The rental towers are part of East Coast, a project being developed by one of the city’s most prolific builders, TF Cornerstone. When completed in early 2014, East Coast will consist of six skyscrapers clustered around the giant Pepsi sign on the East River waterfront, with almost 2,800 units.
The East Coast collection already includes 47-20 Center, a tower with 498 rentals built in 2006, and the View, a condominium building with 185 units at 46-30 Center, finished in early 2010. One of the new buildings, a 42-story tower at 46-15 Center Boulevard, will open next month. The building is angled so that every one of the 367 apartments has at least a small view of Manhattan, and most have sweeping vistas of the city skyline. A second tower, at 45-40 Center, with 32 stories, has 345 apartments and should be renting by June.
A third tower, with 820 rental apartments, at 45-45 Center, is already under construction, along with a 1,000-car parking garage and a fitness and recreation center with 50,000 square feet of outdoor space. The recreation center will have a great lawn, two tennis courts, a beach volleyball court and a children’s playroom, among other amenities. It will be open to all residents of East Coast buildings, though each building also has its own small fitness center.
Ground has not yet been broken on a fourth tower, at 46-10 Center, which will have 586 rentals, and will be on the waterfront in front of 46-15. Rents in 46-15 Center will start at $2,000 a month for a lower-floor studio apartment; $2,600 for a one-bedroom; and $3,350 for a two-bedroom unit, said K. Thomas Elghanayan, the chairman of TF Cornerstone. Rents in 45-40 Center, the tower opening in June, will be a bit higher, and that building will also have three-bedroom apartments for families, he said.
A branch of the popular coffee bar Sweetleaf will be opening in the retail space at 46-15 Center.
The East Coast development has largely been a test of the New York City housing market, which has remained relatively stable despite the recession and national housing crisis. More specifically, it has also been a test of Long Island City’s appeal to potential buyers and renters, especially families.
“This product is as luxurious as anything in Manhattan,” Mr. Elghanayan said, pointing to hardwood floors and kitchens with high-gloss black cabinetry and quartz countertops. Most of the units have a terrace or balcony, and the building has a landscaped common terrace.
“The rooms, the views, everything is right,” he said, “but people just have to wrap their heads around the idea of coming to Queens.”
The 185-unit condo building in East Coast, called the View, is only about 75 percent sold, “but we’re holding our price,” said Sofia Estevez, an executive vice president of TF Cornerstone. She said company principals believe that the remaining units will sell out at $850 to $1,000 a square foot once the entire East Coast development is completed.
The average price of a condo in the neighborhood is about $750 a square foot, said Eric Benaim, the president of the Long Island City real estate firm Modern Spaces.
An important component of the neighborhood for families will be a 662-seat school for kindergarten through eighth grade, now under construction adjacent to 46-15 Center. And an intermediate and high school will be built just south of East Coast at the Hunters Point South megadevelopment.
The neighborhood also continues to add restaurants, retail services and activities, Mr. Elghanayan said. New dining options include Alobar Restaurant at 46-42 Vernon Boulevard and the Mexican restaurant Skinny’s Cantina at 47-05 Center.
Residents have a craft beer bar, Alewife Queens, at 5-14 51st Avenue, and the comedy club Laughing Devil opened in December at 47-38 Vernon.
More restaurants are in the works, said Mr. Benaim, who lives in the neighborhood. A burger joint called Petey’s, which has a branch in Astoria, will open in coming months on Vernon, as will a spinoff of the Greenwich Village bar Corner Bistro, and a Vietnamese restaurant by the owners of the Thai restaurant Tuk Tuk, he said.
