NYC Mixed-Use Project Advances with 2 Residential Towers

Hunters Point South. Rendering courtesy of TF Cornerstone

The second phase of Hunters Point South—a mixed-unit, mixed-income master-planned community in Long Island City, Queens—is under construction and will bring 1,194 residential units to the site along the East River. Developer TF Cornerstone plans to set aside 60 percent of the apartments in the two-tower development for affordable units for low- to middle-income residents and 100 units for low-income seniors.

“Long Island City is rapidly growing, attracting new residents, companies and thriving local shops and restaurants. This project will serve to foster that growth with a diverse mix of housing and community amenities to ensure new and old residents can stay in the community they love,” TF Cornerstone Principal Jeremy Shell said in a prepared statement.

The project features two buildings: the 55-story North Tower, which will have 800 units, and the 44-story South Tower with 394 units. The development will have more than 8,900 square feet of retail and 150 parking spaces. The New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development worked with the School Construction Authority on plans for a 572-seat K-8 school that will be constructed between 2020 and 2023.

Services for residents will include on-site support for seniors provided by Selfhelp Community Services, the oldest and largest organization in North America serving Holocaust survivors. The group will also sponsor events for seniors in the 8,000-square-foot community center that will be run by Sunnyside Community Services and TF Cornerstone. The community center will be used for home healthcare aide training during the day. After 5 p.m. and on weekends, TF Cornerstone will allow the space to be used for civic engagement and programs focused on the arts, wellness, youth and education.

The buildings were designed by ODA Architects with SLCE as the architect of record. The project will be anchored by a 22,000-square-foot public open space designed by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects.

The development is receiving funding from the NYC Housing Development Corp. and NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development as well as lenders Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, M&T Bank and PNC Bank.

“Hunters Point South is the type of transformative project we see once in a generation. Through tremendous vision and hard work, these thirty vacant acres of public land gave rise to a dynamic new neighborhood featuring beautiful parkland anchored in affordability,” Acting HPD Commissioner Eric Enderlin said in a prepared statement.

Building Out the Master Plan

In August 2017, TF Cornerstone, a family-owned and operated real estate company focused on  residential and commercial properties in New York City and Washington, D.C., and development partners Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC), Coalition for Queens (C4Q) and BJH Advisors were selected to develop a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use project in Long Island City’s Anable Basin inlet. The 4.5-acre site will include 1,000 residential units, 400,000 square feet of commercial space, 10,000 square feet of industrial, 19,000 square feet of retail and an 80,000-square-foot public school. In that development, 25 percent of the residential units will be designated as affordable. Other features to be included were a one-acre park, 227,500 square feet of office space, 80,000 square feet of start-up office space and 22,500 square feet of pre-built, flexible incubator space.

ODA and Mathew Nielsen Landscape Architects were also included in the designs for this property along with Handel Architects.

The master plan is for 5,000 housing units to be built across seven parcels from 50^th Avenue to the Newtown Creek. Related Cos. completed the first phase with Parcels A and B in 2015, when 925 units and a 1,110-seat school were constructed, according to the Long Island City Post.