Queens, NY In a move that signals faith in the future of NYC, JNY Capital and United Hoisting Co. have teamed up to bring a 425,000 s/f $175 million commercial project called The Oasis to Long Island City that will include office, retail, entertainment and event spaces.

The 11-story mixed-use development, at 38-42 12^th St., is located in a prime opportunity zone and is slated to be the largest spec office “Passive House” construction project in the country, pursuing a voluntary standard for energy efficiency by substantially reducing the building’s energy usage.

The Oasis recently entered the pre-leasing stage and the developers –who will build to suit–have targeted it as ideal for biotech, life sciences, media, engineering, commercial office and retail tenants.

The development is expected to break ground in the second/third quarter of 2021 and slated to be delivered in the third/fourth quarter of 2022. 

“We are incredibly excited to bring to market a building that is a game-changer for the future of the city,” said JNY’s Capital vice president Moshe Pinsky. “We have created an eco-conscious building that offers a safer and healthier office environment for workers to return to and a benchmark for sustainability and innovation.”

“The overall scale of the project, with an excess of 50,000 s/f floor plans and open green space enabling social distancing, are extremely unique to the area,” Pinsky said.

With views of New York City and Long Island City, The Oasis will feature 343,500 s/f of office space, 50,000 s/f floor plates, 17,000 s/f of rooftop bar or restaurant, 30,700 s/f of event space, and 34,700 s/f of ground-floor retail. The Oasis will also feature 30,000 s/f of terrace and exterior green space, dispersed throughout each floor along with on-site parking for more than 650 cars.

“As offices begin to repopulate in the wake of COVID-19, the Oasis’ large open floor plates, passive house construction and generous outdoor green spaces offer a paradigm shift for office space that will be attractive for companies that want to entice workers away from their working from home setups,” added Nick Liberis of Archimaera, the Brooklyn-based architectural firm designing the Oasis.

A Lee & Associates NYC team of Mitchell Salmon, Corey Abdo, Catherine O’Toole and Stephanie Moore is handling pre-leasing at the project.

The Oasis will be organized around a central court to maximize exposure to natural light on all floors and feature a ventilation system proven to reduce the spread of airborne contaminants by combining outside fresh air with a low velocity airflow within the space.

At the Oasis, smaller heating and cooling systems will be designed to reduce the building’s operational energy requirements and create an overall healthier building environment. The extra insulation and energy efficient windows will cause the building’s interior spaces to maintain a stable and comfortable indoor temperature while requiring less heating and cooling throughout the year.

Buildings that meet the Passive House standards use about 40-60% less energy for space conditioning than conventional buildings.

The Oasis Passive House uses the best practices of sustainable design and construction and features:

• A super insulated building exterior
• Solar panels, a green roofing system, LED lighting fixtures, state-of-the art high efficiency triple pane glazed windows
• HVAC system with a dedicated outside air system (DOAS) which draws a constant, fresh air-flow from the outside-in
• High-efficiency mechanical system, and a building wide system of sensors to fine tune heating and cooling delivery on demand
• High floor to ceiling windows 18 to 24 ft high from ground through 4th floors
• Triple height lobby connecting 11th and 12th Streets
• Natural light flooded & naturally ventilated office spaces in all parts of the building
• Oversized stairwell encourages an alternative to the elevator
• Artisanal Food Court and Amenity Space at all floors

“This project will be transformative to Long Island City in the same way the massive City Point Development was to Downtown Brooklyn,” said United Hoisting’s Joe Covello.

“Now is the opportunity for developers to seize the moment,” said Archimaera’s Jeremy Zuidema. “With building technologies becoming ever more economical, it is now possible to build structures that are more energy efficient, more comfortable and with significantly less of an impact on our planet.”