Convention Center & Hotel to Break Ground Near CitiField

A spacious convention center and 25-story hotel and apartment complex will soon rise on the site of a Corona car dealership near CitiField. Fleet Financial Group plans to break ground on the $200 million project in June. The Flushing-based group purchased the 1.67-acre DiBlasi Ford dealership, at 112-21 Northern Blvd., for $17 million in December. 

The site sits across the Grand Central Parkway from CitiField, where a $3 billion mega-mall and housing complex is planned for Willets Point.

The group plans to build 292 five-star hotel rooms and 236 apartments above the roughly 106,000-square-foot convention center.

The project will also include about 97,000 square feet of retail space, a restaurant and an underground parking garage with space for 300 cars.

“For the longest time, Queens has wanted to have some sort of facility like a Javits Center,” said developer Richard Xia, who chose the location for its close proximity to the airports. “It’s going to be great for the area.”

“This fills a great need for Queens. People fly in to Queens and leave for conventions at Javits or at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, now they won’t have to leave the borough.”

Xia is also in talks with Audi to put a showroom on an adjacent site.

The development, and in particular the conference center, should be a boon for the borough, said Queens Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Seth Bornstein. “We really lack quality convention space,” said Bornstein, who added the project will bring jobs and an influx of business travelers to Queens.

“It’s a good location for a good development. It makes more sense than the one that was planned at Aqueduct because JFK is an international airport, LaGuardia is for domestic flights and conventions are mainly domestic affairs,” he noted.

And the up-and-coming area can support the project.

The East River site is just across the Grand Central Parkway from CitiField, the USTA’s National Tennis Center and the Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

“The US Open is huge and you have these corporate sponsors who have no place large enough to suit their clients,” he said. “The area is under-utilized now, so the project makes sense."

And Flushing is a hotbed of Asian economic activity. Hotels like the Sheraton cater to the Chinese nouveau riche.  Xia has his eyes on an annual event that brings nearly a million visitors to the area each year.
But not everyone is a fan of all of the mega-development.

The building site is an area that has perpetual traffic problems and is undeserved by mass transit, say local activists. With so much going on in downtown Flushing and Willets Point, they don’t know if the market can support it all.

Residents of the predominantly low- and middle-income, immigrant neighborhood say they would be better served by more schools and affordable housing.

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Serious Concerns about Electrical System at JFK Airport

The condition of electrical systems at JFK airport is raising an alarm, particularly about lighting on runways and taxiways. Maintenance and restoration following salt-water damage from Hurricane Sandy has been ongoing since just after that storm hit in October 2012. But serious claims have been made about the severity of the situation. Electrical systems show signs of disrepair everywhere - from cables overheating underground - to main taxiways that are pitch black for long stretches.

The Port Authority agrees that poor maintenance and neglect of the electrical and lighting systems are a significant problem.

In a recent FAA inspection, JFK got hit with 10 citations for safety deficiencies, half of those for lighting maintenance, which it said was more than LaGuardia and Newark Airport combined.

The Port Authority insists they'd never operate runways or taxiways if it were unsafe.

But sources working at JFK say the massive electrical system is so corroded by years of storms and poor maintenance that they fear a major meltdown.

From above, everything looks fine with the miles of lights that guide airplanes on JFK's runways and taxiways. But it's below ground, where years of neglect eat away at the electrical system.

Videos show signs of disrepair everywhere from cables overheating underground, to main taxi-ways that are pitch black for long stretches.

In this case you can see how the taxiway's critical green center line disappears into darkness. Not just one, but two key taxiways still open with serious outages. "We know we have a problem," said Thomas Bosco, the Port Authority Aviation Director.

The Director for Port Authority Airports blames the salt water from Storm Sandy 16 months ago for the airport's current electrical problems, but he insists the taxiways and runways are operating safely.

"We wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe. Not idea and you're right it is a serious problem and that's why we're working 24/7 to correct it," he adds.

