Bit of Good News: Astoria Tinseltown Project Happening

In this era of projects that seem to be increasingly existing only on paper and in the la-la land dreams of developers, there's one that is really happening: the expansion of Kaufman Astoria Studios. There was a groundbreaking yesterday (yeah, we know, the Gowanus Whole Foods broke ground two years ago and, then, nada) and they're actually expecting to complete the sucker by next summer. The 40,000-square-foot facility have back lots just like they have at West Coast studios. It's across from the current studio and will have and 18,000 square foot sound stage and 22,000 square feet of office and support space. Just in case you're not feeling a stake in this baby, the city contributed a $5 million grant for it and the state kicked in $2 million in grants and loans, bringing the public share to just over one-third of the project's $20 miliion cost. It's important to feel that one has a stake in such things. Before the credit market imploded, there was also a plan to build a tower with a hotel and office space behind the sound stage. Nothing wrong with dreams.
· Queens-Size Plan [NYP]
· New Sound Stage for New York [Crain's]
· Astoria Tinseltown Growing, Also Getting Hotel & Office 'Tower' [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.