing become a destination.”
Marilyn Bitterman, community board 7 district manager, said her board has no say in the changing face of Flushing.
“A lot of the development is as of right, meaning it is being built for the zoning,” she said. “The community board has no input.”
Bitterman said some of the developers are nice enough to seek community input. In those cases, the board will always ask for more parking but the development will normally be built to code, with what Bitterman said is insufficient.
However, the board and the City does have a say in TDC’s Flushing Commons project which is planned to be built on a municipal parking lot.
When the project was proposed and TDC won the bid, the cost of the mixed-use office building hovered around $450 million dollars. In the four years since, the project has stalled and the price of construction has nearly doubled, Meyer said.
“Those delays have occurred in unprecedented spikes in construction cost so almost a doubling of the entire project,” he said.
Meyer said he hopes to begin the year-long review procedure in June and begin construction next April.
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) sees it differently.
“They have been saying that for two years,” he said. “That project is dead.”
Much of the controversy surrounding the Flushing Commons, or sometimes referred to as Municipal Lot 1, stems from the City asking for more parking, a permanent rent subsidy and a youth center that have yet to appear in blueprints.
Still Meyer remains optimistic in his endeavor.
“If you want be a developer and you’re not an optimist, don’t go into business,” he said.
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Michael Meyer

Flushing Developer
Michael Meyer

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Michael Meyer was appointed president of TDC Development in 2005 and has been responsible for oversight, acquisition and development for F&T Group.
How did you get started in business?
My father started a family business. I helped the business right after college even though I was an English Literature major and then found out I was pretty good at it and went off to the Harvard business school. Then I got into international trade and winded up working for the Port Authority for New York and New Jersey heading up some of their international trade. When they bought the Vista Hotel [between the two World Trade Towers], they needed someone with a business background so they had me oversee the management and the financing of the hotel. That’s how I got into real estate because hospitality is a segment of the real estate industry. Then I got picked up ultimately by Tishman Realty and Construction to head two convention city hotels in Miami, Fla. That’s what really got me into real estate development.
What’s changed since you got started?
The whole world. My touch point in Queens didn’t happen until ‘95 or ‘96 when I put that [Request For Proposal] out in the Wall Street Journal for Queens County Savings Bank, so my exposure is really the last 11 years and what’s changed is extraordinary. Flushing was already starting to become the amazing economic success story as the former Alan Hevesi said “not just of New York City but of the State of New York.” It was already the center for multi-Asian ethnicity and they were already changing it from a blighted crime-ridden more-manufacturing-warehouse area to the center of small business that it’s become. So it was already starting and now, it’s just become extraordinary.
What advice would you give a young Queens Businessman?
If you read about Queens you see that it’s going to have a huge amount of development activity. That’s the borough with a lot of potential. And if you’re going to focus on real estate development, I think Queens is a good borough for focusing. There’s a lot of opportunity for building residential and retail.
What’s the secret to your success?
I worked for my father and started in a business with someone who was very entrepreneurial. That gave me the ability to relate and understand people like [Flushing developer] Michael Lee who is a visionary and very entrepreneurial. Number two, I started in international trade and have a knowledge and sensitivity to international cultures. I’ve also been involved with public private businesses. So I have the ability to understand the political dimension very well and weave the business and political dimensions that are required in large development.
What have you failed at?
I think when I graduated college and entered my fathers business, he was expanding from brokerage and trading of food and got into the production and processing of food. And it ultimately failed and it was a huge blow to the business. And I learned from that and one of the reasons I wanted to go to Harvard business school and learn to get it right. I learned how important finance is to the success of a business. You can have the greatest idea, you can have great demand for a product but if you don’t have the right capitalization, you can be doomed to failure.
How do you see yourself affecting Queens?
Working with Michael Lee and Sunny Chiu, the founders of F&T Group and TDC, I’ve also brought a vision. I have help shape Flushing based on my experiences to the extent that we have one for Flushing Commons. I’ve also been persuasive to Michael and Sunny to acquire more property in downtown Flushing in order to achieve his vision of making Flushing a downtown metropolis.
What’s has been difficult about developing in Flushing?
What’s very difficult, and this is true with all major developments and also true in Flushing, is parking. Downtown Flushing is very congested and our Flushing Commons project is on an existing municipal parking lot and there’s a lot of controversy whenever you build a large project because it has impacts on the public. And people often don’t understand the complexity of these issues and leads to a lot of controversy and sometime manipulation, depending on who’s involved.
You know, sometimes people are fearful and certain groups appear to those fears. Working and educating people through that, it’s tough. As an example, there was opposition to Queens Crossing and now when they see what incredible quality and how it’s changing Main Street, people are asking “why didn’t you build more?”
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Sky View Parc

Flushing's Sky View Parc will finish construction in 2009.