A commercial airline pilot, who built a career landing big airplanes at JFK, says out of service lights can disorient pilots.  "Critical absolutely critical yes, you cannot operate in low visibility or at night without an adequate lighting system."


An investigation has discovered the problem extends beyond taxiways. Last month, JFK experienced a power outage forcing it to close one of its main runways for 30 hours, forcing a halt to departures.

 “The power failure created a meltdown," said a JFK controller. “We went through periods of time up to 45 minutes at one point during the day where nobody departed. Airplanes kept landing but nobody left," he adds.

Daily FAA alerts to pilots suggest a wide-spread problem. In the last 4 months, JFK posted 76 notices for "Out of service" runway and taxiway lights. That's five times more than the similar-sized Chicago O'Hare airport which had only 16 alerts for lighting problems.

Director Bosco says it is not a fair comparison. "I'm not familiar with Chicago. I can only talk about Kennedy and I can tell you that we have the best electricians in the world and have saved us on numerous occasions when we've had hurricanes," he said.

In a recent FAA inspection, JFK got hit with 10 citations for safety deficiencies, half of those for lighting maintenance. More than LaGuardia and Newark combined.


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New York Initiates Post-Sandy Building Code Changes

New York City lawmakers have taken actions aimed at better ensuring the reliability of future backup power systems installed in city buildings. Acting on a flood of proposals to improve the resiliency of facilities in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the City Council gave the green light to several that dictate where power systems are housed.
 
Under revisions to the New York City Building Code, new buildings — or those being extensively renovated and located within the 500-year flood plain — will have to locate backup power systems (including fuel storage components) above the design flood elevation.

Specifically, hospitals won’t be able to install such systems just to the 100-year flood elevation, but instead to the 500-year flood line.

Those facilities will also be explicitly required to comply with broader requirements for flood-resistant construction.

Revised city codes also address the generator-fueling issue that was the source of so many problems in Sandy. According to a New York City Buildings Department recap of new legislation enacted in response to Sandy, natural gas will be permitted as a generator fuel for emergency systems serving certain classes of residential buildings and in standby power systems serving all building types.

A long-standing requirement for on-site fuel storage is waived for systems using natural gas.

City codes also have been rewritten to make it easier for buildings to install systems that meet the specific requirements of “standby” power.

A separate category of “legally required standby power systems” is defined and addressed in Section 701 of the NEC.

Its requirements are somewhat less stringent than those for systems classified as “emergency” in nature, making it potentially less costly to install and maintain, according to a review of the new legislation released by New York’s Urban Green Council.

By relaxing requirements on the types of buildings that must power elevators with emergency power, more resources may be freed up to install backup power meeting the definition of standby.

With its code revisions, New York seems to be clearly acknowledging that the city’s backup power infrastructure as it now exists is not ready for a “new normal” that Sandy may have ushered in.

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Triangular Glass Building to Rise on East Houston Street

A developer is planning to build a 26,700-square-foot, six-story office and retail building on a prominent triangular lot between Broadway and Crosby streets in Soho. The design, which envisions a glass wall of along Houston Street, and a brick facade on Crosby Street, has been approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

Madison Capital bought the 6,190-square-foot parcel at 19 East Houston Street from the MTA in last July for just under $26 million.

The new triangular building will end in a sharp angle at Broadway, the corner of which will become a six-story glass atrium.

Up through the 1920s, Houston Street was a narrow little passageway through the lower Manhattan trenches, no bigger than Spring Street is today.

It was not until the 1930s, as part of Robert Moses' overhaul and modernization of New York City, that it took on its current form as a multi-lane thoroughfare.

The transformation from urban lane to city highway involved the demolition of quite a few buildings, and resulted in a number of odd-shaped and sliver-like lots that would only appeal to a developer in the city's current real estate reality.

One such oddity is a triangular plot on the south curb of Houston bordered by Broadway and Crosby Street-a prominent location that for years has been home to a fruit stand, a subway entrance, and an MTA parking lot.

