REVEALED: Lions Group Developing Complementary Skyscrapers in Long Island City

Just north of Long Island City‘s Court Square and its once lonely Citigroup Building, the Long Island-based Lions Group will erect a complementary pair of residential towers fronting opposite sides of Jackson Avenue. Sensibly dubbed Jackson East (26-32 Jackson Avenue) and Jackson West (27-01 Jackson Avenue), the project is just one of the more than two dozen high-rise developments underway in LIC’s Court Square / Queens Plaza area.

While details remain scarce, renderings recently posted on the Lions Group’s website depict that the taller east tower will rise nearly 40 stories while the shorter west building will be about 30.

Image by City Realty

Designed by the Queens-based Raymond Chan Architects, the towers’ facades are an eclectic mix of glass and brick, with building corners glazed with floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies siding many mid- and upper-floor units.

Jackson Avenue streetscape | Image from NYCEDC

The images also reveal retail storefronts along their Jackson and 43rd Avenue frontages, which will continue to enliven this once-pedestrian-unfriendly stretch. Back in 2010, the Jackson Avenue streetscape project humanized the corridor with a landscape median, new lighting, and an improved roadway design.

Site of Jackson East tower

Site of Jackson West tower

The east tower will replace a one-story auto repair shop, while the west tower is to supplant a GasTrac gas station that recently shuttered. Construction permits for the west tower were filed with the Department of Buildings back in December, but called for a smaller 15-story building containing 88 units.

Image by City Realty

While still unclear if the towers will contain rentals or condos, they will rise from a hotbed of development activity in Long Island City. Across the elevated Dutch Kills Street (a vehicular High Line of sorts that streamlines traffic to and from the Queensboro Bridge) is the site of Rockrose’s conversion of the Eagle Electric Warehouse and its accompanying 54-story tower. Rockrose’s 50-story mega-rental at 43-25 Hunter Street is already underway across 43rd Avenue, and along Purves Street, a string of recent condo and rental mid-rises that include the Vere Condominium, Purves II, and Lions Group’s own Vantage Purves and the Vista, have already created one of the district’s first residential enclaves.

Stay up-to-date on Jackson East (26-32 Jackson Avenue) and Jackson West (27-01 Jackson Avenue).