An ongoing development reported by CIS Leads, the Belmont Arena — now renamed the UBS Arena in Belmont Park — is to be the new home for the New York Islanders, and this Saturday reached a major milestone nearly a year since its last major update. The 19,000-seat arena, said to be the centerpiece of the Belmont Park Redevelopment Project, topped out — or, “topped off,” as Gov. Cuomo and others present chose to call it. 

With a ceremonial placing of the highest beam by Empire State Development Board chair Steven M. Cohen and Acting Commissioner Eric Gertler joined NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky, the UBS Arena has reached its full height, and with more to go. 

The Main Details on UBS Arena and the Belmont Park Redevelopment Project, as They Stand Today

In the year since CIS Leads reported on the start of the then-named Belmont Arena Project, far more details have come to light regarding the development and its amenities. In fact, the most detail that could be reported in September of 2019 was its capacity, as well as the promise for retail and office spaces in the surrounding park. Updated information includes:

• A large, luxurious entertainment hub. Slated at 17,000 capacity for NHL games and 19,000 for concerts, UBS Arena is built for hockey and music. The site boasts that the finished structure will be a seamless merging of “boutique hospitality” and “live entertainment” that includes VIP suites and clubs, eight bars with a view of the ice and stage, and two outdoor terraces, among other features. 
• About 350,000 square feet of retail and food. Over the entire complex, visitors will find a swathe of options, from experiential retail and food options to a larger retail village. 
• A 210,000 square foot hotel, details to be disclosed later. Likely part of a later phase of the full redevelopment project, little is known about the hotels’ amenities or the overall size, but many praise this as the piece that will complete the complex as the sports and entertainment hub of the area. 
• The first new, full-time LIRR train station in nearly half a century. One of the latest revelations is that the Long Island Rail Road would be constructing a new connection, the Elmont stop, the first in almost fifty years, which will drive more shoppers and sports and music fans to the area without the need to arrange accommodations. 

As Phase I continues, locals and job seekers can look to continuing, steady progress and more details as they emerge. 

What Remains to Be Done Before the UBS Arena Is Completed?

Developers are expecting to have the roof complete by December. UBS Arena is looking to open its doors in the Fall of 2021, just in time for the 2021-2022 NHL Season, and sources suggest that at least 60 concerts have already been booked for the venue. Despite two months of delay at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, developers are confident that they will finish on time. 

The project itself has already created over 10,000 construction jobs, and since the completion of the arena is only the first phase of several, that promises further work to come for perhaps several years, and that’s to say nothing of the thousands of local jobs that Belmont Park is predicted to bring once the final bricks are laid. 

In the city of Peekskill in Westchester County, one of the latest initiatives in Governor Cuomo’s Five-Year Affordable Housing Plan through New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) has broken ground in recent weeks and begun to take shape. The $51 million affordable housing development on 645 Main Street is one of several projects involved in Peekskill’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, making it one of many cities to benefit from the state grant program in recent years. The new apartments and additional parking will be centrally located in the community and aims to have an eco-friendly bend. 

What Makes the 645 Main Street Project Eco-Friendly? 

“Every New Yorker deserves a safe, decent and affordable place to call home,” said Governor Cuomo when he announced construction. “This new, energy-efficient development builds upon our continued strategic investments in downtowns throughout the state and will provide more than 80 brand-new, affordable apartments for families and the community.” Energy efficiency plays a huge role in making any residence more affordable by saving residents on utility costs. 

The 645 Main Street units are going to include: 

• High-quality air conditioning and heating systems in apartments that are well-insulated are safer and cheaper to run. 
• Efficient appliances in the kitchen and low-flow plumbing save energy and water use. 
• Finally, photovoltaic solar panels will be installed on the roof can further offset costs by allowing the building to make some of its own energy. 

It appears that most of the eco-friendly amenities are centered around saving on utility costs. This is further aided because one of the larger energy eaters will be communal: The building will have communal laundry facilities. Additionally, tenants will benefit from permanent, tax-exempt climate bonds that are figured into the building’s budget. The project is certified by the International Climate Bonds Initiative, which funds efforts to lower New York’s carbon footprint. 

