Ria, a new four-story modern building just half a block from the East River in Astoria, has opened. Located at 11-42 31st Ave., this edgy black stucco and angled balcony building brings modern loft living to the neighborhood, and brings aptsandlofts.com to a new part of Queens. The development group Eleven-Forty-Two LLC, wanted to build something different in the neighborhood, offering a boutique building with a bit of "Dwell magazine flare" amidst the bigger developments that have recently been built in the area. "Trying to keep the volume of each apartment was key in this project," one of the developers notes, adding "We maximized height wherever possible, using open spaces in the floor to make it feel bigger, adding a double-height entryway and stairwells along with wide hallways." aptsandlofts.com's president, David Maundrell, points out that there are five unique layouts out of the seven total units, which is very rare in a small building of this size. There are four stories: the top floor boasts two 887 s/f, one-bedroom duplex apartments with terraces; the third floor offers two 878 s/f one-bedroom duplexes with lofts and balconies; and the second floor has a 627 s/f one-bedroom. The first floor offers a 1,249 s/f loft-like duplex with 12' ceilings, a recreation space, one and a half bathrooms and a private garden and patio. There is also a 700 s/f studio 1 bedroom duplex with two bathrooms on the ground floor.