The brick wall of the building bordering the lot has been used as a billboard for much of this time, home for an age to an iconic DKNY advertisement, and now branded with the logo of the clothing company Hollister and a distressed rendition of the California state flag.

This awkward patch of land is now being developed by New York City-based real estate investment company Madison Capital.

The plan calls for 4,700-square-foot of ground floor retail space with an option for another sliver of a retail space at Broadway. That tiny space, separated from the larger retail floor by a subway entrance, will be only measure about 150 square feet. The building will have a total of 14,900 square feet of above-ground retail on three levels, and 11,900 square feet of office space on floors four through six.

Earlier designs for a triangular building at 19 East Houston Street drew the ire of the both the community and the Landmarks Commission, so Perkins Eastman made significant changes.

While the original design had called for a primarily glass facade - which furious SoHo residents panned as better suited to Midtown than Downtown, the new design features a 63 foot brick facade on Crosby Street.

Click to enlarge

 A completely separate facade of staggered glass and metal panels - inspired by SoHo's historic cast iron facades - along 203 feet of East Houston, addressing commissioners' concerns that the building would appear out-of-context for the neighborhood.

The building's first three floors, are all dedicated to retail, and faced with transparent glass panels.

These change on the top three office floors, where the glass panels become increasingly more opaque with a ceramic pattern.

The heavy interest in the site — currently a parking lot for New York City Transit emergency vehicles — underscores the demand for retail in Soho. Madison beat out competitors which included six other bidders.

The MTA, which controls the city-owned parcel through a master lease, will turn the property over to the city, which will in turn hand over control to Madison Capital.  The company is expected to take possession of the space in August 2014.

Just east of the development site, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved plans for a seven-story retail and office building on the current site of the SoHo BP gas station and the bar Puck Fair, as ElectricWeb has previously reported.

Structural Engineer Severud Associates	Civil Engineer Vollmuth & Brush
MEP Engineer Cosentini Associates	Technical Engineer Langan Engineering

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Design for LaGuardia's $2.5 Billion Main Terminal

The $3.9 billion LaGuardia Airport redevelopment project is expected to create 1,500 jobs as work begins on a six-level parking garage and an electrical substation. The $255 million project will construct a garage for 1,100 cars and replace one of LaGuardia's antiquated electrical substations. The project, which includes a new $2.5 billion Central Terminal and $1.2 billion for infrastructure and airport roadways, leaves space for a future direct subway line. While a start date has not yet been set, the project is scheduled for partial completion in 2017 and full completion by 2021. 

Click to enlarge

The new Central Terminal Building will accommodate larger aircraft to meet the demand of additional passengers, whose numbers are estimated to increase over the next two decades, according to the Port Authority, which operates the airport.

The winner of the bid will replace the current antiquated facility at LaGuardia Airport—recently compared by Vice President Joe Biden to that of a third world country—with a state-of-the-art successor.

The new terminal will also be larger, 1.3 million square feet, more than a third bigger than the present building. In addition it will likely feature more amenities and revenue-generating operations such as retail space and food concessions.

In 2012, LaGuardia handled 25.7 million passengers. Port Authority officials forecast that 34 million travelers will use the airport by 2030. More than half of those passengers are expected to use the new Central Terminal Building, the Port Authority said.

The project is expected to generate $112 million in wages, the Port Authority said. The federal government will reimburse 95 percent of the project's expenditures.

The project will be done in phases, the first of which will begin this year when the Port Authority begins building a new $82.9 million parking garage that will rise on the east side of the terminal next to the Delta Air Lines terminal. That 1,100-car garage, and another that is slated to be built on the west side of the terminal, will allow the airport's main garage to be demolished to make way for the new terminal building, which will rise on that site. In all, the Port Authority has pledged to make $1.2 billion in upgrades to the airport that will lay the infrastructure for the new terminal building.

The amount of traffic that passes through the terminal has vastly exceeded its 8 million passengers a year it was designed to handle. In 2012, that figure swelled to 25.7 million travelers and by 2030, the Port Authority projects at least 34 million will pass through the terminal each year.