What Else Can People Expect of the 645 Main Street Affordable Housing Complex? 

With architects at L&M Design and construction helmed by Wilder Balter Partners Inc., pricing on the apartments will aim toward incomes that are at 40-80 percent of the area median income or below (which puts a one-bedroom apartment at about $900). 

RXR Realty’s ongoing efforts to construct a sprawling 21-story mixed-use commercial development in the Long Island City Area has very recently passed muster in a couple of key instances. The 42-11 9th Street environmental assessment has finally been finished and filed and the site’s long-sought rezoning permits appear to have been certified as of September 14th, 2020. 

Why the Delays in the 42-11 9th Street Project? 

RXR Realty was one of many names hoping to break bread with Amazon when it tinkered with the idea of a second headquarters in the New York City metro area, only to be forced to seek fertile ground with other clients. Of course, the firm has moved on to other projects in the year since the shipping giant ultimately left LIC. However, the site at 42-11 9th Street, located near the Queensboro Bridge has been waiting to get off the ground for nearly as long, with news of filed plans in the latter months of 2019. 

Recent images of the site released show the structures of the property’s previous owners, Titan Machine Corporation, still present, and reports from last year suggested construction would begin in July of this year, one wonders why RXR is waiting. 

Of course, COVID-19 and the delays in certain types of construction is likely a certain culprit. Since the planned structure would house only retail, office, and manufacturing spaces, there would be little reason to give an exception to a not-yet-launched project that did not immediately suit existing guidelines to progress. A much delayed environmental assessment also topped the list of necessary concerns, important since the site was known to have been contaminated in an oil spill before RXR’s acquisition.

The 42-11 9th Street Project, at a Glance

The mixed-use complex detailed in recently released renderings is massive, comprising nearly 400,000 square feet of area to be leased to different clients. 

Its spaces will be divided between a smaller parking structure, ground floor retail spaces for shoppers, office spaces, and manufacturing space. This combination explains why multiple sources have discussed the filing of rezoning permits, all of them largely to do with allowed floor area rations. This project encompasses multiple types, all housed within a single building. 

Other pertinent details suggest that the finished project will include: 

• A 21-story building, topping out at 330 to 370 feet in height 
• A two- to three-story base, including retail spaces, upon which a taller tower structure of 17 to 18 stories will rise
• Nearly 270,000 square feet of office space
• Just over 70,000 square feet dedicated to industrial space
• Over 4,000 square feet dedicated to retail
• An enclosed parking structure with space for 67 vehicles
• A planned outdoor public space, not featured in any current renderings

Before understandable delays, construction on the 42-11 9th Street project was intended to begin earlier this year. While the completion projections may be pushed back, as far as anyone knows, the intent is still to complete within a single phase, lasting 27 months. Even if they were to have broken ground this month, that would still put the project past its original 2022 completion goal, by a hair. 

There is no news as yet on which construction firms have been tapped to handle this massive undertaking, but it can’t be far off. The start of this particular race has been long-awaited. 

Back in 2016, Xin Development International sought the space between West 44th and West 45th streets in Hell’s Kitchen a gas station once stood. Even back then it was to become the firm’s second condominium venture, perhaps even to rival other similar and recent construction projects in the area, such as The West, which topped out earlier this year. 

In the years since, Bloom on Forty Fifth (formerly Hudson Garden) has evolved into one of the more significant up-and-coming mixed-use projects in Hell’s Kitchen, especially once word broke in 2017 that a “flexible format” Target location would be taking up residence in the ground floor. 

What Are the Details of the Bloom on Forty Fifth and Target Projects? 

With Marvel Architects designing and Leeding Builders Group helming construction, the nearly complete Bloom and Target have traveled a long road to come this far. This has included a period of delays and eventual refinancing in early 2019 that brought Kuafu Properties on as project managers. 

