NEW YORK | Hallets Point (7 tower development) | FT | 20 - 40 FLOORS

[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1352608

Community Board 1 supports $1 billion Hallets Point project in Astoria —
if developer includes a supermarket and traffic calming
Development will include 2,600 units -- 500 below market rate. A waterfront esplanade is a sweetener.


By Clare Trapasso
May 23, 2013

A desolate stretch of the Astoria waterfront is about to get a luxury face-lift.

Community Board 1 unanimously backed the rezoning of a stretch of industrial land along the East River in Astoria so developers can build 10 residential towers along the East River on the western edge of Astoria.

The $1 billion Hallets Point project would create more than 2,100 luxury and almost 500 below-market rate housing units — and a waterfront esplanade that could be lined with cafes and restaurants.

Hallets Point would be near the public housing development Astoria Houses.

The community, on a whole, sees it as a good thing,” said Community Board 1 District Manager Lucille Hartmann. “It’s going to bring a lot of services.”

But the board’s support came with strings attached: Developer Lincoln Equities must include a supermarket in the project, work to ease traffic and create an area for bus parking.

The board would also like to see a facility for young adults and seniors included in the project.

The project must still receive approval from Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, the City Planning Commission and the City Council as it makes its way through the city’s land-use review process. The community board support is only advisory.

If Lincoln gets the approval, it expects to break ground in late 2014 or early 2015.

[tdawg]

I live just north of here on the edge of Astoria Park. The public housing we're speaking of here is some of the best maintained I've seen in the city. I go running through it all the time and it's not the eyesore some might imagine.

[Busy Bee]

Awesome! Can't wait to see some real renderings!

[Crawford]

This is a separate development.

This thread is about Hallets Cove, and Astoria Cove is a separate multi-tower development in the same Astoria neighborhood.

Can the mods split this thread?

[Hamilton]

^^^ it seems easier to keep track of these (at least in the proposal stages) by keeping them together... maybe when one of them takes off, it might be prudent to split them.

The project, he said, “came in at almost twice the size they are now, so for years we’ve been working to whittle it down to something that’s economically feasible for them.”

Politicians in our city brag about denying thousands of people housing, in one of the cities with the most acute housing shortages in the nation. Sigh...

[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1331524

Twin projects in western Queens could revamp ‘desolate’ stretch of waterfront
Massive Astoria Cove project unveiled last week; Hallets Point greenlit by city Planning Commission; some local stakeholders fear over-development


By Irving Dejohn
April 30, 2013

Developers are converging on a gritty waterfront stretch of Astoria, including an ambitious proposal to line the shore with restaurants, officials said Tuesday.

The Astoria Cove Development, outlined in documents submitted to the city Planning Commission last week, calls for a complete overhaul of 8.7 acres between 4th St. and 8th St. along 26th Ave. near Pot Cove.

Project officials told the Daily News that the overhaul would be a boon for the city. “It’s going to take an area that’s laid fallow for many years and give it life,” said Howard Weiss, the attorney representing 2030 Astoria Developers LLC, the firm that submitted the proposal. “The area is desolate.”

Astoria Cove would include 1,701 units of housing, 117,000-square-feet of retail space and a new school. The East River waterfront would get a major facelift to accommodate eateries and increase public access, Weiss said.

“The project is being very generously developed in terms of public passive recreation,” he said. The firm is headed by Efstathios Valiotis, CEO of management company Alma Realty. A public scoping hearing is scheduled for May 20.

The proposal is part of a one-two punch of private, mixed-use developments that could dramatically change the peninsula near Astoria Park if greenlit by the city. Both developments have pledged to make some of the housing affordable.

The long-discussed Hallets Point development passed an important hurdle last week, receiving initial certification from the Planning Commission. It will go before Community Board 1, the Queens Borough President and the City Council for approval.

Hallets Point would add 2,200 units of housing to the area, a supermarket and a park.

“The Hallets Point project is the result of careful planning, study and considerable community engagement,” said project spokesman Andrew Moesel.

Moesel declined to comment on how it would dovetail with Astoria Cove, noting there wasn’t enough public information about the new proposal.

Some stakeholders expressed concerns about the lack of existing infrastructure and preserving the area’s integrity.

“I want to make sure they’re not too large to overwhelm the surrounding community,” said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria).

[NYguy]

Some stakeholders expressed concerns about the lack of existing infrastructure and preserving the area’s integrity.

“I want to make sure they’re not too large to overwhelm the surrounding community,” said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.

I understand the issues with transportation, but you find a way to make this work, not reasons it can't work. There is a shortage of housing in the City, and there aren't a whole lot of places to build it.

[Swede]

Originally Posted by Hamilton

Politicians in our city brag about denying thousands of people housing, in one of the cities with the most acute housing shortages in the nation. Sigh...

And motivating it with making the project more economically feasible for the developers! wtf?

