Development Sweeping Over Long Island City

The Echelon Condominium, rising 12 stories above a double-height lobby, is located at 13-11 Jackson Ave. and is one of the many new structures going up in Long Island City. Changes are a-comin' to the Long Island City skyline in the form of development that will transform neighborhoods once cluttered with grimy auto repair shops and underutilized industrial buildings into streets lined with towering residential units and glistening office buildings.

The booming demand for housing has drawn builders to a 37-block area along Jackson Avenue that was rezoned in 2001 to allow for residential and office development.

Developers believe the area's proximity to Manhattan, its access to transportation (the Queens Plaza "hub"), and its breathtaking view of the Manhattan skyline and waterfront, are sure to draw young urbanites to the neighborhood.

Dingy industrial buildings are being demolished or gutted to make way for glistening new condos or sprawling residential lofts, and recent groundbreaking ceremonies paved the way for construction of the $200 million, 15-story Citigroup Office Tower at Court Square Two, which will house the national headquarters for Citibank's credit card division and branch banking business.

A model apartment in the new Echelon Condominium. Citigroup Inc. officials said Court Square Two, when completed in 2007, will bring at least 1,800 jobs to the area. Citigroup sold "Court Square One", its 50-story skyscraper to Reckson Associates Realty Corporation last May for $470 million, but signed a 15-year lease to rent all office spaces in the tower, where more than 4,800 people are currently employed.

Projects currently under development include:

 A20-story tower with 120 condos, a running track and a swimming pool with a retractable dome at 45-56 Pearson St. on a site that housed the former Sternberger Warehouse parking lot and several dilapidated private houses. Marketing and sales for the units are planned, said developer Mark Junger.

 "The Queens Plaza," a new, 10-story redbrick building with a doorman and 68 condos, will rise at 41-26 27th St., just a half block from the Queens Plaza traffic hub. Most of the units will boast private terraces with a view of the Manhattan skyline. Pre-sales marketing began on The Queens Plaza in September, brokered by the Developers Group.

 Crews recently finished laying the foundation for a 13-story building with 55 apartments at 13-11 Jackson Ave.

Marketing and sales for the units will begin in early January, brokered by the Developers Group.

 Four stories are being added to a century-old factory and former power plant at 50-09 Second Ave. which will boast 175 condos, a fitness center, a kids' playroom and a screening room for Super Bowl parties and other affairs. Sales and marketing began at "The Powerhouse" in early spring, 2006.

 "The Gantry," a 47-condo building at 48-21 5th St. on the waterfront will feature private rooftop cabanas and a stunning view of Manhattan. Sales and marketing for units in the six-story building located near the City Lights coop are underway at the Prudential marketing office on Vernon Boulevard.

 A 17-story development dubbed the "Crescent Club," will rise at 41-17 Crescent St. just north of the Queensboro Bridge The development will feature 110 condos, a lap pool, a putting green and a landscaped back yard. The site is the current home of Ethnikos Kirix, a 90-year-old Greek-language newspaper. Pre-sales and marketing for the units are scheduled to begin in fall 2006.

The following projects are in the final stages for development in the 37-block area:

 Crews are adding several stories to a former manufacturing site at 46-44 11th St. to make room for 44 new apartment units.

 Plans are being finalized for construction of a new waterfront condominium building at 5-03 50th Ave.

 A building at 10-63 Jackson Ave is being redesigned to house 31 condos.

 Expansion is planned for a building at 42-37 Crescent St. for development of an unspecified number of condominium units.

Real estate mogul Jerry Speyer is coming to Queens. The city chose the owner of Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building to build a mammoth tower of at least a million square feet on a site where the Queens Plaza Municipal Garage now stands.

Speyer acquired the rights to develop on two sites adjacent to each other at Jackson Avenue and Bridge Plaza South-the garage, and the site of a former flea market operated in the 1980s by Med-Mac Properties (Modell's).

Speyer's partner is the Modell family, which leases 200,000 square feet of retail space inside the garage, long considered the "white elephant" of city parking garages. Sources said Speyer has plans to develop at least 500,000 square feet of commercial space at the garage site, including street-level retail space. The site currently contains a five-story building with approximately 180,000 square feet of retail and office space on two stories and three levels of municipal parking space that accommodates 1,100 vehicles.

Sources said Speyer is trying to get the city Department of Transportation to sign on as an anchor tenant with 250,000 square feet at the garage site. Speyer must also have a tenant for the retail space on board for project financing to be in place, sources said.

Speyer announced plans in 2003 to build an office tower "tall enough to rival the 50-story Citicorp Tower" on one of the sites. The tower could be built on the Med-Mac property in tandem with the garage, to develop a massive office campus on both sides of Jackson Avenue, sources said.

Residents in one section of the Dutch Kills community battled with city planners for more than 40 years to overturn a zoning regulation that strictly prohibited any residential expansion or development in the Long Island City neighborhood. The M1-3 zoning regulation created a manufacturing zone, ensuring total commercialization of the area.

No new residences could be built or expanded within the zone-and if a house suffered damage of 50 percent or more from fire or other disaster, homeowners could not legally rebuild the house without a city variance. Such a variance might take a full year to be approved, and would carry a price tag of at least $7,000. For homeowners who might have lost most of their possessions in a fire, the process can lead to homelessness.

All of that is about to change, said Gerry Walsh, president of the Dutch Kills Civic Association.

Walsh said city planners are about to announce that the long-awaited rezoning of Dutch Kills is about to take place. Walsh said approval of rezoning of an area from 41st Avenue north to 37th Avenue north, and from 21st Street to 38th Street would result in the residential rebirth of the neighborhood.

"Homeowners will be able to extend their homes to meet the needs of growing families, new housing would be possible on numerous sites in the area and dilapidated commercial buildings could be converted into condos, bringing new life and growth to the Dutch Kills community," Walsh said. "It's been a long battle, but we're finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel."

Renovations are currently underway at a former commercial site at 31st Street and 37th Avenue in Long Island City in the Dutch Kills area that will turn the decades-old warehouse building into a glistening glass and steel office tower. Potracio Solar, an architect for the site owner, Alma Realty, said crews extended the height of the building from three to five stories, have completed installation of an elevator and completed work on an underground parking facility.

With the addition of two floors, the building now offers a total of 110,000 square feet, approximately 22,000 square feet per floor, in a building located within walking distance of bus and subway service, Solar said.

The offices of Alma Realty, along with architects and attorneys for the realtor, currently located at 28-18 31st St. in Astoria, will occupy the fifth floor of the building, Solar said. Alma will also utilize the first floor of the building as a warehouse.

Alma has also received inquiries from several potential tenants who are interested in moving into a portion of the remaining 77,000 square feet of space, Solar said.

Renovations on the building are expected for completion by October 2006, Solar said. The project manager is currently waiting for Con Edison to determine what, if any, work is necessary to provide power to the building.

Solar said Alma is willing to "build to suit" tenants, and will work to accommodate space requirements.

For information on space at 37-01 37th Ave., contact Alma Realty at 718-267-0300.