The Target on the ground floor will span 29,000 square feet, and while it will be smaller than some of their more sprawling locations (deemed “super” sized when they began to offer groceries in competition with Wal-Mart). 

Details about its “flexible format” suggest a space that is customized to suit the residence upstairs and other locals, including the following: 

• Men’s and women’s apparel and accessories
• Home items that specifically cater to people living in apartments or condos
• Portable tech
• Health, beauty, and personal care products
• Groceries, to include fresh produce and ready-made foods like sandwiches, salads, snacks, drinks, and more
• Target Mobile and Order Pickup services, useful as New Yorkers continue to social distance

Bloom’s upper floors on Forty Fifth will divide 92 units into north and south towers, each condominium ranging from studios to three-bedroom residences that boast “intelligent design” but no details on what this means. Amenities will include:

• 8,000 square foot, elevated courtyard
• Private terraces for some residences
• Storage spaces
• A bike room for residents
• A dedicated fitness room

Pricing for these spaces are yet to be announced. 

What Remains to Be Finished at the Bloom on Forty Fifth?

The two coinciding projects appear to be in their “finishing touches” stages. While earlier reports back in June showed the building topped out and ready for glass installations, that has long passed, and steady progress has continued since. 

Target spokesperson Whitney Webster confirmed in a statement that the ground floor will be open to the public by the end of the year. “As we get closer to opening the store,” she said, “we’ll have more specific details to share — including how the shopping experience will be tailored to serve local guests and the grand opening date.”

Likewise, Bloom on Forty Fifth’s higher floors are expected to be finished and ready for residents by the end of the year. Photos of the current, quite polished state of the building appear to confirm this, with signs of ladders and other equipment visible through windows suggesting that interior details and installations may be all that remains.

As the year draws into the latter months, resumed and newly launched construction projects in the metro area continue to grow. For a region ever in need of expanded affordable housing initiatives, the Gleneagle Green project in Brookhaven is a recent groundbreaking (from May of this year) that has begun to show clear results in the time since. 

The $30 million Atlantic Avenue project was among numerous affordable housing projects that Gov. Cuomo tapped to fund on Long Island. There is a greater push for both affordable spaces and affordable rentals, specifically. Affordable housing has become a high-priority to re-energize the area—not only serving lower-income residents in the community but also enticing younger New Yorkers to live and work there. This is a recurring theme that CISleads discussed briefly in its coverage of the Manhasset Square project a year ago.

Gleneagle Green – What Are the Details?

Gleneagle Green will comprise about 70 units across nine buildings, suggesting an average of 6-7 units per building. The amended proposal from November, 2019, reveals a number of telling details:

• All nine buildings will comprise mixtures of one and two-bedroom apartments. 
• The complex will sit in a “horseshoe” configuration around a common green area, facing south. 
• There will also be two other buildings: a single story, 7400 square foot community center and a 400 square foot Sanitary Sewage Disposal System Control Building to be housed on-site. 
• The complex will be gated, with exit and entry points on Atlantic Avenue and emergency access established through Patchogue Ave. 
• Roughly two off-street parking stalls per unit will also be constructed. 
• 11 of the 70 units will be reserved for residents with disabilities. 

Other sources promise amenities such as seating areas and structured playgrounds. It will also sit close to Robert Rowley Park and Bellport Area’s Boys and Girls Club. The overall image presented in these plans and subsequent reports have been quite different from recent mixed-use endeavors around the New York City metro area, but it hearkens more to the suburban feel of some of Long Island’s more settled areas. 

Funding assistance is coming from both the State of New York and Suffolk County. 

The Timeline – What Remains to Be Finished on the Gleneagle Green Project?

So far, images of the very beginnings of one of the nine apartment buildings have emerged, with the skeleton of the structure and the particleboard in place to show an idea of the structure it is to become. The buildings themselves will not be the only parts of the project for long, with the roadways, the entrances, fencing, landscaping, and the play areas to follow. The details about a waste management structure suggest a little more work to do in terms of infrastructure beyond merely connecting with local utilities. 

Full completion of the project is estimated to be Spring of 2022.