[chris08876]

HALLETTS POINT

LOCATION

Queens, NY

AREA

Master Plan: 10 acres
Building 1: 526,000 sf
Full Development: 2,400 units, 483 affordable units

COMPLETION

2014 - Master Plan
2018 - Building 1

CLIENT
The Durst Organization
Lincoln Equities Group

Halletts Point is a new high-rise, high-density, mixed-use development on the waterfront in Astoria, Queens. The city approved master plan calls for eight residential buildings, retail, a public waterfront esplanade and a site for a potential K-8 school. The first building, now under construction, comprises two 20-story towers oriented to maximize river views, with a large scale roof top amenity space for residents. The LEED rated project includes a cogeneration plant, allowing it to generate its own electricity, heating and cooling, on-site, making the whole development efficient, sustainable and resilient. In addition to the waterfront park, a large supermarket, new retail and plans for additional public transportation connections will significantly improve neighborhood infrastructure. The full build out, which will be phased over a number of years, will include more than 2,000 apartments, 20 percent of which will be affordable units.

============================
http://www.dattner.com/portfolio/hal...nt/#prev_image

[tdawg]

I ran by the site two weekends ago and it was buzzing with construction and workers. I really hope the whole plan is built out because it will have a cascading effect on the rest of the area.

[Flyers2001]

NYC continues to impress when it comes to getting things done. That's a lot ofnew units, can't wsit to see renderings. Some units shouldhave somevery nice views.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Flyers2001

NYC continues to impress when it comes to getting things done. That's a lot ofnew units, can't wsit to see renderings. Some units shouldhave somevery nice views.

It's like a "going out of business" sale for Bloomberg - everything must go, as far as approvals go.



http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2...3_08_30_q.html

The residential towers would include 1,921 market-rate units, a few waterfront townhouses and 483 affordable units geared toward senior citizens, according to Lincoln Equities. A publicly accessible park would stretch along the coast as well.

[NYguy]

Another piece thrown into the puzzle...


http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/01/...des-for-26-5m/

Astoria waterfront development site trades for $26.5M





January 13, 2014
By Hiten Samtani

Boris Aronov, co-developer of Tribeca’s 101 Leonard Street, has paid $26.5 million for a development site on the Astoria waterfront, according to city records filed Friday. The 160,000-square-foot lot at 3-15 26th Avenue was marketed last year for $80 million as being ripe for an 800,000-square-foot residential site, but it’s currently still zoned for manufacturing, and sources said that the low purchase price was due to uncertainty about when the site would be ready for a residential project.

The site – which was featured in the 1992 sci-fi flop “Freejack,” which starred Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger as a mercenary – is currently home to a one-story building, but was once a lumber yard.

A source familiar with the deal said that despite multiple bidders, the property had no interim uses without infrastructure upgrade (which could take up to seven years) that could support a purchase price over $30 million. To make a residential project viable, the city would have to build infrastructure such as a connection to the main road and sewage, the source added. Le Noble came close to a deal with a major movie studio, the source said, but the site was too small for such a use.

[Perklol]

It's too far away from the subway. I guess that's why the price was low..

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

It's too far away from the subway. I guess that's why the price was low..

The site is in between two very large developments that are to be built, which makes it a desirable piece of property. But as follows:

A source familiar with the deal said that despite multiple bidders, the property had no interim uses without infrastructure upgrade (which could take up to seven years) that could support a purchase price over $30 million.

It's directly to the left of the Astoria Cove development site.

[NYguy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/ny...rket.html?_r=0

Builders Turn Focus To Housing Market





By CHARLES V BAGLI
SEPT. 26, 2014

In a sign of New York City’s rapidly shifting real estate market, the Durst family, whose empire was built on a forest of Manhattan office towers, is plunging into the housing market with an ambitious plan for a sprawling residential development on the Queens waterfront.

The Dursts, whose two skyscrapers on 42nd Street helped fuel the renaissance of Times Square, are now looking to spend $1.5 billion to transform a knobby, windswept peninsula in Astoria, where the East River meets the Harlem River, across the water from Gracie Mansion.

The Dursts’ move to Astoria highlights a trend in the city in which a seemingly insatiable demand for luxury housing has upended the traditional pecking order in the real estate world. Building glamorous office towers for Fortune 500 companies is not the surefire route to fame and riches it once was.

With the cost of land soaring and high-end apartments commanding soaring prices, developers whose reputation and wealth rests on gleaming office towers are leaping into the residential market in the hunt for profits.

Brookfield, a longtime commercial developer whose holdings include the former World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan, is putting down $1 billion for nearly 4,000 apartments in northern Manhattan and on Roosevelt Island.

In Queens, not far from the Durst project, Tishman Speyer Properties, the owner of Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building, is planning to build a rental complex with 1,600 apartments. In Downtown Brooklyn, Tishman Speyer is bidding against Vornado Realty and other developers for a former Macy’s property on Fulton and Hoyt Streets with an eye to turning it into a residential project.

