CUNY might want to build a hotel in LIC

The Real Deal reports that CUNY has retained real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield to help them determine whether or not they should build a hotel in LIC at 28-02 Skillman Avenue; this lot is owned by Laguardia Community College (a CUNY school). CUNY has a Hospitality Program in their curriculum and the hotel could help expand their program, which is based in both the New York City College of Technology school in Brooklyn and Kingsborough Community College. Back in January, Iris Weinshall, CUNY vice chairman responsible for facilities and real estate planning and development, remarked that this development could have positive economic affects, as it would create jobs for students in the hospitality industry.

The potential building site is 91,000 square feet. The lot is zoned for a development that is 600,000 square feet max, but CUNY doesn’t believe they will build something that big.

Hotels have been making the news in Queens lately, with the proposed Edgemere hotel in the Rockaways, and the rejection of a hotel development by neighbors in Fresh Meadows.

CUNY, considering LIC hotel development, enlists Cushman & Wakefield [The Real Deal]
CUNY considers constructing a Queens hotel [Crain’s]