[NYguy]

Yeah, a 1 msf office tower, regardless of height, would be huge for that area.



https://licpost.com/development-team...-room-for-park

Development Team Discusses Waterfront Open Space, Congresswoman Maloney Says Make Room for Park





Jan. 10, 2020
By Christian Murray and Michael Dorgan

Four developers are trying to put together a united vision for a 28-acre area near Anable Basin, which includes land where Amazon’s New York headquarters was expected to go.

The property owners are currently working on a masterplan for the area and have started the process by looking at potential greenspace and flood resiliency—with the bigger issues of how much residential and commercial space will be built to be addressed later.

The City Council is calling on the owners to come up with a comprehensive masterplan for the area which is bound by the Con Edison site to the north, Queens West to the south and Vernon Boulevard to the east. The city wants the developers to come up with one united plan as opposed to producing their own separate concepts.

The 28-acre area primarily consists of private property although there are two city-owned sites on 44th Drive as well as the Department of Education property. The two city-owned sites are being overseen by the Economic Development Corp. and developed by TF Cornerstone.

The YourLIC consultants—from SHoP Architects, Sherwood Design Engineers and SCAPE Landscape Architecture–presented plans for greenspace as well as flood mitigation, noting that the area is vulnerable to coastal and rainwater flooding.

John Barrett, project director at SHoP Architects, told the board that the development group is looking into creating a plan that would bring open space linking the entire waterfront. They aim to provide waterfront park space that would connect from Gantry Plaza State Park although the way past the Con Edison site.

Many board members said it was difficult to give feedback on the open space plans without knowing what will ultimately be developed there.

“I’m noticing the beautiful presentation of open space and parkland but we don’t see images of the actual buildings–and the density and the height of the buildings–that will go right behind these open spaces,” said Kenny Greenberg, a Long Island City resident and community board 2 member.

“We are not getting a clear picture of the relationship between the properties and open space,” Greenberg added.

Board member Christine Hunter said it was difficult to assess the resiliency component and open space concept without knowing where the residential buildings will go and how many there will be.