Long Island City’s latest giant is starting to show. At 30-25 Queens Boulevard, construction has finally pushed above street level, with a tower crane now swinging over Queens Plaza and the first pieces of the superstructure clearly visible. When it is all said and done, the 46-story project is expected to reach close to 525 feet, bringing roughly 561 homes, about 21,000 square feet of retail space and a private rooftop pool to one of Queens’ busiest corridors.
Crews have finished building the foundations up to street grade and are now assembling concrete-and-steel framing at the western corner of the site, a clear sign the job has moved out of the excavation phase and into full vertical mode. The shift to skyward construction, complete with crane shots and early floor plate views, was documented in a recent photo update by New York YIMBY.
Financing and the developers
This upward momentum follows a major financing deal that effectively kicked the project back into gear after earlier delays. Baron Property Group and LargaVista stitched together roughly $388.5 to $389 million in construction financing backed by Starwood Capital Group, the Gotham Organization and Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, according to Baron Property Group’s press page. That capital stack is what allowed the long-planned tower to move from on-paper vision to active high-rise.
Design, units and amenities
Designed by CetraRuddy, the tower is expected to span roughly 511,000 square feet and deliver about 561 residences, split into 451 rentals and 110 condominiums, with 169 of those homes designated as affordable housing. Renderings show a reflective glass facade accented with copper tones and a laundry list of amenities, including basketball and pickleball courts, fitness and meditation rooms, outdoor grilling areas and a private rooftop pool, according to project listings on CityRealty.
Where it sits in the neighborhood
The tower is rising at the corner of Queens Plaza East and Queens Boulevard, directly west of the Sunnyside rail yards and right next to the Queens Plaza subway entrance. It is a prime transit node that already hums with commuters, and the site’s transformation from parking lots, a gas station and low-rise commercial buildings into a glassy high-rise fits neatly into the larger Long Island City development wave, as reported by 6sqft.
Developers and coverage currently peg the building’s completion around 2028, so Queens Plaza regulars can expect a steady climb over the next few years as the crane lifts more steel and concrete into the skyline. The finer-grain details on leasing, condo sales and how the 169 affordable units will be offered are expected to surface as construction progresses, according to reporting by The Real Deal.