The new terminal will be 1.3 million square feet and boast 35 gates. The current terminal also has 35 gates but at 835,000 square feet, it is nearly 40% smaller than its planned successor.

The new building would mark a vast improvement on the existing facilities, which opened in 1964 and are universally considered to be antiquated with undersized security and baggage processing areas, as well as undersized food concession and retail areas, that in most airports are both big amenities and revenue generators.

Other work being completed includes upgrades to Terminals C and D for Delta Air Lines, the airport's largest carrier. Delta opened a new 630-foot-long pedestrian bridge in December, and in June installed a moving walkway.

The bridge connects the two terminals so passengers do not have to go through security twice, said Leslie Scott, Delta spokeswoman. Both terminals will have full service restaurants, bars and cafes -- a total of 29.

Click to enlarge

Also 2,000 iPads are being installed in both terminal waiting areas, allowing passengers to order meals that are delivered to them.

The Port Authority has shortlisted four teams of architects and contractors to design, build, finance, and operate the 1.3 million-square-foot Central Terminal Building.

The project also includes replacing frontage roads and a central heating and refrigeration plant, as well as operating and maintaining the existing Central Terminal during the construction period and the new building for a specified term.

The winning bidder will pay for the building, but pocket a cut of the revenue from airline leases and rents from stores and restaurants. The building has a projected price tag of $2.5 billion and is expected to be completed by 2021.

One of the four teams bidding for the redevelopment has been disqualified, according to a statement from one of the group. Aerostar New York Holdings, a team led by the Mexico City-based airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, and the infrastructure investment firm Highstar Capital, will be unable to submit a final proposal for the mega-project.

The proposal was due in May under the rules laid out by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the airport.

The remaining finalists include the following architecture and construction firms:

• LaGuardia Gateway Partners, which includes Skanska USA Building, Skanska USA Civil, Meridiam Infrastructure, Tishman Construction, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Vantage Airport Group;
• LGAlliance, pairing Lend Lease Construction, LMB Inc., Turner Construction, Gensler Architecture and Hochtief AirPort Group;
• LGA Central Terminal Consortium, a joint venture of Aéroports de Paris, TAV Construction, Tutor Perini, Suffolk Construction, STV, Arup and Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The project includes demolishing the existing terminal and its four concourses, garage, Hangar 1, and frontage roads; building temporary facilities; and designing and building the Central Terminal Building. It also includes constructing a central heating and refrigeration plant, utilities for the new building, hydrant fueling within the project site limits; as well as operating, maintaining and managing the existing terminal and temporary facilities during construction.

The winning bidder will pay for the building, but pocket a cut of the revenue from airline leases and rents from stores and restaurants.

The Port Authority has not indicated when it will choose the final project team.

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City Gives Thumbs-up to $1.5 Billion Domino Sugar Project

Construction and development projects in NYC always involve a fair share of drama, and the Domino Sugar development is no exception. Now, in the wake of a deal cut by Mayor Bill de Blasio for more affordable housing, the City Planning Commission has unanimously approved the application for Two Trees Management 's 3.3 million-square-foot project on the Williamsburg waterfront.

The shuttered factory will soon be coming back to life with a massive makeover. Two Trees's $1.5 billion-dollar vision for the the waterfront site calls for massively tall and architecturally bold skyscrapers that would redefine Brooklyn’s skyline.

The iconic landmark of Brooklyn’s industrial past is the centerpiece of an 11-acre mega project, creating a new neighborhood with 2,394 apartments, a public school and 530,000 sq ft of offices.

Construction is expected to late this year, bringing over 3,500 jobs to the area.

The Domino site is possibly the most prominent piece of real estate in Brooklyn. It sits at the dead center of the Manhattan facing waterfront, and it is what drivers on the FDR Drive see. This has the opportunity to be what new Brooklyn says to the world.

