LONG ISLAND CITY — A developer is planning to build a nine-story hotel with 88 rooms on an empty lot near Queensboro Plaza.
It's the second time Royal One Real Estate II LLC filed plans with the city to build a hotel on the triangle-shaped lot at 42-59 Crescent St. at 43rd Avenue. It had originally planned a 10-story hotel with 88 rooms, but now it's back with new plans for a slightly shorter building, according to Department of Buildings records.
The lodging would include a bar and lounge, a cafe on the first floor and a rooftop terrace, according to the plans.
Royal One Real Estate purchased the property in 2005 for roughly $1.3 million, and in 2009, it applied for a city variance to construct a 12-story, 99-room hotel at the site contrary to existing floor area regulations, news reports and city records show.
Though Queens Community Board 2 recommended against the project at the time, the Board of Standards and Appeals approved the variance after the company reduced the height of the building to 10 stories and to 88 rooms, according to BSA records.
It's not clear why that plan was scrapped, but an attorney for the developer, who declined to comment on prior plans, said they will seek a variance from the BSA to move forward with the current, nine-story project.
There are already a number of existing hotels in the neighborhood, including a Comfort Inn just a block away on Crescent Street and 42nd Road.
A business directory from the economic advocacy group Long Island City Partnership lists 21 hotels currently operating in the neighborhood.
