Dec. 6, 2016 By Domenick Rafter
A number of Queens Boulevard stores and a well-known restaurant are likely to be demolished to make way for an eight-story mixed use building, according to city building records
Demolition permits were filed Nov. 15 that call for the bulldozing of 107-02 through 107-16 Queens Boulevard, which is home to Caffe Biu Bella as well as stores such as Party World.
The new building is likely to consist of ground floor retail with office space on the higher floors. The site is near the 71st Ave/Continental subway station and is across from MacDonald Park and the Forest Hills Post Office.
Rudolf Abramov, who is the principal of RJ Capital Holdings, a Bayside-based development company, is listed as the owner of the property.
RJ Capital’s website provides some details on the plans.
The plans, which have yet to be filed with the Buildings Dept., include 12,500-square feet of ground floor retail space and slightly over 17,000-square feet of commercial space in the lower cellar for a gym.
The second floor will be used for parking, with about 240 spaces expected to be available in the building.
The third floor will feature 17,053-square-feet of office space, while floors four through eight will have 10,514-square-feet of office. The fourth floor will feature a rooftop terrace.
Frank Gulluscio, the district manager of Community Board 6, said the board had not been notified about the demolition, which is typically the case when demolition is imminent. “We would get a notice and we haven’t yet,” he said.
Abramov did not respond to an email request for comment by press time.
The company aims to complete the building by the first quarter of 2019, according to its website.
A rendering of the proposed office building at 107-02 Queens Blvd.
Rendering Courtesy RJ Capital Holdings
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18 Comments
This neighborhood had character. It’s slowly being eroded by greed. After almost 20 years living here it’s time to head south. The congestion is already unbearable.
I love it, keep i p the progress. Ill be first on line for a 2 bedroom
Why office buildings? I see empty office buildings all down queens blvd. A nice apartment complex would have been better.
I like the building being built with a 4th floor terrace overlooking MacDonald Park. I think the 10,514 square feet to be contained in floors 4 to 8 would be more attractive in Forest Hills and would obtain higher rents if they were constructed with brick walls, not glass. Instead of offices, 25 to 40 large studio home/office apartments could be created.
If they’re allowed to build taller, it’s also a good location for a Marriott Residence Inn or the like.
I think we have enough ugly high rises. The schools are filled now. The trains are crowded in the morning and the rush hour. Enough is enough. We should have a say in this. A referendum.
Not crazy about the render, but I’m happy with the progress. More building and more jobs for the area is a good thing. Things change, but change isn’t always bad.
This is awful! New York City has too little sky left as it is. Forest Hills used to be an exception. This beautiful neighborhood has been a little taste of the small in the midst of the city, and our local officials should make a serious legislative effort to preserve it. Apart from ruining the charm of the neighborhood, the streets were not designed to cope with the amount of traffic generated by TOO MANY RESIDENCES AND BUSINESSES being squeezed into too little space. The traffic is a major hazard to walkers and bicyclists as it is, and parking is impossible. PRESERVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD! Say no to urban sprawl!
Absolutely agree100% !!
we should organize and protest.
couldn’t have said it better. As a child and young adult, I used to ride the LIRR from Long Island to Manhattan and when we stopped at, or went past FH, I waa impressed. I noticed what charm exuded from that stop and vowed to move here one day. When I bought my co-op in Rego Park in 1984, I used to love my walks in FH and window-shopping the little boutiques. Independent shops are now replaced by national chains and the neighborhood — once an oasis in the big city — is now looking like the worst and most congested parts of Manhattan.
Oh good
more ugly glass and chrome – FH is being destroyed
I can picture a time when Forest Hills will be the new “Midtown Manhattan.”, with more office and retail space and less places for middle income people to live. But that, I suppose, is progress.
Long time residents might remember Cord Meyer’s “Continental Center” idea in the late 60s/early 70s. This was at the time MTA proposed the Super Express bypass subway leaving QB around Yellowstone, then running nonstop via the LIRR to Queens Plaza, then the 63rd Street tunnel (the F train route that eventually was built).
CM’s idea was to replace the low-rise buildings between 71st Ave & Rd, and 70th Rd & 71st Ave with 2 massive 40-story towers. The retail along the LIRR on Austin from 70th Rd to 72nd Ave also would have been also been replaced with 20-story mixed-use hi-rises having “modified historic” facades on the street-level retail. They figured with a train ride that would put Midtown only 10 minutes away, versus the current 20-25 minutes of the existing route, Class A office space there would lure Manhattan business.
The plan never went anywhere beyond the theoretical exercise. Between the rapidly declining finances of MTA and the city, the original proposal of a peak-direction superexpress was not going to happen, much less the bi-directional, 24/7 line that CM pushed really hard for and got them to support.
Can’t but wonder what would have been had the city not been careening into financial ruin. In all likelihood, it would have been built in some form. There might be a second subway line. And, if that wasn’t enough, LeFrak was eyeing blocks along QB from 63rd Drive to around 67th Avenue for redevelopment into mixed-use hi-rises and Class A and B office space. Had Cord Meyer broken ground on Continental, QB would look a lot more like 1970s Manhattan. I remember thinking at the time how I wouldn’t like all the nice old-fashioned buildings being gone. But, compared to how all of FH and RP are being made to look increasingly low-rent/third-world, with some absurd “Big Shiny Block” haphazardly dropped in, I increasingly think that would have been preferable.
What a shame. That’s not at all what this neighborhood looks like. Forest hills is changing and not for the better
They asked for an 11-storey variance, which Koslowitz said will not be granted.. Nothing has been heard from them since.
That is a different project – a proposed residential project around the corner on Restaurant Row.
Ooops. You’re right. Sorry.