LIC Religious Center To Be Replaced With 119-Unit Building, Plans Show

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — A low-rise Long Island City building home to a religious center will be replaced by a seven-story apartment building, according to city records.

Developer George Xu filed plans Monday for a 119-unit building at 11-36 45th Road, between 11th and 21st streets and a block west of Court Square.

The site, which faces Murray Playground, is currently home to a two-story building that houses the Science of the Soul Study Center. The meditation-focused center is run by Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a religious group formed in India.

The religious group sold the 45th Road building for $26 million in 2019 to Xu's company, Century Development, city records show. Xu filed plans last year to demolish the building, though it has not yet been torn down.

The new building would stand 75 feet tall, with a 13,000-square-foot footprint, according to the plans. Besides the 80,500 square feet of residential space, it will also include a roughly 23,000-square-foot community facility, according to the new plans, which do not offer any details.

It will be designed by Raymond Chan, a Flushing-based architect who has designed residential buildings across Queens and Manhattan.

The fate of Science of the Soul Study Center is unclear, though religious groups are sometimes guaranteed a spot in future developments in exchange for selling their properties.