A high hope
$56M MTA deal clears way for tallest bldg. in Qns.
THE MTA is cashing in on a $56 million real estate deal that will allow a developer to build what could become Queens’ tallest high-rise — and help mend the city’s aging subway system.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members voted Wednesday to sell air rights to Queens Plaza Park Development, a real estate partnership eyeing Long Island City as the home of its new 77-story residential tower.
“Every dollar we are able to secure through real estate transactions helps to reduce the pressure on the fares, tolls and taxes that support the MTA,” agency spokesman Aaron Donovan said.
Under current zoning, the developer can build nearly 40 stories on property it owns at 41st Ave. and Bridge Plaza North, officials said. But by purchasing and transferring unused development rights associated with a nearby property owned by the MTA, the developer will be able to add an additional 39 stories to its project, the MTA said Wednesday.
MTA officials said the transfer of 478,000 square feet of air rights will enable the developer to build up to 858 apartments next door to the Clock Tower Building, an 88-year-old Art Deco high-rise now vying for landmark status.
In the deal, the MTA will sell to the developer three small parcels of land, including a 25,000-square-foot lot that will be transformed into a public park.
Some MTA board members raised objections to the sale, saying affordable housing isn’t part of the developer’s plan. Other board members, however, contend the MTA’s primary focus should be the subway system, which is in dire need of funding.
“Our only priority should be the transit system and our riders,” said board member Jeff Kaye, who voted in favor of the deal.
When completed, the soaring tower will help fill a void in apartment inventory in the neighborhood, which over the past decade has been transformed by a bevy of sprawling new luxury residential buildings along the East River.
“There’s still an extreme housing shortage in Long Island City,” said Eric Benaim, CEO of Modern Spaces, a real estate brokerage firm with a branch in the neighborhood. “They should be able to fill up these apartments in no time. As rents in Manhattan continue to soar, more and more developers are targeting sites in Long Island City.”
Queens Plaza Park, a joint real estate venture between the Property Markets Group and Karman Hakim, declined to comment.