ROCKROSE LANDS $255M IN CONSTRUCTION FINANCING FOR 790-UNIT LIC TOWER

May. 4, 2017 - The Real Deal

Rockrose Development secured $255 million in construction financing for its planned 54-story apartment tower at the former Eagle Electric building in Long Island City.

Bank of America provided the loan for the site at 43-22 Queens Street in the Queens Plaza section of the neighborhood, property records filed with the city Thursday show.

Representatives for Rockrose and Bank of America were not immediately available for comment.

Rockrose, one of the most active developer in Long Island City, bought the site a the end of 2012 for $48 million, and filed plans to construct a 700,000-foot-tall, 790-unit apartment tower on the site at 43-22 Queens Street in July 2014.

About a year later, however, the lucrative 421a property-tax exemption expired briefly in the summer of 2015 as lawmakers grappled to hammer out an extension deal, and by January 2016 the program had permanently lapsed – putting a freeze on rental projects across the city.

It wasn’t until last month that Albany passed a replacement program – rebranded as “Affordable New York” – and rental projects that were put on hold have started to see new life

The Durst Organization, for example, has restarted phases of its massive Hallets Point project in Astoria. Durst filed plans last week for two more mixed-use buildings at the site with a total of 652 units.