Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Construction Update: The Aston

Here's how Forest Hills' newest condo is looking this week...


28 comments:

  1. is there a garage under the building? hope so or parking is going to be a nightmare in the area

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    1. Yes, people are going to be paying $600,000 or more, or whatever it is, to experience the living "nightmare" as you put it, of not finding a parking space. Or, they can forego driving like I and about half of New Yorkers do and love life everyday.

      Do you want to experience a nightmare, go see "Lone Survivor."

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    2. ..or they could rent a spot like I do at my building. Two blocks from a subway, and having a car with parking spot. Yes, maintaining a car has its costs, but also has its benefits and privileges. But I have access to a decently priced spot, If I did not, I would not have a car. It is hell having to look for parking and keeping up with alternate side.

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    3. when l lived in rego park i rented a garage spot and all my cars got scratched up in there. the attendants trying to show off and park the cars tight always found a way to scratch it.3 years parking on the street in FH and so far so good.

      looking for parking is not that bad and i take the train to work daily. but there is a reason for minimum parking requirements. lots of us have cars we drive mostly on weekends and its a huge quality of life hassle to bring in new people into the neighborhood with no extra parking

      how do you take $300 worth of groceries from whole foods onto the subway?

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  2. Maybe I'm the odd (wo)man out on this one, but I think the Ashton should've been designed to blend into the neighborhood a little better. It really looks misplaced!

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    1. I agree. The design is alright, but the choice of materials, surfaces, glass, etc do not bend in well. I forget the name of the fairly new condo across the blvd, also developed by Cord Meyer, but that one fits in very well. I was hoping this building would use similar materials and just have a different shape. I was also pretty sure they were keeping, or, now that we know it was torn down at least replicating or complementing, the limestone facade that was there before and is still on the next door key food. Its not a bad looking building, just could have been a little better at fitting in (at least its not red brick!)

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    2. This ultra-fancy, modern building looks like it came from LIC or Williamsburg. I hope it doesn't mean hipsters are a-coming.

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    3. I agree. Cord Meyer doesn't care about blending in.

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  3. No way this would get Building Dept. approval without parking.

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  4. The only way to love life in New York is to get the hell out every now and then.

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    1. Which you can do perfectly fine without a car, as I have been doing for years. There's trains, planes, boats, and legs.

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    2. ... and bikes, tricycles, unicycles, sleighs...

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    3. LOL, Drake! But seriously, once you get used to having a car, even with all the aggravation and expense that comes with ownership, it's really, really hard to give the car up. It becomes something you really depend on for transportation.

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    4. And I forgot Bus. I had a car for years and years and have had no trouble giving it up. I can enjoy things like a beautiful snowy winter without all the whining and drama, for instance. I love the fact that I am forced to use my legs and get exercise to walk every where. That, after all, is why I chose to live the rest of my life in New York City, one of the most walkable places on earth, instead of some sad chubby suburb.

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    5. key word is "forced".

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  5. I think it's looking nice. Curious to see what it will look like when completed. I don't mind that it doesn't "blend" into the neighborhood as one poster said. New York is about diversity and all of Manhattan is virtually a miss-mash of different architectural styles , so why not FoHi as well.

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    1. Exactly. Forest Hills is now officially on its way to looking like the mish-mash of Manhattan.

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    2. Still much better looking than the surrounding McMansions!

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  6. I agree with your diversity comment. I'm not that fond of the design either. However, I don't think the stakeholders took this issue lightly as they are the ultimate risk takers and would want to maximize their returns. At the end of the day it might be the foreign investors such as the Chinese and Russians coming in. We will see when selling starts.

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  7. The Pinnacle doesn't exactly blend with the rest of the neighborhood, either, yet somehow the neighborhood has survived the past 25 or so years.

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    1. But the Pinnacle is A) A decent looking building B) surrounded by a sort of hodge podge of buildings ..same with Kennedy tower. This building is next to all these limestone facades of the midway theater, ridgewood bank, the deco styled facade of the original building that ran with the key food. With that said, I guess I really just do not like the chosen materials for the curtain wall all that much. Had they been something nicer I would care less about it blending in.

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    2. Oh gosh dont get me started with the monstrosity of the Kennedy. From the day we started searching for apartments in the hood, we stayed far far away from that building. Its a monster sized yellow rectangle with absolutely no character. It's surrounded by little 6 story apartment buildings and when the "fancy" blue lights go up at night, it reminds me of a prison documentary. Oh, and lets not get into the black marble facade....eek!

      If that's your idea of a decent looking, then......

      I appreciate the city-styled modern glass building in our neighborhood. I think it helps FoHi look a little more SoHo.

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    3. Obviously you haven't been in the Kennedy House. Great place to live, spacious apartments many with spectacular views, well run and maintained, seasonal landscaping, great amenities - pool, new fitness center, ample parking, incredible sky-room to use or rent for parties, children's playroom, storage facilities, dry cleaner on premise, full time community manager, 24 hour doormen and garage staff, etc. doesn't sound like a prison ? maybe you need to get your mind past the blue lights?

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    4. We actually looked at 5 apartments in the building. The developer of the Kennedy followed the same interior design for many of other buildings in FoHi (Gerard Towers, The Continental, The Forest Hills Owners Corp) so comparatively, its on the same caliber (without the monstrously large chandelier in the lobby). Same large windows, same layout, similar amenities, etc. I'm sure management, landscaping, added amenities are great (my building has all of those too), but I'm speaking only of the exterior. Luckily, the Kennedy is sorta hiding out on 75th avenue, where the "It" place to be would ideally be 71st. :o)

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    5. Agree it's a great building with great amenities. It's a case of sour grapes with the naysayers. At the same time you're paying a big premium on the maintenance, undoubtedly to also keep out those people. I personally don't prefer to pay high maintenance charges so it did its job. Haha. Just telling it like it is and keeping it real.

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  8. I think this is a pretty ugly building. It looks like an office tower, not a residential building.

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  9. Well, from what I recall, the new subway elevator at 71st Continental was started around the same time as this, and we managed to get all this whilst the subway elevator seems still a long way from being ready!

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  10. Stop putting the building down. The reason why you all are saying this is because you can't afford to live there. (jealousy).

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