December NB review: 2M sf in LIC by TF Cornerstone, Innovo, Rockrose

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

In December, four of the top five developers filed plans in LIC that totaled more than 2 million square feet. Those residential units in part drove residential unit levels to the highest of the year.

Four of the five largest plans called for new developments in Long Island City, Queens, while the last plans called for a Brooklyn building. Four of the five plans were for mixed-use residential buildings and one was for a storage building. The five plans totaled over 2.3 million square feet of new construction and 2,010 dwelling units.

Tom and Fred Elghanayan’s TF Cornerstone was behind the largest and third largest developments of the month, both of which were pre-filed on December 14. The larger of the two plans called for the construction of a two-tower, 400-foot tall, 39-story, 723,731-square-foot mixed-use building with 812 dwelling units at 2-10 54th Avenue in Long Island City. The other plans called for the construction of a 400-foot tall, 34-story, 575-unit, 499,285-square-foot mixed-use building at 55-01 2nd Street in Long Island City.

Both of the buildings will have several retail spaces located on the ground floor. Planned amenities include exercise rooms, a pool, and recreation spaces. SLCE will be designing both of the buildings.

The second largest project was pre-filed on December 24 by Andrew Chung’s Innovo Property Group. The plans called for construction of a 143-foot tall, five-story, 679,638-square-foot storage building at 23-30 Borden Avenue in Long Island City, Queens. The building, which will be designed by KSS Architects, will have a garage that will span all five floors. The warehouse that currently occupies the site was used by the online grocer company FreshDirect before Innovo acquired it for $75 million on January 24, 2019.

LCOR was responsible for the fourth largest development of the month, pre-filed on December 2. The plans called for construction of a 270-foot tall, 26-story, 322-unit, 221,926-square-foot mixed-use building at 1515 Surf Avenue in Coney Island. The building will have multiple retail spaces, an exercise room, cycling room, yoga room, outdoor pool, and lounge. It will occupy a parking lot of the 100-year-old famous Italian Gargiulo’s Restaurant. Last winter the owner of the restaurant, Louis Russo signed a 99-year ground lease for the lot with LCOR as tenant.

Rounding out the top five is Henry Elghanayan’s Rockrose Development, which filed plans on December 14 calling for construction of a 229-foot tall, 19-story, 301-unit, 193,534-square-foot mixed-use building at 43-14 Queens Street in Long Island City. The building, while will be designed by SLCE, will have retail spaces, a pool, lounges, and recreation space.

The five plans came during a month in which NYC developers filed for over 4.4 million square feet of new construction. The total was a 55 percent increase from the 1.9 million square feet of new construction filed for in November. The monthly total was the third highest of 2020, behind only April’s 4.9 million square feet and May’s 5.4 million square feet.

PincusCo looked at all new building (NB) filings of 2,000-square-feet and above. For residential buildings, the analysis covered those with four or more units, and did not include residential units in hotel (R-1) buildings.

The total number of residential units filed for in December also increased substantially, a 62 percent jump from the month prior. The 4,212 total units, up from 1,610 total units in November, was easily the highest total of any month in 2020 and the third highest monthly total since the start of 2019.

The total square feet of new construction filed for was 35 percent above the average of 2.8 million square feet per month in 2020, while the total number of residential units filed for was 43 percent above the average of 2,380 units per month.