Rockrose demolishing seven warehouses to make way for Queens’ tallest residential tower

Justin Elghanayan and rendering of 43-25 Hunter Street on left (Credit: Rockrose)
Justin Elghanayan and rendering of 43-25 Hunter Street on left (Credit: Rockrose)

To make room for construction of the tallest residential building in Queens, Rockrose Development is in the midst of tearing down seven warehouses in Long Island City, the New York Observer reported.

The 50-story building in the Court Square area would also set a record for holding 975 units, more than any other building in the borough. (Sky View Parc has 448 units.)

In the next few weeks, the developer will launch bidding to hire a subcontractor. Construction is slated to begin later this year, with completion scheduled for 2016, the Observer said.

It will cost about $400 million in full for the project. The 500-foot-tall, 907,000-square-foot skyscraper will sit on a 47,800-square-foot lot at 43-25 Hunter Street, the newspaper said.

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Justin Elghanayan of Rockrose sees it as a companion to the 50-story Citigroup tower at 1 Court Square.

“I always looked at the Citigroup tower and it looked so lonely,” Elghanayan told the Observer. “I said, ‘Citigroup needs a girlfriend.’ So in my mind, this building is its girlfriend.”

The warehouses being destroyed are located at 25-25 44th Drive; 43-25, 43-15, 43-11 and 43-09 on Hunter Street; and 27-02 and 27-06 On 43rd Avenue, the newspaper said. [NYO]Mark Maurer