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Family Housing Expansion Project – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
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Gotham Point – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
May 3, 2024
Photo By Gotham Organization
This two tower, mixed-income and multi-generational multifamily project is quaintly positioned on the Hunter’s Point South waterfront within Long Island City
Photo By Evan Joseph
Handel Architects designed this rooftop lounge to be enjoyable for residents both in the warmer and cooler months to maximize the ability to spend time outside
Location: Queens, New York
Developers: Gotham Organization; RiseBoro Community Partnership
Designers: Handel Architects; BHDM
Site Size: 3.0 acres
Photo By Adam Macchia
The views of New York City, the waterfront and the sky come together to provide residents with a stunning view, day and night
Located on the Hunter’s Point South waterfront, Gotham Point is a 1.1M square foot mixed-income, multi-generational multifamily project co-developed by Gotham Organization and RiseBoro Community Partnership with the goal of increasing affordability, inclusivity, diversity and sustainability in Long Island City.
It consists of two buildings totaling 1,132 residences – ranging from studios to three bedrooms – with 75% at affordable rates, 114 units for individuals from the shelter system, and a 98-unit senior housing wing. Designed by Handel Architects, residences include plank flooring, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, gas range stove tops and dishwashers.
The project features over 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, including multiple terraces, lounges, and coworking spaces, a children’s playroom, and a state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor fitness center. The 11-story senior wing features lounges on each floor along with a library and community room with a private outdoor terrace. RiseBoro offers ongoing programming and supportive services to senior residents.
Gotham curates resident social events throughout the year to foster community engagement, including programming an urban rooftop farm where residents can grow and harvest crops. Community facility space includes the Queens Landing Boathouse & Environmental Center, which provides recreational boating programs, hosts workshops and special events, and offers year-round environmental education programming in partnership with Newtown Creek Alliance.
Flux Factory occupies the community facility space adjacent to the boathouse and will offer programming and space for emerging local artists to work. Other commercial tenants will include a soon-to-open grocery store, coffee shop, and a daycare that will also offer nursery care and after-school programming for a wide range of age groups.
Photo By Evan Joseph
The floor-to-ceiling windows create a natural connection to the outdoors while inside in this coworking lounge located in the South Tower
The sites at Hunter’s Point South presented the design and development teams with an opportunity to create a significant portion of a neighborhood from scratch, one which has become a vital component of the city’s landscape. It’s situated on two parcels within the Special Hunter’s Point Zoning District.
The design breaks the street-level facades into a series of smaller elements, addressing the pedestrian experience of the buildings. At the North Tower, the all-glass corner is set back from the street, providing additional pedestrian open space. This glass element rises up and becomes the crown, creating a lighthouse-like glass beacon visible from the water and adjacent boroughs. At the South Tower, the contrasting brick colors and metal panel of the tower define the building architecturally, visually separating it from the North Tower. The top of this tower is defined with a “brow” orienting views to the rest of the city and river, creating an iconic profile in the skyline. Together, Gotham Point’s towers create a landmark that caps the Queens waterfront.
Photo By Evan Joseph
Operated by Brooklyn Grange, the rooftop farm at Gotham Point transformed non-traditional green space into a vessel to encourage a sustainable lifestyle for all residents. As Brooklyn Grange’s first initiative within a multifamily property, the rooftop farm provides an abundant supply of fresh, locally grown produce and donates any unused crops to the senior housing wing
During predevelopment, the development team successfully obtained a myriad of complex approvals including but not limited to DEC for a brownfield cleanup, the FAA due to the north tower’s 57-story height, and various mayoral zoning overrides prior to the disposition of public land to create a reverse 75/25 (75% affordable whereas in NYC a 75/25 is usually 75% market). Additionally, the project sought approval from the NYC Council for an Article X1 tax exemption to support the 75% permanent affordability. The $90 opportunity zone capital raise in the form of common equity as part of a $560M total capitalization was an overwhelming success despite being one of the largest OZ raises by Goldman Sachs UIG.
Construction of the project launched in 2020. As part of the construction process, Gotham voluntarily entered the site in the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program to environmentally remediate the former industrial sites, removing contaminated soils and replacing them with clean fill. Early into construction, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. Gotham Point was one of a select few projects that were able to continue construction because of its significant affordable housing component. The team had to work quickly to implement safety measures for workers on site. Supply chain interruptions and staffing shortages were just a few issues that the team had to creatively solve for in real time to ensure that the project was completed on time and on budget.