$925M mega-project may bring 1,000 rentals and a 100,000-square-foot factory to Long Island City

The waterfront Queens neighborhood of Long Island City has gone from a sleepy, factory town to boasting the country’s largest number of new rental apartments. Now, to preserve some of LIC’s industrial backbone, a new development proposal from TF Cornerstone calls for a massive $925 million mixed-use complex, which will include 1,000 rental apartments and 100,000 square feet of light manufacturing space. As the New York Times reported, the project comes at the city’s request in 2016 for mixed-use project proposals with a focus on commercial and industrial space.

TF Cornerstone’s proposal is set to build two towers on more than four acres of land owned by the city, which currently holds a parking lot and a shuttered restaurant. The project will span 1.5 million square feet near an area called Anable Basin, right next to the East River. One tower will rise to be 650 feet with the other reaching 500 feet. In addition to the industrial and residential spaces, the complex will include 400,000 square feet of offices, 19,000 square feet of stores, an 80,000-square-foot elementary school and a waterside park that will connect to an existing pier.

The new towers will look like TF Cornerstone’s five other super tall glassy high-rises that sit by LIC’s Pepsi-Cola sign. Details about apartment layouts and amenities haven’t been revealed, but the apartments will range from studios to three bedrooms, with 25 percent of the units priced below market rate. Industrial tenants will pay roughly $3,700 to $9,000 per month, which is below the area’s average.

TF Cornerstone’s development will be on the site of the Water’s Edge restaurant, supported by a barge. The shuttered restaurant is currently embroiled in a federal investigation into whether Mayor de Blasio helped its operator obtain favorable lease terms in exchange for contributions to his campaign. The developer plans on creating a similar waterfront restaurant in the same location, but no firm details have been released yet.

According to New York’s deputy mayor for housing and economic development, Alicia Glen, the mixed-use proposal shows that not all luxury housing hurts industrial neighborhoods. As factories continue working towards creating more environmentally friendly practices, housing and industrial sites can now be developed together. “All of the battles over rezoning pitted jobs versus housing, which is something we need to get beyond,” Glen told the Times. “I hope this can change the conversation in a more positive way.”

[Via NY Times]

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