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Boro’s First Skyscraper Still Tallest

Court Square Two is under construction next to its 54-story neighbor.

By Michael Rehak

In terms of height, Long Island City’s Citicorp Building appears as if Shaquille O’Neal was standing above a group of small children with a slew of 7 footers huddling separately across the river.

It’s the borough’s only skyscraper and it is the city’s largest building outside of Manhattan. Standing at a height of 658 feet, the Citicorp building was completed in 1990. It was designed by the Skidmore, Owengs and Merrill LLP and carried a price tag of $250 million.

The building’s 50 floors of commercial space, a whopping 1.4 million square feet, exists just across the Hudson River from Manhattan and was surrounded when it was built by mostly two- and three-story 19th century row houses.

As with any major development that was built completely out of scale to the neighborhood it serves, controversy existed during the building’s four-year construction period. At the time of its development, nearby residents feared that building the tower would vastly transform the scope of the sometimes referred to, small and forgotten neighborhood of Long Island City. Quite a few elected officials, such as former Borough President Claire Shulman, however, hailed the building’s expectations and posed for photos atop the structure’s highest point.

Despite the concerns, the Citicorp Building, known as Court Square One, continues to serve thousands of businessmen and women each day hailing from companies such as Cushman and Wakefield, Citibank, Axiom Real Estate and Management, Grubb and Ellis Management Services, Island Broadcasting, Kemlesh Inc and more.

Court Square One has been such a success that construction is underway at Court Square Two, a $200 million 14-story building that will offer 475,000 square feet of office space. The project will also improve the existing subway service, providing an indoor connection between the G and 7 trains.

The confluence of easy subway access and proximity to the Queensborough Bridge, the Long Island Expressway and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel has made Long Island City a major destination for business.

The site’s convenient location, however, isn’t the only thing that keeps the Citicorp Building favored above even some of its Manhattan neighbors. Simply, put, the rents are cheaper than its towering buddies across the river.

Throughout the area, other developers have been looking to feed off the success of the Citicorp Building. Old and deteriorating waterfront warehouses have been replaced by luxury condos and the appeal has gotten stronger.

The Citicorp Building was sold in 2005 to Melville-based Reckson Associates Realty, though Citicorp continues a 15-year lease on the property.

In addition to losing its ownership, the Citicorp building will soon lose its title as the only big kid on the block. Queens West is building along the waterfront with several high-rise apartment dwellings and Silvercup Studios has planned a $1 billion mixed-use proposal that may include a 60-story tower – six stories taller than Citicorp.

From the look of things, it appears Long Island City’s Shaq might soon have some head level competition.