What’s Up At the Falchi Building These Days

Earlier this week we stopped by the Falchi Building to catch up on what’s new there, and what’s going strong. First, the important stuff—we can tell you the donuts at Doughnut Plant are as good as ever. The building overall is hopping with activity, and exciting to see all the new stuff in there. Here are our highlights through photos.

Good news for gin drinkers—Astoria Distilling (makers of Queens Courage gin) is moving in! They are way under construction right now, but plan to open in the next few months.

Here’s what the place looks like right now.

When it’s done, though, there will be a place to taste their gin, and a few other non-alcoholic things will be available, too. They’ll start with an on-premisis food/drink license, but there will be a point in the future when they can have a retail element, along with their license to distill right here in the Falchi Building; right now, they are still distilling and bottling outside the borough.

Here, you can kind of see where the tasting/bar area will be.

We also heard from founder Chris Murillo that they eventually want to expand their alcohol offering in the form of amaro, limocello, ouzo, and vodka, among others.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this epic pumpkin art not far from the entrance to the building.

We were surprised to see that the Food Box was no longer home to many of the established vendors like L’Arte del Gelato, Don Tapas, and Khao Man Gai. Instead they are in the main ground floor hallway, which I hope means they get more traffic leading to more sales.

Newcomer Stolle was there selling their enticing savory and sweet pies.

The pastry designs are beautiful. This is only their second location in the US, the other being in Brooklyn Heights. These kinds of pies hail from places like Germany and Russia (in fact, they have two shops in Russia, one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg).

Speaking of the Food Box, new grocer Good Neighbor Queens was in that space and all set up. They offer lots of local products (local = NY and PA) in the form of produce, pantry goods, and prepared food. They have plans for vendors to set up and talk about their products, and a community space in the back (their first event will likely involve teaching folks how to shuck oysters themselves). They also run a buying club that resembles a short-term CSA.

A good chunk of our visit involved a tour of Spaces, the new 30,000 square foot coworking space on the third floor.

This Dutch-based company has done elaborate and interesting things with the space, including stylish furnishings that make the place looks comfortable but quite professional. A variety of individuals and companies can take advantage of many kinds of options for their working needs, from space for themselves and a laptop, to larger offices (click to enlarge).

As you can see there are open spaces, semi-private areas, conference rooms, and places to make private calls. The little cafe in the front was quite nice. Bonus—they sell Dang Coconut Chips which are pretty much the best snack ever.

Meres One left his (invited) mark, too.

Overall, it’s heartening to see continued progress at the Falchi Building with regard to occupancy and activity. Seems that it’s a great success!

The Falchi Building (31-00 47th Ave. Long Island City | 718. 388.7700)

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