No Amazon, no problem: TF Cornerstone plans 1,400 apartments in LIC

Buildings will total 1.43 million square feet

TF Cornerstone president Fredrick Elghanayan and an aerial of 54-01, 54-19 2nd Street in Long Island City (Credit: TF Cornerstone and Google Maps)
TF Cornerstone president Fredrick Elghanayan and an aerial of a Long Island City site where the firm plans to build apartment towers (Credit: TF Cornerstone and Google Maps)

Opponents kept Amazon out of Long Island City, fearing it would bring thousands of millennials to the area. They might be coming anyway.

TF Cornerstone has filed an application to build two massive apartment buildings in Long Island City: a 575-unit, 34-story apartment building at 55-01 Second Street and an 812-unit, 39-story building at 2-10 54th Avenue.

The buildings will total 1.43 million square feet, according to filings with the Department of Buildings. SLCE is the architect of record.

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TF Cornerstone, led by the Elghanayan family, bought the site in November 2018 for $285 million. The development group purchased the site just days before Amazon announced its selection of Long Island City for its second headquarters, only to cancel the project three months later on a Valentine’s Day that shook New York politics and real estate.

TF Cornerstone is also building apartments en masse in Hunters Point South, including a 1,194-unit project at 52-41 Center Boulevard and at 52-03 Center Boulevard where 60 percent of the units are set aside as affordable housing, according to Multi-Housing News. Construction started in April 2019.

The area, previously known as Queens West, is in the midst of a development boom. Gotham Organization and nonprofit RiseBoro Community Partnership are also building two towers with more than 1,000 residential units there.

TF Cornerstone did not immediately return a request for comment.