Queens West moves forward

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 27, 1993 by Lois Weiss

The long awaited $2.3 billion Hunter's Point project, rechristened as Queens West, is on the road to being built.

A request for proposals (RFP) for the Builders/Pavers Plan was issued last November and other site preparation type RFP's will follow shortly. By late spring, the architectural plans should be in place with developers chosen by summer.

The mixed-use Queens waterfront project is being developed as a tripartite venture by New York City, the New York State Urban Development Corporation and the Port Authority of New York.

When completed, it will encompass 9.3 million square feet of residential, commercial and community buildings including an elementary school and a recreation center with a pool. A 1.25mile waterfront esplanade is designed as part of the public access features.

The residential portion will consist of approximately 6,400 apartments with 10 percent of those affordable housing. Supporting retail and 100 percent parking is also planned, comprising some 5,628 spaces.

The site is bounded in the north by the Anabelle Basin-and in the south by Newtown Creek. One tall high-rise will be constructed at a facing angle at each end of the site, and another bulkier building in the middle. The rest of the complex will be at lower, staggered heights to add variety to the skyline while water's edge buildings will be the shortest.

Rosins K. Abramson, the newly appointed president of Queens West Development Corp. (QWDC), said, "This is a project that's ready to go. All the approvals have been obtained there is no more ULURP [land review process]." The project was approved by the Board of Estimate in 1990.

Abramson, former executive director and counsel to the chairman of the New York City Department of Planning, and former president and CEO of Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, will supervise the RFP process. She will negotiate acquisitions and agreements and act as liaison with landowners, project sponsors, governmental agencies and community groups.

QWDC is completing all the pre-- development work including the design guidelines, Abramson said, and is issuing infrastructure RFP's for drainage, utilities and the park. A developer's RFP will be issued this spring, as well. Design work for the Builders/Pavers will be completed at the end of April, she added.

A Drainage Plan RFP for run-off and sewage is expeaed to go out within the next month or so. The Design of Streets and Utilities Phase I RFP should be issued in March while the Waters Edge Structures, Park, and Esplanade RFP is expected to be issued in February or March.

A team of two architectural firms Gruzen Samton Steinglass/Beyer Blinder Belie - as the master planners have been working on the project since 1985. The revisions and updates of the design guidelines will be completed by May. 'So that all the pieces should be in place by May or June to start developer selection,' Abramson added.

The project has been compared to Battery Park City. The interesting difference between this site and Battery Park City, however, Abramson noted, is that two-thirds of the 70-acre site is privately owned. 'Whereas at Battery Park City the public sector had complete control, we don't have it here,' she said.

Roosevelt Is]and was also owned by the government, she added.

Condemnation is one choice for obtaining control but could become a many years-long and drawn out process, she agreed, as owners jockey in court for large payments. With shovels poised, Abramson is prepared to get the project underway in the best fashion for the city.

Another option, she said, is working with the site owners if they are 'responsible potential developer owners.' "Because if they own the site, and they meet the standards, then we can work with them,' Abramson said. 'That's an option we didn't have at Battery Park City."

Abramson calls this aspect an additional opportunity. The notion of public-private partnerships is an innovative trend, she explained, that is becoming more expected in city planning opportunities.

"Government doesn't have to do it all itself,' she said, adding that they always have the option to condemn if the site owners are not 'responsible' or not interested in developing or are counter to the plan.

The site owners include the Pepsi-Cola Company; a tennis court operator who has fought the project in court; and a consortium called MO Associates (standing for Manhattan Overlook) that is made up of a subsidiary of Dreyfus called the Trotwood Crop.; a subsidiary of the Zeckendorf Organization; and foreign investors. 'So there are substantial site owners that have been there for some time,' Abramson noted.

The MO Associates land and most of that owned by the Port Authority is slated for residential units. Abramson explained the mix will reflect the availability and makeup of both current housing incentive programs and possibly some that might come out of the Clinton administration. 'To a great extent that has to do with financing and the market,' she said, 'but it will be up to the developer.'