Fourth year’s the charm: TF Cornerstone files permits for long-awaited Queens waterfront project

After years of problems and delays, TF Cornerstone has filed the initial permits to build its Hunters Point South project on the Queens waterfront.

Work on the roughly 1,200-unit project began back in late 2013, but TF Cornerstone did not file the first permits for it until Thursday thanks to multiple issues between the developer and local, state and federal agencies that forced a major redesign of the project and almost tripled its construction timeline, according to Crain’s.

TF Cornerstone butted heads with Amtrak early on, as the national train company owns a rail tunnel beneath the site, meaning it needed to approve the project. They also ran into a problem with the New York Power Authority, which had an easement for a power line under the site and would not allow construction to take place on top of it.

The developer eventually agreed to redesign Hunters Point South to keep the center of it open, and an agreement with Amtrak is being finalized that would let TF Cornerstone construct a one-story retail building between the towers. The project will also feature about 800 units of affordable housing and an elementary school.

TF Cornerstone is also working on another megadevelopment in the neighborhood, a $925 million mixed-use project that would include 1,000 apartments, 400,000 square feet of office space and even 100,000 square feet of space dedicated to light manufacturing.

Earlier this week, a large site that could support up to four towers and 1.6 million square feet of development, hit the market in Hunters Point South.  [Crain’s] – Eddie Small