Gorgeous waterfront views of the Queens peninsula are being held hostage by a luxury condominium — which is legally required to share its prime viewing locations with the public, The Post has learned.
Allura Waterfront Residences, built at the site of the old Chilton Paint factory in College Point, promised to permit public access to the coastal splendors as part of an agreement with the city to expand the properties.
But when The Post visited recently, a worker at the modern tower refused a reporter entry.
Locals have also previously been barred from accessing the six-story development’s walkway along the waterfront — which boasts stellar views of Flushing Bay and the Manhattan skyline, a neighborhood activist said.
“We should be able to really enjoy that East River waterfront that we deserve, especially when there’s so many parts of College Point that have industrial uses along the water,” local advocate Kathryn Cervino told The Post.
“We’re already so divorced from our waterfront, this particular part on the northeast coastline is just a treasure.”
In exchange for a variance that allowed developers to take up more land for the imposing 134-unit condo building, Allura was required to permit members of the public to enjoy its more than 17,000 square feet of waterfront property when it was built in 2007.
But the property, which includes a fitness center, spa, pool and sundeck, has allegedly been refusing entry for years — and is even ignoring orders from the city to reopen to the public, said Cervino.
When The Post earlier this month stopped by the waterfront towers, perfectly positioned at the dead-end of 15th Avenue and 110th Street, a reporter was met with a locked gate and a “no trespassing” sign.
A worker at the front desk said that “the government” wasn’t allowing them to open the boardwalk to the public because it didn’t have enough tree coverage.
“The thing is, it doesn’t look like a normal park,” the employee said. “The residents can go outside, but the public is different because of the government, we have to get that approved.”
During a second visit on Wednesday, the same employee reiterated that the waterfront was closed to the public, but allowed The Post to walk outside and take a picture of the view. A reporter was escorted inside and outside.
“Any development that promises a public use pathway in exchange for being able to develop what they want needs to be held accountable for keeping that in shape beyond the date that the deal was done,” said Cervino. “Where is the accountability?”
Allura did not return a request for comment, with a receptionist refusing to connect The Post with the property manager.
But the Department of City Planning shot down the front-desk worker’s claims, confirming that the agency imposed no such restriction on Allura.
“I can confirm that DCP did not tell them the public cannot access the waterfront,” a spokesperson said.
The city Parks Department in August had issued the property an updated “Notice of Substantial Completion” — standard for all privately-built waterfront public access areas — along with orders that the property must be open for all.
Reps for the city Department of Buildings and the Parks Department said they sent investigators to the property after The Post flagged the denial of entry earlier this month.
Two other luxury condo buildings located within the same roughly half-mile radius as Allura — Skyline Terrace and Soundview Pointe — made similar deals with the city in exchange for their desired property size and locations.
Though they appear to have kept their end of the bargain, the waterfront havens have been allowed to fall into disrepair.
During a visit to Skyline Terrace, a luxury condominium on 25th Avenue and 120th Street, The Post found its two public docks covered with trash, graffiti and brush. The structures of the vistas appeared loose and unstable, and moaned beneath the weight of human footsteps.
The rocky shore below was also covered in debris, including eight discarded shopping carts, a decaying E-bike and an old television.
Jagdeo Bassant, a respiratory therapist on his lunch break from the nearby dialysis center, told The Post he felt some risk stepping onto the vista.
“You can definitely see the age on them and back there is a giant hole, so I guess it’s falling apart but it has good integrity. But it’s going to happen eventually,” he said.
According to DCP, the city recently sent Skyline Terrace property owners a notice reminding them of their responsibility to maintain access and upkeep of the vistas.
A representative for Lovett Management, which oversees the property, said that attorneys for the condo board were in contact with the city, but could not provide any further details.
Meanwhile, visitors to Soundview Pointe’s walking path — which displays a welcoming “Public Waterfront” sign at the base and winds along the College Point Reef — can only make it a few hundred feet before encountering a chunk of missing pavement.
DCP confirmed that Soundview Pointe is solely responsible for the access and upkeep of the waterfront under an agreement with the city made in 1993 that allowed the owner to expand the property lines.
Stephen Yang
The property owners, Titan Soundview Pointe LLC, were hit with two violations by the DOB in recent years: for their failure to maintain the walkway and retaining wall near the waterway in 2016, and then again in 2019.
The Post could not reach representatives of Soundview Pointe.