Simon Baron Dev. begins work on 42-story Long Island City residential/retail building at 2940 Northern Blvd.

Simon Baron Development Group, SBD, presently one of the most active developers in Long Island City, has started to build a modern, 42-story rental building combined with retail and parking at 2940 Northern Blvd. The mixed-use commercial project will bring 467 new rental units to Long Island City. Demolition has begun, turning the former development site into a 500,000 s/f complex at the eastern end of Queensboro Plaza. It is being designed by SBJ Group, with completion in spring 2017. The building is expected to feature rental apartments with commercial space on the ground floor, bike storage, parking, an exercise room, a pool and roof deck. The SBJ Group also designed the Edge condominiums in Williamsburg. "This is an exciting project that will add to the transformation of the Queens Plaza submarket," said Matthew Baron, president of SBD, which purchased the site at the start of 2014 for $54.5 million from Simon Dushinsky's Rabsky Group, which had started to develop the site with several vacant buildings. SBD is presently building close to 1 million s/f of residential/commercial projects in Long Island City. Last year they also acquired an industrial building at 45-40 Vernon Blvd. (near Hunter's Point) for $14.7 million, which they also plan to convert into rental apartments. They also purchased the failed LIC Crescent Club condominium and turned it into high-end luxury rentals. SBD is a growing New York City-based real estate firm that develops, owns and manages a diverse portfolio of residential, hotel, retail and industrial assets primarily in New York City and the surrounding area worth over $1.4 billion of properties. They presently have over $850 million of active projects in various stages of development. In 2014, SBD acquired over $160 million of assets and in 2015 they are working towards completing two contracts which would start the year with over $200 million worth of new development projects. In Manhattan they are converting the 13-story, 65-unit Rosario Candela-designed building at 12 East 88th St. into condominiums and building a 260-room new hotel on what was a vacant site at 11 East 31st St. in Manhattan's NOMAD neighborhood. They also own two Manhattan rental buildings, Tower 31 at West 231st St. and 393 West End Ave. and 166 West 75th St., a 200-unit building they purchased out of foreclosure. SBD is one of the city's first developers to help young people who can't afford to live in New York. Baron recently launched a new venture that will build and manage micro-suites. The firm will soon announce several new projects under this new venture.