Images courtesy of The Collective

London-based co-living company The Collective has opened its first U.S. location at the former Paper Factory Hotel in Long Island City. Designed in collaboration with Palette Architecture, the 125-room location will focus on a “short stay” model ranging from one-night to 29-day stays. Members will have access to communal living areas and wellness services, as well as a soon-to-launch restaurant and cultural programming. The company already has plans to expand on today’s opening by adding 100 additional rooms on top of the existing building by 2021. 

Take a look around

Rendering: Binyan Studios.

Skyline Tower in Long Island City, Queens, has officially become the city’s tallest building outside of Manhattan. The luxury condo tower has now topped out at 778 feet. As 6sqft recently reported, the 67-story building surpassed its neighbor and previous record-holder, the 673-foot-tall Citigroup Building, in September. Located at 23-15 44th Drive, the new Long Island City tower will offer about 800 studio to four-bedroom condominium apartments, priced between $500,000 and $4 million.

But it won’t hold the title for long

Photo via Joe Mabel / Wiki Commons

New Yorkers for Parks has released three new Open Space Index reports, a series of in-depth “neighborhood snapshots” of parks and open space in Staten Island’s Bay Street Corridor, Bushwick, and Long Island City. According to the reports, the Bay Street Corridor failed 11 of 14 open space goals, Bushwick failed 12 of 14, and Long Island City failed 11 of 14. The goals factor in characteristics including the total amount of open space, access, tree canopy, and overall maintenance. According to the City’s own standards, all of the neighborhoods lack sufficient open space and what does exist is often hard to get to or improperly maintained.

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Photo © Steven Holl Architects

Steven Holl’s Hunters Point Library has garnered glowing architectural reviews since it’s opening last month, but visitors quickly pointed out a critical issue with accessibility in the $41 million building. Although the library has an elevator, it doesn’t stop at the fiction section which is tiered on three levels above the lobby and accessible only via stairs. In light of the criticism, a Queens Public Library official has announced that books in that section will be relocated to an accessible area of the library, as Gothamist reported.

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Photo © Paul Warchol

Despite standing just 82 feet tall, the new Hunters Point Library manages to stand out among its skyscraper neighbors on the Long Island City waterfront. The concrete structure, designed by Steven Holl Architects, officially opened to the public Tuesday, about two decades after officials proposed building a new Queens Public Library branch. The delays, and the whopping $40 million price tag, appear to have been worth it, as the building, with its carved windows and incredible skyline views, continues to garner approval from top architecture critics.

Take the tour

Previous rendering of Anable Basin, courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design

Soon after Amazon canceled plans to build a new headquarters in Long Island City, the city began reviving earlier plans to bring a mix of residential and industrial spaces to the neighborhood. Developers and city officials are still in talks over how the 28-acre site—which includes land owned by both the city and plastics company Plaxall—will be used. As Politico recently reported, the vision is starting to come into sharper focus with property owners now engaging the neighborhood and community board to help determine the future of the waterfront site.

Here’s what we know so far

Rendering by Binyan Studios

A tower on the rise in Queens just became the tallest building in New York City outside of Manhattan. Hitting the 63rd floor, Skyline Tower has officially surpassed in height its neighbor and previous record-holder, the 673-foot-tall Citigroup Building. Located at 23-15 44th Drive, the new Long Island City tower offers studio to four-bedroom homes, priced between $500,000 and $4 million. Upon its completion, Skyline Tower will reach 762 feet and contain roughly 800 condos.

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Photo by Vitali Ogorodnikov for 6sqft

The long-awaited Hunters Point Library will open in Long Island City next month, more than eight years after its futuristic design was revealed, library officials announced Thursday. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the concrete building with carved windows sits on the East River and boasts sweeping Manhattan views. After many construction and financial delays, the library will officially open on September 24.

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Photo courtesy of sarahtarno on Flickr

The iconic red Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City got a new look on Tuesday. In partnership with the soda company, JetBlue began installing this week an illuminated logo, a blue arrow, and a picture of an airplane on the sign that overlooks the East River, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The signage, which will only be up until Oct. 1, advertises the airline’s switch from serving Coca-Cola to PepsiCo products earlier this summer.

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Via Flickr cc

Applications are currently being accepted to replenish the waitlist for moderate-income apartments at two Long Island City buildings. Located across from the newly opened Hunter’s Point South Park, the towers at 1-50 50th Avenue and 1-55 Borden Avenue were developed in 2013 as part of the neighborhood’s waterfront redevelopment, with a majority of the apartments set aside low- and middle-income households. But apartments available through the current waitlist are for households earning between $104,538 and $278,300 annually with units ranging from a $2,992/month one-bedroom to a $5,183/month three-bedroom. In 2017, the median household income in Queens was just over $64,500 per year.

Do you qualify?