2009 Opening
For Luxury High-Rise

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By Michael Lanza
More than 25-years after purchasing the land, Muss Development is finally putting the finishing touches on its Flushing jewel – bucking the bear mauling the real estate market in the process.
The six-tower, 3.3 million-square-foot, billion-dollar behemoth – Sky View Parc, will open its first three towers and retail space in the summer of 2009 after an intense 4-year construction run.
“We’re creating a very unique project, there’s nothing else like it in Queens,” Jason Muss, a principal at Muss Development said.
The former Con Edison site will include 1,100 housing units in six towers, 75-feet above an 800,000-square-foot retail center on a 14-acre site located at College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue. The site will also include parking spaces for 2,500 cars.
The luxury apartments are retailing for $400,000 to $2 million and feature stripped oak hardwood floors, nine-foot ceilings, large open windows, in-home washers and dryers, open granite kitchens with GE energy-efficient stainless steel appliances and marble bathrooms.
Residents of Sky View Parc can expect an onsite pool, tennis and basketball courts, a running track, golf putting greens and driving nets, a health club and spa, children’s play areas, 24-hour doormen, concierge and valet parking, onsite shopping and a panoramic view of Manhattan, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, major bridges and the Long Island Sound.
“Queens is very under-retailed and is desperately in need of housing, especially the kind of high-quality-luxury product that we’re producing,” Muss said. “and nowhere in Queens offers anything close to the kinds of amenities and convenience that we offer.”
The retail space, which is already nearly three-quarters leased, will include national retailers, a supermarket and 30,000 square feet of restaurants.
The Flushing condos are selling briskly, Muss said, despite the national housing bust. Sky View Parc began its phase one sales earlier this year, with 448 condominiums hitting the market. Nearly a month later, Muss announced that it had sold almost half of the available space.
“Sky View Parc shows that even in a down market, people will still flock to quality product, especially when it is priced right,” Muss said. “Everyone who has visited the sales office has been blown away by our 9-foot by 14-foot model of the project, which shows the four-acre rooftop park, the amazing range of amenities and beautiful residential buildings.”
The buyers have been diverse, Muss said, attracting people from throughout the metropolitan area, including Queens, Long Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey.
The site’s proximity to major transit hubs and Queens landmarks has also been attracting buyers, Muss said. Sky View Parc is a stone’s throw from Main Street, the 7 train and the Long Island Rail Road, all two blocks from the buildings. It is situated between LaGuardia and JFK airports, and within walking distance of the new Citi Field, the U.S. Tennis Association’s National Tennis Center and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
“You can get anywhere you wanna go,” Muss said. “We’re putting much needed high-end housing and quality shopping within very close reach of 2.5 million Queens residents.”
The project has also been an economic boon for the area, Muss said. It has added thousands of temporary construction jobs, he said, and will eventually add hundreds of permanent service jobs within its retail and residential centers.
The New York City developer recently celebrated its centennial birthday. Founded in 1906 by Russian immigrant Isaac Muss, the family owned and operated business has completed more than 15 million square feet of commercial, residential, industrial and retail space throughout the five boroughs.
In the past decade, Muss Development has built more than 5 million square feet of space, including several office and retail buildings, nearly 1,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,500 residential homes.
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Willets Point

Junk Yards and auto repair businesses are currently prevalent in the area.

