A developer has filed plans to construct an 8-story mixed-use building on a prominent site in Sunnyside that once housed a number of restaurants and stores before they were destroyed in a massive blaze (Photo by Nina Sityar, taken in January 2021)
Jan. 4, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
A developer has filed plans to construct an 8-story mixed-use building on a prominent site in Sunnyside that once housed a number of restaurants and stores before they were destroyed in a massive fire.
The Ampiera Group, a Woodside-based company, filed plans with the Dept. of Buildings in April for the 83-foot tall structure to go up on the corner of 45th Street and Queens Boulevard.
The development will consist of 63 apartments with around 8,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.
The site, located between 45th and 46th Streets, had contained six well-known businesses – including the long-time pub Sidetracks — before the inferno ripped through the buildings on Dec. 13, 2018.
The blaze was so destructive that the city ordered the remnants of the buildings to be demolished. The structures were torn down and work on leveling the .3-acre parcel was completed in August 2019.
The Ampiera Group, doing business as 45-02 Sunnyside LLC, then purchased the parcel for $11 million in April from Rasell Realty Corp., a family-run firm based in Jamaica, Queens.
The new plans call for five retail spaces and 12 apartments (Photo: Queens Post)
The new development will also include 25 parking spaces in the cellar.
The project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025, according to a poster erected on a fence at the site.
Architect PC, a Flushing-based firm, is listed as the architect for the project.
Some of Ampiera Group’s other developments in western Queens include an eight-story mixed-use building at 21-42nd Rd., near the Queensboro Plaza subway in Long Island City, and a 16-story hotel at 38-70 12th St., near the Queensbridge Houses.
The firm is also constructing a seven-story residential building at 40-22 61st St. in Woodside.
A poster on a fence at the site contains a rendering of the development (Photo by Queens Post)