The Fisher real estate family, which is also known for its office towers, is turning toward the residential side with the development of a 950-foot-tall condominium tower in TriBeCa and a 37-story apartment building on the East Side.

Although the Dursts have built a few apartment buildings in recent years, the Queens project represents a major, long-term investment in the city’s booming housing market and its first foray outside Manhattan.

Plans call for a set of seven apartment buildings with nearly 2,000 apartments — 20 percent reserved for poor and working-class tenants — an esplanade, a school and a supermarket where industrial buildings now stand.

“Times are changing,” said Douglas Durst, a third-generation developer. “Large-scale office development opportunities are sparse and Manhattan land is cost-prohibitive to build rentals. It is time for the family to go deeper into residential and to cross the ocean to Astoria.”

he Dursts, who own 4 Times Square and 10 other office towers in Manhattan, spent more than a year mulling whether to buy the residential development in what was for them far-off Astoria.

Douglas Durst’s father, Seymour, a prominent developer who died in 1995, used to brag that he could walk to any of his properties from the family’s Midtown office. He built office towers in which his tenants went home at night; residential buildings were “messy” and complicated.

But the family ran out of land in Manhattan after it built the 55-story Bank of America Building at 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas in 2010.

More than a year ago, Lincoln Equities Group contacted the Dursts, asking if they were interested in buying a residential development it owned in a working-class section of Queens. This week, the Dursts paid well over $100 million for a 90 percent stake in the project. Lincoln will retain about 10 percent.

Known as Hallets Point, the site is next to Astoria Houses, a city housing project built in the 1950s that is home to more than 3,500 residents, and nearly a mile from the nearest subway stop. There are warehouses and a ball field. It is by no means a gentrifying neighborhood.

Joel Bergstein, a principal at Lincoln, spent seven years putting together a string of adjoining industrial properties there and working with residents and city officials on a proposal. Last year, the Bloomberg administration approved his plans.

“The Dursts got it right away,” Mr. Bergstein said. “This will be an iconic property that’ll completely change this portion of the Queens waterfront.”

Hallets Point will eventually have 1,921 apartments, including 483 units for poor and working-class tenants in seven buildings. In an unusual arrangement with the New York City Housing Authority, the developer will build and own two buildings on the grounds of Astoria Houses for affordable housing for older adults.

There will also be three market-rate buildings, ranging from 17 to 31 stories, and two buildings in which 20 percent of the units will be subsidized.

The complex will open up the waterfront to local residents with an esplanade and include a supermarket, retail space and a school. The city has promised better bus service, and there is talk of a ferry to Manhattan.

The plans won the support of elected officials, local residents and the community board. Claudia Coger, president of the Astoria Houses Resident Association, said the neighborhood had a “deserted” feel, because there were few stores and the industrial buildings were closed at night.

“The mere fact that somebody would want to develop over there is a plus for the quality of life for the residents,” Ms. Coger said of Hallets Point. “We gave them our feelings about tall buildings blocking our beautiful Manhattan views and the need for a grocery store. They listened to what we had to say.”

The city’s Planning Commission is expected to vote by the end of the month on a second residential project nearby, Astoria Cove, which includes 1,723 apartments. Like Hallets Point, the developer has promised that 20 percent of the units would be for low- and moderate-income tenants.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio has made affordable housing a high priority of his administration. He and the City Council are expected to push the portion of affordable housing closer to 30 percent before Astoria Cove receives final approval.

[chris08876]

Hallets Point Project to Break Ground in October

Construction will start this fall on the Hallets Point development, a plan approved by the City Council in 2013 that will include more than 2,000 new apartments. It is one of two proposed residential projects expected to greatly transform the Astoria waterfront in the coming years.

The Durst Organization expects to break ground on the project in October, according a representative for the company. Construction will be done in phases and take about six years to complete.

[...]

=================================
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2015...ground-october

[tdawg]

This is exciting. I live on the northern end of Astoria Park. The only downside I can see is that the N and Q trains are already awfully crowded at rush hour.

[Urbannizer]

Ground broken for new Hallets Point community

The Durst Organization broke ground on the new Hallets Point development in Astoria.

During a ceremony attended by Mayor de Blasio, HPD Commissioner Been, Queens officials, residents and Durst work started on the first building on the campus that will ultimately hold 2,400 apartments, 65,000 s/f of retail and space for a new school.

[Stan31]

I live in the area, construction seems to be going well, I would say it's a little over half way through to being topped out. I'll post some pics soon.

Really excited about this development, might even consider living there despite the distance to the subway. I wonder what the pricing policy is going to be. Most people wouldn't want to live next to the projects and so far away from the subway (about 20 minutes away) but a developed waterfront and the amenities could sway some of us in its favor.