Willets Point Redevelopment Moves Closer

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By Ben Hogwood
Once again, the 61.4 toxic acres in Queens known as Willets Point is back in the spotlight, and once again it is a highly controversial subject with emotions running high on every side.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday the Department of City Planning had initiated the seven-month Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the project. The plans will now be reviewed in a series of public hearings and will go before the local community boards, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission and the City Council.
“At Willets Point, our plan will transform what is now a highly contaminated area into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood, with new housing, parks and thousands of jobs,” said Bloomberg.
But few of the partners needed for the project to become reality are behind it, including Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona), who represents that area.
Monserrate wrote a letter to Deputy Mayor Robert Leiber Monday opposing the plan. The letter was signed by 29 of the 51 Councilmembers.
“We are writing to adamantly oppose moving forward with the current redevelopment plan for Willets Point,” he stated. “The plan is deeply flawed and the opportunity for public consideration has been dangerously absent.”
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn issued a statement saying when a majority of Councilmembers signal their concern about a project, all parties involved should take notice.
“While there is still time to work out any differences, I am disappointed that the plan was certified when there is clearly such adamant opposition in the Council,” she stated.
The plans presented for the land include 5,500 housing units, a hotel, considerable amounts of office and retail space and possibly a convention center. The City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), which is leading the project, proposed an alternative plan April 16 that did not include development of the convention center.
Borough President Helen Marshall has long been an advocate for redevelopment of the area, but recently said she would be disappointed in any plan that did not include the center.
Willets Point, located adjacent to Shea Stadium and the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, has a long history of environmental abuse and neglect. In the early 1900s, the site was used to dump ash, providing an excellent metaphor for redevelopment proponents who want to see its future rise, phoenix-like, from this ground.
Today, the area is the home of auto repair and service businesses, as well as junkyard operations. According to the Willets Point Development Plan Generic Environmental Impact Statement, there is a presence of hazardous materials and a lack of infrastructure at the site, including no sewer allocation. The businesses there, it states, are creating unsafe and unhealthy conditions. As of January, 2008, there were 192 open building code violations in the district, many issued for Work without a Permit, Occupancy Contrary to Certificate of Occupancy and Failure to Maintain Building.
Bloomberg’s office put out a press release Monday stating the plan would help transform the environmentally contaminated site into a vibrant mixed-use community with affordable housing, parks, a playground and would create 6,000 permanent and 20,000 construction jobs. The release also stated Willets Point would be the City’s first green neighborhood and the removal of the existing contamination would help clean the Flushing River.
Michael Meyer, president of TDC Development, which is a finalist for the redevelopment project, said he saw it as a critical link in the redevelopment of Queens. He said it would be an “extraordinary” lost opportunity to have the new Citi Field, replacing Shea Stadium next year, come up next to this wasteland.
The problem many of the opponents have with the plan is that it includes the purchase or use of eminent domain to acquire the privately owned land, displacing the 250 businesses which employ 1,711 workers.
Eminent domain refers to the power possessed by the government over all property, specifically to appropriate property for a public use. The owner of any appropriated land is entitled to reasonable compensation, usually defined as the fair market value of the property.
The plan, according to Monserrate, provides no guarantees that the displaced workers and small businesses will be treated fairly or compensated with meaningful benefits to the surrounding communities, such as housing affordable to the average family.
“This plan is unacceptable, and we wish to inform you that without significant modifications, we will strongly oppose it, leaving no chance of it moving forward,” Monserrate stated. “If the plan does not meet basic standards of public benefit, there can be no justification for this broad use of public authority and funds, and we will not allow the redevelopment to take place.”
Daniel Sambucci, owner of Sambucci Bros. Inc. Auto Salvage - one of the properties that could get forced out of the area - said his business has been in the Willets Point area for 50 years. “If we had our way, we would stay here,” he said. “We’re not a big business, but we’ve been here a long time.”
He said he has spoken with the NYEDC about relocating, but he believes doing so would cause him to lose customers.
“I wouldn’t know what to do if we left,” he said.
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College Point Police Academy

Police Academy To Be Built In College Point

College Point Tow pound will be home to a new Police Academy.

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By Juliet Werner
The New York Police Department has selected a 35-acre Tow Pound in College Point as the site for its new Police Academy.
The current academy, on East 20th Street in Manhattan, opened in 1964 and by all accounts is decrepit. Construction on the Queens facility will begin in November 2009 and is expected to last three years.
Still in the preliminary conceptual design stage, the new academy would consolidate many of the NYPD’s existing training facilities currently scattered across the City; the firing range is in the Bronx, the emergency-vehicle course is in Brooklyn. The campus’ proposed facilities were described by NYPD Inspector Anthony Tria at a public scoping meeting on April 3.
“The total development size will be approximately 1,893,600 gross square feet of indoor training facilities, classrooms, related administrative and support space, a police museum, a visiting police/lecturer dormitory facility, a tactical village, K-9 units, an outdoor track and an indoor pistol training facility,” the scope read in part.
In addition, the $1.5 billion Police Academy will have an above-ground parking lot with between 1,800 and 2,000 spaces on-site. According to Tria, parking and traffic ranked highest among community members’ concerns at the public scoping meeting.
“We’re taking those comments into account,” Tria said, adding that a final scope was being prepared. “They’re very involved in the process and I appreciate their input. It doesn’t do me any good to hold a hearing and not have people show up.”
The Site Selection process requires compliance with standard Uniform Land Use Review Procedures. In addition, it is possible that the development will necessitate special permits and/or zoning overrides.
The campus, bounded by 28th Avenue to the north, Ulmer Street to the east, 31st Avenue to the south and College Point Boulevard to the west, will accommodate up to 2,000 recruits in one graduating class, with up to 4,000 recruits graduating per year. Personnel on-campus will include 1,500 officers for in-service training, 1,369 general staff and approximately 143 maintenance workers.
The Academy’s courses emphasize physical fitness and integrity as well as firearms skills and driving training. The current course catalogue includes classes on everything from the tactical expandable baton to hostage negotiation.
CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman said the development so far satisfies the needs of both the NYPD and the community.
“From the police’s point of view, consolidating operations into one location makes better organizational sense,” Bitterman said, adding, “I think more of a police presence will add to the community feeling safer.”
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