A few megaprojects will bring additional residential space as well as retail space and restaurants to various parts of the city. While the first building in the Essex Crossing project has received its faced and is expected to be complete next year, the first in the Halletts Point megaproject has recently topped out with plans to open in 2019. Here’s a closer look at their progress and what they will have to offer once complete.
Essex Crossing Condo Gets Full Façade
The condo at 242 Broome Street, which is one of the first of the Lower East Side megaproject Essex Crossing, now has a new façade. Once complete, the 14-story SHoP-designed building will boast retail and commercial space on the first five floors, 15,000 square feet of which will be set aside for a cultural facility located in a separate building but adjoined to the main structure. 17,000 square feet of the basement will be dedicated to a bowling and entertainment venue called Splitsville.
The building will also be home to 55 luxury apartments, which will start on the fifth floor. Each floor will hold between three and six units. While construction is not expected to be complete until next year, sales for the one-, two- and three-bedroom units began a year ago with prices ranging from $1.275 million to more than $7 million. The building will also have 11 affordable units when complete.
Amenities at the new building include an entertainment lounge, a landscaped rooftop, a fitness center and a children’s playroom. The new anodized aluminum façade, which is a champagne-like color when the sunlight hits it, serves as a modern interpretation of the tenement buildings in the surrounding area. The design is meant to serve as a transition between the older LES buildings and the new developments that will be part of the $1 billion Essex Crossing project.
Once complete, the Essex Crossing project will span nine sites spread over six acres. Four of the project’s buildings are expected to be complete sometime next year. In addition to the 242 Broome project, these include a 195-unit rental designed by Handel and SHoP as well as a rental designed by Beyer Blinder Belle on site 5 offering affordable units. A fully-affordable senior building designed by Dattner Architects will also be located on site 6.
Astoria’s Halletts Point Megaproject Well Underway
Astoria’s Halletts Point Megaproject, which will bring 2,000 rentals to the waterfront, is well underway following a rough start. The first building in the 2.4-million-square-foot waterfront project has topped out since getting underway in January 2015. With plans to open in the summer of 2019, the building features 405 apartments with at least 81 being set aside as affordable housing for families earning between 40 and 50 percent of the AMI.
Once complete, the development will bring a significant amount of new retail, residential units and park space to the Queens waterfront. Brooklyn Harvest Market has already signed a long-term lease to bring its 25,000 square foot store to the first tower. The site will be further extended and enhanced with a waterfront esplanade, parklands and renovated playgrounds.