Developer Sees New Wave Of Housing In Coney Island
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In her last report, NY1's Jill Urban took a look at the commercial development in store for Coney Island. But the area will also see major development on the residential side as well.Big hotels and entertainment centers are on the horizon for Thor Equities, the biggest commercial property owner in Coney Island. Just outside the amusement district to the west, it’s Taconic Investment Partners that owns much of that land and CEO Charles Bendit says it’s creating a master plan of its own in regards to residential development.
"We have six sites that can accommodate 2,500 units. We would hope to begin development in the next year or two and over the next five years to have a vital community with 2,500 units housing five to six thousand people," Bendit said.
The plan would create 2.5 million square feet of luxury residential space with ground floor retail and parking. But first they need the housing and financial markets come back before they could start creating this large scale project. They also need the city to upgrade water and sewer systems. So for now, they’ll start small.
"Our plan calls for a smaller building of about 150 units to kind of test the market to see what the demand is for the units," Bendit said. "Is it studio, one bed, two beds, three beds, what size units? Is there a demand for townhouse type units or only high-rise type units."
It’s not yet determined how much of that will be slated for rentals and how much for condos, but at least 20 percent of it will be set aside for affordable housing.
Aside from Taconic, other landowners in the area are planning to build an additional 2,000 units. Bendit says all this will restore the vitality of Coney Island.
"What needs to happen in order for that vitality to be restored is the amusement part needs to offer people a place to go and come for entertainment and the residential offers a place for people to live," Bendit said.
The plans for the hotel complex and residential towers are just that -- plans. Nothing seems set in stone and just like the amusements in Coney Island, the process can expect to have its own ups and downs, twists and turns. But in the end, the developers are confident it will be worth the ride.