Queens

Currently under development by Tishman Speyer, the $316 million Gotham Center will be a 662,000-square-foot, 21-story Class A office building at the corner of Queens Plaza and 28th Street in Long Island City. Mayor Bloomberg and other officials announced the project’s groundbreaking last Friday, noting that it will join a number of other green projects in the neighborhood, including the LEED Gold-certified, KPF-designed Court Square Two. The tower was designed by architects Moed De Armas & Shannon and is pursuing a LEED Certified rating under the Core and Shell system. The tower is rising out of the former site of the Queens Plaza Municipal Parking Garage; the project team also includes construction manager Bovis Lend Lease and architect of record Gensler.

The Daily News is reporting that White Coffee Corp.- a third-generation, family-owned coffee business based in Queens- has earned an unspecified level (and type) of LEED certification for its headquarters building at 18-35 38 Street in Long Island City, across the street from the Steinway Piano factory. Details about the project are slim, but did include the installation of energy-efficient lighting throughout the company’s space, as well as a reorganization of truck delivery routes to conserve fuel. White is also now recycling the chaff (protective casing) of its coffee beans in cooperation with a Queens-based contractor. The company was founded back in 1939 and has 120 employees, offering over 300 varieties of organic and fair trade-certified types of coffees.

Jamaica Bay has become the dumping ground for derelict yachts, boats, and even barges according to a recent report. Despite its protection as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area- the only National Park in New York City- the Bay has accrued 88 shipwrecks. A third of the Bay is a national wildlife refuge which plays host to over 350 species. The number of wrecks does not even take into account close to 160 wrecks collecting in the creeks leading into the Bay. These wrecks pose an environmental hazard by leaking oil and gas into the sensitive ecosystems surrounding Jamaica Bay.

Earlier this week, the Department of Design and Construction and the New York City Police Department selected Perkins + Will to design the NYPD’s new $1 billion Police Academy, which will be located in College Point, Queens. The project will seek at least a LEED Silver rating from USGBC and will consolidate the NYPD’s existing Academy in Manhattan and other facilities in the Bronx and Brooklyn across a 35-acre site that currently serves as the city’s largest auto impound. The new Academy will feature a firing range, 450,000-square-foot physical training area, 250 classrooms, and a 100,000-square-foot “tactical village” that will include mock street scenes, subway cars, and a bodega.

NY Designs is a program sponsored jointly by the CUNY Economic Development Corporation and LaGuardia Community College. Housed on the seventh floor of one of LaGuardia’s buildings in Long Island City, the $6 million, 35,000-square-foot space opened in 2006 with a number of green design features, including recycled tire carpet. Its mission? To “grow New York design firms.” Current tenants include graphic design outfit Tribecca Designs, fashion designers eenamaria, and AR Architects. Lease terms range from six months to three years at an extremely affordable $2.50 to $3.00 per square foot (thanks to grants from NYSERDA, HUD, and ConEd, among others).