CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
As the recently topped-out Skyline Tower breaks Queens’ height and sales records, another luxury condo half a block away makes a quieter, yet equally successful, debut. CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive rises just eight stories, well below its 67-floor counterpart, yet the 85-unit condo still manages to draw attention with a distinguished design and standout location on the neighborhood’s key thoroughfare, well-visible from the nearby Court Square station of the 7 train, which allows for five-minute Midtown commute along with the next-door E and M trains.
These perks, combined with extensive amenities and a persistent shortage of condo apartments in LIC (as opposed to its many luxury rentals), have prompted an 80% sales figure since the July 2018 launch. All studios are already in contract; the one remaining one-bedroom unit is listed for $995K; available two-bedroom units start at $1.55M; three-bedrooms go from $1.975M. Units feature tall ceilings, hardwood floors, and kitchens with marble countertops and Miele appliances. Having received its TCO (Temporary Certificate of Occupancy), the building is now ready for immediate move-ins.
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CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
The broad, low-slung CORTE may seem like an antithesis to the soaring Skyline Tower, yet the two projects share a surprising number of parallels. Of course, there is the up-and-coming neighborhood, which boasts walking-distance access to the East River waterfront that offers a splendid park promenade, round-the-year community events, ferry service to Manhattan and Brooklyn, spectacular skyline views, and Steven Holl’s recently-opened, iconic Hunters Point Library.
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: Ondel Hylton
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: Ondel Hylton
Like Skyline Tower, CORTE offers sheer, floor-co-ceiling windows that let in ample sunlight and dramatic skyline panoramas from many units, thanks to the broad thoroughfare north of the building, where projecting dormers are slanted for optimal Midtown views, and the low-rise, officially-protected Hunters Point Historic District to the south. The views come into their grandest splendor at the shared rooftop deck, which offers landscaping and a bocce court, as well as private terraces at the roof and throughout upper-floor units, which perch atop projecting, slightly-slanted cantilevers, an iconic gesture crafted by the architect team of Argentina-based Dieguez Fridman Arquitectos & Asociados and New York’s Beyer Blinder Belle.
The building offers a 24-hour doorman and concierge, a minimalist lobby lined in concrete and wood planks, a fitness center that faces an outdoor garden, and a nature-themed children’s playroom, as well as storage for bicycles and strollers and a pet wash room. Rooftop cabanas, spaces in the 21-car garage, and additional storage units are all available for sale.
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive. Credit: CRAFT
CORTE sits at the junction of two distinct Long Island City neighborhoods, both iconic in their own right. The skyscraper thicket of Court Square rises to the east, right across the 7 train that runs above 23rd Street. By contrast, tree-lined streets and low- and mid-rise residential blocks characterize much of Hunters Point, which stretches west toward the apartment towers rising on the waterfront. But despite some of the city’s most extensive subway access and adjacency to a major skyscraper district, the block where CORTE stands is limited by a surprisingly low height cap of mere 85 feet. The restriction effectively forced the developer to demolish the distinguished Elks Lodge, an ornate 1908 structure that occupied roughly half of the CORTE site, robbing them of an option to preserve the historic structure while still maximizing allowable build-out footage by building a taller, slimmer, same-unit-count tower next to the Lodge. Fortunately, the architects made up for the loss by creating an exquisite design that goes above and beyond the average glass-walled condo. In the meantime, city planning agencies may wish to reconsider certain well-intentioned yet occasionally misguided and arbitrary limitations that sometimes end up destroying the city fabric that they are supposed to protect.
While the loss of the Lodge is regrettable, CORTE actually improves upon its predecessor’s streetscape experience, providing pedestrian activity with a 10,114-square-foot commercial space and transparency through floor-to-ceiling street-level windows. If you wish to live on this up-and-coming block yet the type of unit you were looking for at CORTE is already off the market, consider condo offerings at The Industry across the street, or at The Decker, a brand new, loft-styled condo situated down the block.
CORTE LIC at 21-30 44th Drive, with Skyline Tower (left) and One Court Square (right) in the background. Credit: Ondel Hylton
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