By Ricki Shenfeld ’18 and Brian Hwang ’17

On Friday November 11th, 2016 the Real Estate Association (REA) and members of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate toured Flushing Commons, a mixed-use development site with residential condominiums, office space, parking, and an open-air public plaza including outdoor restaurants and shops. The group started the day in the F&T Group offices in Flushing. We had the privilege of meeting with Michael Meyer, President of F&T, who gave us an overview on the Flushing market as well as F&T’s existing and upcoming development plans. We learned more about this vibrant neighborhood and how F&T is making progress to cater to the needs of the growing demographics.

We continued our day with Tom Sperber, Project Manager at AECOM Capital, who took us through Phase I of Flushing Commons. On the tour we were able to see how F&T Group, The Rockefeller Group, and AECOM Capital address the challenges of combining office and residential use in one building. We walked through the active construction site as well as viewed residential units that were close to TCO. Tom gave the group a deeper understanding of the needs of the neighborhood which are centered around having shopping, living, and office capabilities in close proximity and even in the same building.

After viewing the construction site we visited the model residential unit which showcased the high quality that buyers could expect in condominium finishes.