American Lions Opens Queens Mixed-Income Tower
Nearly one-third of the units at the 28-story property have been designated as affordable.
American Lions, a joint venture between Lions Group and Fetner Properties, has opened The Bold, a 28-story, 164-unit, partially affordable community in Long Island City, N.Y. Bank Leumi issued a $95 million construction note in 2021.
The venture has another 49-story, 363-unit, partially affordable tower under construction just across the street from The Bold. American Lions broke ground on this development—dubbed The Italic—last year. The developers secured $350 million in construction financing for the high-rise.
Lions Group Managing Director Aaron Shirian stated in prepared remarks that the developer’s intention initially was to build two condominiums. However, that changed in 2018 following a deal made with the city for air rights.
Under the conditions of the deal, American Lions was given permission to raise structures holding roughly three times the number of units permitted at the time. In exchange, the developer was required to use around 40 percent of the city’s transferred air rights—or 30 percent of all units— to build some roughly 150 affordable units in the two-tower development.
READ ALSO: Construction Financing: Needle in the Capital Haystack
As such, The Bold includes 50 affordable units, while The Italic will provide 109. These units are reserved for families earning at 130 percent of the Area Median Income.
For The Bold, the venture tapped SLCE Architects as the architect on record, while Tamara Eaton Designs provided multifamily interior design and Langan served as the landscape engineer. SLCE Architects also led the design of The Italic.
The 175,796-square-foot community encompasses studio and one- to three-bedroom floorplans. Units feature environment-friendly utilities and keyless entry, to name a few. Community amenities include a golf simulator, gym, media room, coworking space, as well as a media center, among others.
Located at 27-01 Jackson Ave. in Queens, The Bold is less than 2 miles away from Queensboro Bridge and some 6 miles northeast of downtown Manhattan. Within walking distance, multiple parks, quick-service restaurants and transit stops can be found.
Multifamily deliveries steadily going up in New York City
New York City’s multifamily inventory grew by 1.2 percent year-over-year as of June—40 basis points higher compared to June 2023 numbers—according to a Yardi Matrix report. As of July, the metro’s pipeline held upward of 82,400 units under construction, Yardi Matrix data shows. An estimated 14,926 units will be delivered this year, accounting for 2.5 percent of total stock.
Another mixed-income community that debuted this year in New York City is One Park Point. Focus Property Group, a subsidiary of JEMB Realty, developed the 375-unit property which includes 95 affordable apartments.