Eye-popping apartment buildings 55 stories and higher designed by SHoP Architects are planned — including one shaped like a giant doughnut and a pair of needle-thin towers connected by a three-story sky bridge.

With one mega-development, Two Trees Management owner, Jed Walentas plans do to the sleepy section of industrial waterfront what his father did in DUMBO one building at a time: construct a bustling neighborhood where people will want to live, work, and play.

Instead of refurbishing old warehouses in piecemeal fashion like his dad David, or sticking to Domino’s original monolithic development blueprint, Walentas wants to build a “family” of post-modern towers clustered around the landmarked refinery.

When Two Trees plunked down $185 million to buy the Domino Sugar Factory development site last summer, the already-approved plans for four-towers and 2,200 apartments were universally hated. The hulking buildings were bland and boxy, so Two Trees went to SHoP Architects and asked them to make it better.

Click to enlarge

The new high-rises dreamt up by the architects of Barclays Center are far taller, and undoubtedly more eye-catching than the original Domino design.

One tower is shaped like a giant zero, another balances apartments atop offices with a hole in the middle, a third features terraced residences stacked along Kent Avenue, and the southernmost edifice is a pair of pencil-thin towers connected by a bridge that could become Brooklyn’s tallest structure at 598 feet and 60 stories.

The century-old factory will retain its signature 40-foot high Domino Sugar sign. Mom-and-pop stores will fill retail spaces in the mini-neighborhood.

 “No Duane Reades and no Starbucks,” Walentas said.

Two Trees plans five acres of parks with fun features like a floating swimming pool in the East River, a removable winter ice-skating rink like in Bryant Park, a waterfront beer garden and a kayak and canoe launch.

To create easier access to the waterfront, River Street, will be extended through the middle of the property.

Astonishing apartment buildings 55 stories tall or higher designed by SHoP Architects are also planned — including one shaped like a giant donut and a pair of needle-thin towers connected by a three-story sky bridge.

Of the 2,284 rental apartments, 700 units have now been set aside as affordable housing. Thirty percent of the apartments on the site would be set aside for low- and moderate-income families.

The complete 3.3 million-square-foot mega-project, which will take 10 years to build, still requires City Council approval, which will come up for a vote in May.

Two Trees expects to get permission to proceed by year’s end and start construction early next year, with the first building opening in 2016 - an apartment house with 300 of its 600 units set aside as affordable.

Related Articles

[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, May 25, 2011]
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, Jun 9, 2012]
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, Apr 21, 2012]
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, May 24, 2012]
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, Jun 19, 2012]
 

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Three MTA Workers Charged with Copper Wire Theft

Three Long Island Rail Road signal workers are accused of stealing thousands of pounds of copper wire from the railroad and selling it for scrap, authorities said. The men, part of the LIRR's communications department based in Huntington, were arrested and arraigned on the charges Friday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Authorities say the workers removed old and new wire from job sites, loaded them onto LIRR trucks, and then transferred them onto their own vehicles. The wire was later sold to local recyclers for cash. The thefts occurred between February and April 2011 and in November-December 2012.

"It was easy money," Detective James Flanagan of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police said.

The latest arrests came a year after 15 other LIRR employees were arrested and later convicted of similar crimes.

The three employees are charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. They were identified as Robert Nowlin, 48, of Brentwood; Paul Holm, 47, of Holtsville; and Joel Quiles, 38, of Wheatley Heights, Long Island.

Nassau County prosecutors cited one instance in which Nowlin sold 10,000 pounds of wire for about $13,000, but provided no totals for the stolen wire or amount of cash netted.

Each of the defendants has been suspended without pay from the railroad and will face prison time, MTA officials said.
"Stealing material that belongs to the public is not only a violation of the public's trust, but an act of stealing from, in this case, every rider on the Long Island Rail Road," Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice said.

"I'm proud of the cooperation between my office, the MTA Inspector General and the MTA Police Department to hold public employees accountable to the people they serve."



None of the defendants spoke in court, having their lawyers enter not-guilty pleas on their behalf.

