Brookfield's Phil Wharton and a rendering of Manhattan West

The Far West Side earned the latest confirmation of its potential as a residential neighborhood when office developer Brookfield Office Properties recently said it was considering adding 900 apartments to its Manhattan West project, according to the New York Post. The area already has thousands of new rental units from developers such as TF Cornerstone, Glenwood Management and the Related Companies, and has thousands more on the way from those developers, the Gotham Organization and Iliad Development. [more]

The interior of 4615 Center Boulevard

The latest installment of TF Cornerstone’s East Coast project in Long Island City is officially on the rental market, Curbed reported. The 42-story building, at 46-15 Center Boulevard, has 367 units and a gym and concierge. The pet-friendly tower was designed by Arquitectonica. [more]

47-20 Center Boulevard and Council member Jimmy Van Bramer

The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ petitioned TF Cornerstone yesterday in Long Island City, the New York Daily News reported, alleging the developer doesn’t provide proper benefits to workers in its LIC buildings and “bullies” workers who want to unionize.

TF Cornerstone workers and City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer delivered the petition to the leasing office at 47-20 Center Boulevard, signed by about 430 tenants in the 485-unit building, where the News noted rents for two-bedroom apartments are $5,400 per month. [more]

Thomas Elghanayan

The Elghanayan brothers’ TF Cornerstone has more than a dozen residential projects rising in Long Island City, of 35 total in the area, the New York Observer reported. So what makes the Elghanayans, who left their brother Henry, of Rockrose Development, to form TF Cornerstone in 2009, so confident that Queens is the next Williamsburg? “It’s four minutes on the 7 train to Grand Central [Terminal],” Thomas Elghanayan told the paper.

Elghanayan goes on to say that LIC is “the prime outer-borough location,” that TF Cornerstone has refinanced its entire portfolio to the tune of $1.1 billion, and that while he is glad Henry is building in the same area, his and Frederick’s is “the real luxury property out there.” [more]

From left: Halstead Property Development Marketing President Stephen Kliegerman and Citi Habitats President Gary MalinCiti Habitats President Gary Malin and Halstead Property Development Marketing President Stephen Kliegerman whipped out their crystal balls for amNY and noted five trends to watch for in the city’s “booming” real estate market in 2012.

Low interest rates, the strong rental market and the stock market’s daily swings will attract Wall Street investment to new developments, which Malin and Kliegerman say will become more prevalent next year. As for those new buildings, developers will likely offer deals on apartments in buildings that haven’t even begun construction yet in order to kick off sales. [more]

Matt Leon, a young upstart at real estate services firm Newmark Knight Frank, is taking over as head of a leasing team that handles the Manhattan office portfolio of TF Cornerstone, the New York Observer reported, including Carnegie Hall Tower, 645 Madison Avenue and 387 Park Avenue South. Leon takes over leasing at the properties from his former mentor Billy Cohen, the Observer said, a top Newmark broker who is stepping down because of growing responsibilities tied to other agency assignments. He handles leasing at Malkin Properties’ assets like the Empire State Building. [NYO] [more]

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: 4720 Center Boulevard, the View condominium and a rendering of planned TF Cornerstone development in Long Island City

TF Cornerstone is just more than halfway into the $1 billion-plus development of seven buildings on the Long Island City waterfront, according to the Wall Street Journal, and a neighborhood is starting to take shape. But despite the impressive scale of the 3 million square feet of development on 21 acres with 3,500 market-rate apartments, and the resident-friendly public park space that has replaced roads, the Journal critiques the aesthetics of the development as belonging in “a party-happy beach town” and not the city.

“We could have made it look like it was built over time, by different architects and developers, and that it sort of emerged organically like the rest of the city,” explained Jon McMillan, director of planning for TF Cornerstone. [more]

Even though Hurricane Irene mostly passed over New York without too much damage, there is still lingering concern about what the impact of a larger storm could be on the larger number of developments rising on the New York waterfront, the New York Times reported, as for many the hurricane was the first time many realized they lived in evacuation zone A.

To limit damage from storm surges and flooding, the city’s comprehensive waterfront development plan, “Vision 2020,” recommends the installation of retractable water-tight gates at the entryways of buildings; investing in the maintenance of seawalls and bulkheads; creating “soft edges” along the shoreline that can accommodate surging tides; and restoring or creating wetlands and barrier islands. According to “Vision 2020,” sea levels by 2050 could be 12 to 29 inches higher than they are today. By 2080, they could be some 55 inches higher. [more]

AvalonBay has abandoned its plans to construct a new luxury rental development on the far West Side, Crain’s reported. The company has decided not to lease four parcels of land owned by Four Plus Corp. located on a block bounded by West 56th and West 57th streets and 11th and 12th avenues. A lease deal had been pending since February 2008, but it was put on hold due to the recession.

AvalonBay had planned to build a 44-story rental development with retail on the ground floor and roughly 700 apartments, including some affordable housing units, on the site. [more]