From left: Rockrose Development principals Henry and Justin Elghanayan and an early rendering of 43-10 Crescent StreetWhile TF Cornerstone has been busy building residential towers on the Long Island City waterfront since it split from Rockrose Development in 2009, the New York Times reported Rockrose Development is just now starting construction on its first project without brothers Tom and Fred Elghanayan further inland in the Court Square area of Long Island City.

The project is a 42-story, 709-unit rental building called Linc LIC at 43-10 Crescent Street that’s expected to be complete in 2013. Rents will be $38 per square foot, about 25 percent below what a comparable Manhattan development would command, according to Rockrose, and similar to other new rental developments in the area. [more]

From left: Packard Square North and a rendering of Crescent ClubWith the development of Gotham Center complex, the city had long hoped Queens Plaza would be the commercial compliment to Long Island City’s residential boom, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Queens Plaza is becoming a residential beacon, too.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 new apartment units could hit the market in the area in the next three years, led by developers Rockrose Development, Meadow Properties and Heatherwood Communities.

Heatherwood has purchased four residential development sites in the area, and the first of them is set to hit the market with 142 rental units in a little more than a year at 27th Street and 42nd Road. [more]

Duane Reade, the New York City drug store mainstay that’s been updating its image over the past year, has announced that a new 8,500-square-foot location at 200 Water Street will be the first store to feature its new, remodeled interior. The drug store reportedly chose the location in part because of the influx of renters in the region, as 15 new residential buildings have cropped up in the Financial District in the last four years, according to Patricia Dunphy, senior vice president of Rockrose Development, which owns the 200 Water Street building. Duane Reade plans to re-brand 100 of its 253 locations in the city this year, adding better-lit, wider aisles and new interior fixtures.
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The three Elghanayan brothers, from left: Thomas, Henry and Frederick

The former heads of residential giant Rockrose Development have finalized the details of their split, the two companies confirmed today, ending months of speculation about how the Elghanayan brothers would divide their real estate empire. H. Henry Elghanayan, the oldest of the brothers, who is keeping the Rockrose name, is now doing business at 666 Fifth Avenue, according to a statement released by Rockrose. He will retain some 2,600 apartment units and a 60,000-square-foot development site across from the Javits Center, Rockrose said, and will be developing “three strategic sites” in Long Island City. [more]