2 Jackson Park, 28-30 Jackson Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 28-30 Jackson Avenue by Carter Horsley

At 42 stories, this is the shortest of the three towers at Jackson Park, the large residential complex in the Queens Plaza section of Long Island City in Queens that was developed in 2017 by Tishman Speyer and H & R Real Estate Investment Trust. 

The building at 30-02 Queens Boulevard has 550 rental apartments.  

The smoke-free complex, which was designed Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects and Hill/West, has a total of 1,871 apartments and has a 5-story, 45,000-square-foot amenities building operated by The Wright Fit. 

The other two residential towers are 1 Jackson Park, a 44-story building with 671 apartments at 28-40 Jackson Avenue and 3 Jackson Park, a 53-story tower with 650 apartments at 28-10 Jackson Avenue. 

Clodagh Design handled the interiors. 

The complex, which is convenient to public transportation, also includes The JACX, a commercial project consisting of two 26-story towers designed by Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects with ribbed terracotta spandrels and angled bases.  Its buildings, which were co-developed with Qatari Diar Real Estate, share a podium base with a one-acre landscaped park with a cafe pavilion with a undulating roof, 100 trees and 25,000 flowering bulbs.  The north building has a roof deck and the other building will have a landscaped plaza. The commercial buildings, which are aiming for LEED Silver certification, have 40,000 square feet of retail space, parking for 550 cars and 175 bike spaces and are the largest ground-up office development in Long Island City since One Court Square was finished in 1988.  It has a 500,000-square-foot lease from Macy's and a 250,000-square-foot lease with WeWork Cos. 

The entire complex is also known as Gotham Center.

Bottom Line

This impressive residential complex in Queens Plaza of three slab towers, the tallest of which is 53 stories, is known as Jackson Park and is reflective glass-clad with rather bland façades because of the apparently relatively small fenestration scale.  The complex, which has a large amenity low-rise building with underground access to the towers, and a large park, adjoins a shorter commercial section consisting of three towers known as the Gotham Center.

Description

The slab residential towers are sheathed in reflective blue glass and a February 7, 2017 cityrealty.com article that "some elevations will feature randomly placed darker panes, giving the façade a pixelated appearance, and a private park, positioned in the city of the three buildings, will sprawl over 2.5 acres." 

The towers have three-story tops with alternating vertical strips but no cornices. 

The slab towers have low-rise bases and some slightly setback façades. 

Amenities

The building has a concierge and the amenities building has indoor and outdoor pools, a basketball court, a fitness center, a children's playroom with a stage, a teepee, a piano, a roof terrace, a courtyard, a bocce court, a dog park, outdoor table tennis, grilling stations, a bicycle room, an event room, a garage, a game room, a spa, valet services, outdoor patio and fireside lounge, outdoor shuffle board, an event room, a golf simulator, a squash court, a lounge and pet services. 

A December 8, 2017 article by Michelle Mazzarella at cityrealty.com reported that "as a result of a collaboration with Amazon," residents "will get a complimentary Amazon Echo Show and a smart outlet that can link to the device" and that 120 premium penthouses will be wired with a full suite of smart home devices certified to work with Amazon's cloud-based voice service Alexa, including lights, thermostat, and electricity."  "Equipped with a 7-inch touch screen and 5-megapixel camera, the device can follow voice-activated commands to help with tasks, cooking, entertainment, shopping, communication" and more, the article noted.

Apartments

Apartments are small with open kitchens and have key-card entry, white oak floors, 9-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows with solar shades, LED lighting, resident-controlled heating and air-conditioning and washers and dryers. 

Kitchens have Caesarstone countertops, soft-close cabinetry, Blomberg/Whirlpool EnergyStar appliances. 

Apartment 3C is a one-bedroom unit with a 13-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen. 

Apartment 3F is a studio unit with an entry foyer with an open kitchen that leads to a 15-foot-long living/dining room with a 9-foot-long alcove.

History

According to the February 7, 2017 article at cityrealty.com, "the first phase of the project was conceived during the waning days of the Giuliani Administration, where a partnership between the Louis Dreyfus Property Group and the Arete Group was chosen to develop a 4.2-million-square-foot commercial endeavor called 'Midtown East Queens.'" 

"A trifecta of crystalline-shaped towers designed by Fox & Fowle Architects," the article continued, "was planned to straddle a large lot at the southwest corner of Jackson Avenue and Queens Plaza South - replacing the Queens Plaza flea market and a 1,150-square-foot space Queens Plaza Municipal Garage.  After September 11, the partnership between Arete and Louis Dreyfus unraveled and the $1.4 billion scheme was shelved. 

"In 2004, the New York City Economic Development Corporation signed a deal with the legendary development firm, Tishman Speyer, to retain a 99-year lease on the city-owned property. Under the agreement, Tishman would have to build on site by no later than 2015.  Then, in 2008, the city's Department of Health sighed a deal to anchor Tishman's first office building, known as 2 Gotham Center, for $316 million.  The office building...opened in 2011.... 

"In 2014, Tishman entered a partnership with Toronto-based H & R Real Estate Investment trust to develop three rental towers on the large site across from Gotham Center."