AND so Christmas is over, let’s get down to business. Which in Long Island City almost inevitably revolves around real estate. Though this time of year is normally slow on the local news front, we here at LICtalk are extremely adept at finding seemingly innocuous updates, rehashes, or snippets, and performing alchemy. In other words, making a mountain out of a molehill. Today’s version, comes to us via a new-spin-on-an-old-story in The Real Deal, which is kind of interesting.
Basically they declare that the largest hotel in the outer-boroughs is coming to LIC. The 50-story Toyoko Inn is slated to have 1,260 rooms. While the announcement of the hotel’s development is not new news, having been previously announced in TRD back in September 2016, it’s ranking as #1 ex-Manhattan and #9 in the city overall had previously escaped notice.
Most interestingly for locals from my perspective, is the location: 24-09 Jackson Avenue. More specifically, this is the empty lot adjacent to the Court Square 7-train station entrance. In other words it’s perfectly located for quickly getting into the heart of Manhattan via subway – a tremendous boon for budget travelers, which is this hotel chain’s focus. Of course another aspect of budget travel is tiny hotel rooms, which given the small lot size is almost a given despite soaring to 50-stories. All of which is great for tourists and salary-men, as The Editor is very familiar with paltry T&E allowances from his days as a stringer for the Tuscaloosa Tribune. Though I never made it to Osaka – or crossed the state-line for that matter, I did consume many a ramen packet.
Nevertheless, for residents of Court Square (and Hunters Point) the added strain on the 7-train may not be as welcome. While we were always aware of all the apartment buildings being constructed in the area, new hotels were largely confined to the north of Queensboro Plaza, and were of limited scale. Might this be the straw that breaks the camels back? Who knows, and seemingly no one in the NYC planning department seems to care (they all live in Brooklyn anyway). The good news is that tourists staying at the hotel, whose parent-corporation is based outside of Tokyo, will probably feel right at home on the 7-train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmEh-1pK87Y
Massive Toyoko Inn to Put Slight Dent in Manhattan’s Hotel Dominance – “the market could theoretically handle a hotel of that size”
Rendering Appears at 22-43 Jackson – 71 units coming to just south of the project above, expected in 2019
New 428-unit in LIC Includes Salt Water Pool and Golf Simulator – “contains more than 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities …The complex also features a health club with a fitness center, spin room, yoga studio, private training facilities, locker rooms, basketball court and golf simulator”
Hinds Combat Sports Coming to 10-25 48th Avenue – with classes offered in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, opens January 3
LIC Music Teacher Gets 12 Years – sad ending to a sad saga
A Neediest Cases Beneficiary Celebrates Giving Back – uplifting holiday story about a woman who has “lived all her life in the same apartment with her mother and sister (and two brothers before they joined the military) in Long Island City”
Anonymous says
December 28, 2017 at 12:59 pmHorrid