"My client adamantly denies guilt in this matter," said Holm's attorney, James D'Angelo, outside the courtroom. Attorney Kimberly Lerner, who represented Nowlin and Quiles, declined to comment.

"The LIRR does not tolerate employees who steal from their employer and from the taxpayers who support our operation," said LIRR President Helena E. Williams.

Bail for Nowlin, who faces two counts on each charge, was set at $20,000 cash or bond. Bail for Holm and Quiles was set at $10,000 cash or bond.

If convicted of the top charge, Nowlin faces up to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison. Holm and Quiles each face up to 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison.

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SQ-D Recalls F and K Frame Circuit Breakers Due to Fire Hazard

Schneider Electric has issued a recall for over 28,000 units of its Square D-Brand F and K Frame circuit breakers due to a fire hazard on March 18,2014. Specifically, this recall involves Square D brand models FA, FH, FI and FY one-, two- and three-pole circuit breakers rated 15 to 100 amps, and model KI two- and three-pole circuit breakers rated 110 to 250 amps. 

The F model breakers were manufactured May 8, 2013, through June 10, 2013 and have date codes 13193 through 13241.

The K models were manufactured May 2, 2013 through June 21, 2013 and have date codes 13184 through 13255.The date codes are YYWWD format (example: 13184 = year 2013, week 18, day of the work week 4/ Thursday).

The circuit breakers have a yellow label with the words “Square D” or the Square D logo. Model information can be found on the faceplate.

No incidents or injuries have been reported, but users should immediately check to see if they have the recalled circuit breakers. Buyers with uninstalled products will receive a replacement.

Installed products will be replaced at no charge to the customer with an allowance of up to $300 per site to cover labor costs.

Recall Summary

Name of product: Square D brand molded case F and K frame circuit breakers

Hazard: The circuit breaker can fail to trip when an overload occurs, posing the risk of fire, burn and electric shock.

Remedy: Replace

Contact:
Schneider Electric USA at (800) 634-8730 anytime. Consumers can also visit the firm’s website and click on “customer notification” under the popular links category for more information.

Reference:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

The breakers were sold through authorized Schneider Electric distributors nationwide after May 2013 for between $200 and $9,260.

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Developer Moves Forward with New Condo/Hotel in Downtown Brooklyn

Flank Development and The Carlyle Group are behind a major mixed-use structure in Downtown Brooklyn, where excavation is beginning. The partners are preparing to build a new 407,000 square-foot condominium & hotel project at 140 Schermerhorn Street in Boerum Hill.

The site, also known as 71 Smith Street, is currently a parking lot. The building will have 99,500 square feet of retail, 213,300 square feet of residential space and 94,200 square feet of community space, so there’s something for everyone.

The 19-story development designed by Goldstein Hill & West Architects will have a mix of hotel, retail, residential, and community space, though the bulk of the building will be dedicated to apartments. There will also be enclosed parking, a gym, bike storage and a restaurant.

Nearly 100,000 square feet will be dedicated to ground floor retail and a community space. A hotel spanning floors three through six will give way to 140 luxury apartments, which will occupy the upper levels. The building will measure 210 feet to the highest occupied floor.

Partners Carlyle Group and Flank Development bought the 315,000-square-foot property in 2012 for around $40 million. Flank will be the lead builder in the project.

The parking lot currently occupying the space is now being excavated, with the entire project set for completion in 2016.

Flank has developed several eye-catching residential and commercial buildings in the city in recent years, including the residential condos 441 East 57th Street and 385 West 12th Street, as well as the large commercial property at 520 West 27th Street in Chelsea.

140 Schermerhorn will add significant heft to the neighborhood, and its variety of uses will be beneficial to the area and will be a major gain for Downtown Brooklyn, in terms of enhancing pedestrian traffic.

Schermerhorn Street has seen a slew of residential developments recently, including a 52-story tower the Steiner Brothers are building at 333 Schermerhorn.


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