Queens’ Long Island City is recognizable to Manhattanites for the 120-foot-long Pepsi-Cola sign that has shone across the East River during nighttime drives down the FDR since it’s relocation there in 2004, but soon enough the TF Cornerstone development corporation will give us another reason—or six— to inquire across the river.
The East Coast project, a $1 billion series of six towers planned to be constructed in the area surrounding the iconic Pepsi-Cola sign is well underway: two of the buildings—4720 Center, and The View—are already renting, and three others—4615, 4540, and 4545 Center are currently completing construction while the final waterfront structure is waiting to break ground. All six skyscrapers are set to be finished early in 2014 with a total of 2800 units.
Even in the midst of a national housing crisis, the New York City market has held relatively steadfast, and the East Coast project was designed in part as a test of both this stability as well as of the neighborhood’s appeal to buyers and renters.
Indeed, TF Cornerstone’s chairman, K. Thomas Elghanayan, expressed his confidence in the luxuriously designed, aesthetically pleasing residences if people only could just “wrap their heads around the idea of coming to Queens.” With 75% of The View tower already rented and the rest projected to sell at $850-$1000 per ft2, as well as the continually expanding list of neighborhood attractions, it would seem that the result of the tests at this point look positive.
Indeed, Elghanayan’s assertion that amongst these towers, “everything is right,” seems spot-on: the units feature hardwood floors, high-gloss cabinetry, quartz countertops, terraces or balconies with river views on most units, a parking garage for renters, and a massive fitness and recreation center (with in the 4545 Center building, but for all tenet’s use) complete with tennis and beach volleyball courts, children’s playrooms, outdoor lawns, and other convenient amenities.
In total, the 2800 units set to exist upon the project’s completion in 2014 will be reasonably priced, with waterfront prices starting at $2,000 per month for a low-level studio, $2,600 per month for a one-bedroom rental, and $3,350 for a two-bedroom. The building at 4540 Center will additionally feature three-bedroom apartments to accommodate larger families.
To learn more about the East Coast project and Long Island City development—what Elghanayan has been quoted as calling “the prime outer-borough location”—visit http://www.eastcoastlic.om/.
