ML: First Green Hotel in Queens Proposed by Architect Gerald Caliendo
Stephen Del Percio
A proposed Best Western hotel in East Elmhurst could become the first green hotel in Queens. The project, to be located at 112th Place and Astoria Boulevard, adjacent to the Grand Central Parkway, LaGuardia Airport, and the Mets’ new CitiField, will pursue an unspecified level of LEED certification, according to architect Gerald Caliendo (though note Mr. Caliendo’s quote about “bronze” certification in the context of recent posts here at gbNYC regarding the importance of accurately describing green projects and qualifications from a legal perspective). Community Board 3 granted the six-story, 100-unit project a zoning waiver at a recent meeting, despite local residents’ concerns about increased traffic. Details on specific green features are not available yet.
Queens-based Mr. Caliendo is one of New York City’s most prolific architects. Over the past six plus years, he’s been granted the most individual new residential building permits of any architect in the city (1604), though it’s unclear how many of those projects have actually been built. He’s been particularly active in Long Island City, where he designed the Galaxy condominiums.
ML is short for our weekly Monday LEEDoff™ column, which typically profiles a different LEED project generally in (but not limited to) the New York City area. You can access an archive of profiled projects via this link.
