Developer Triangle Equities announced today that it has executed a lease for a three-acre site in St. George, Staten Island, clearing the way for construction to begin on a $200 million mixed-use project known as Lighthouse Point. The project marks the latest contribution to a flurry of recent development—including the New York Ferris Wheel and the Empire Outlets—that is aiming to transform the quaint but down-at-the-heels district into a destination capable of luring tourists off the ferry.
The Lighthouse Point project, which did not require a full public review, is slated to include more than 100 residential units, a hotel with 164 rooms, 85,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, as well as public open space and parking. The long-vacant site, a former Coast Guard base, is located by an abandoned pier and lighthouse as well as the ferry terminal and the Stapleton waterfront. (Bonus, there will also be an urban beach!) Twenty percent of the housing units are expected to be affordable, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is partnering with Triangle Equities on the project.
The project will mix new construction with historic buildings at the site and construction is expected to begin this fall, according to the EDC, which is also when construction at the New York Wheel is slated to start. The area became a primary focus of the Bloomberg administration in the last six month of the mayor’s term, with the city seeking to provide the civic hub of St. George and “nurture a long-imagined downtown” in the words of The Wall Street Journal. The de Blasio administration has embraced the redevelopment as well, lauding the affordable housing that it will create.
“This project will deliver tremendous economic benefits to the North Shore: creating jobs, developing a new residential population to support local businesses, reconnecting the neighborhood to the waterfront and supplying much-needed permanently affordable housing for Staten Islanders,” wrote Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen in a statement about the new project.
The approximately 20 affordable housing units at the project will be designed as permanently affordable for New Yorkers earning 60 percent of less of the area median income, according to the EDC. The Lighthouse Point development is expected to be completed in late 2019.
“We envision Lighthouse Point to ultimately serve as a full scale destination experience,” wrote Triangle Equities president Lester Petracca in a statement. “An estimated 65,000 people are going to pass Lighthouse Point each day and we believe it will incentivize those folks heading to and from the ferry to stay on the Island by offering highly desirable residential, hospitality and cultural options.”
