A New Development Opportunity Opens Up In One Of NYC’s Fastest-Growing Markets
Twenty years ago, Queens Plaza was mostly made up of industrial buildings, but a rezoning measure in 2001 brought in an influx of development, and the area has become a forest of office buildings, residences and hotels.
Modern Spaces’ Evan Daniel and Ashley Grebow are currently handling the sale of a corner development site in Long Island City boasting more than 419K of buildable SF. Dubbed QPX, the site is one of the only pieces of land left to develop in Queens Plaza.
“We’ve seen interest in Long Island City from developers around the globe in the past few years,” said Daniel, executive vice president of the commercial and investment division of Modern Spaces. “QPX is a great option for firms looking to make an impact on this increasingly popular neighborhood — it is one of the largest sites available for purchase and it’s zoned for all development types. No matter what developers are hoping to create, QPX is the perfect canvas.”
Developers who are hoping to break into the New York market should set their sights on Long Island City. While NYC condo development sales dipped overall during the last few months, in Long Island City, they soared. Queens saw a 65.6% increase in new development sponsor sales between July and September 2019, compared to the previous three months. Over two-thirds of those sales occurred in LIC.
Interest in LIC was already on the rise before Amazon announced in 2018 that it would be opening a second headquarters in this bustling Queens neighborhood. Although Amazon backed out three months later, Long Island City continues to attract interest from major companies, while residential sales prices have been rising steadily.
QPX spans three lots at the corner of Queens Boulevard and Northern Boulevard: 30-25 Queens Blvd., 29-00 Northern Blvd. and 29-14 Queens Plaza East. Grebow, senior director for Modern Spaces’ commercial and investment division, said that the site would be ideal for a new residential building, as demand for condos in the area remains very strong.
“Our recently launched projects at Skyline Tower and the Zipper Building have seen prices rise to more than $1,700 per SF for several units in contract, even during the pre-sales phase,” Grebow said. “We expect this trend to continue and QPX could join the ranks of these sought-after buildings.”
A building on the site would boast unobstructed views over the 59th Street Bridge into Manhattan and find itself nearby excellent restaurants like M. Wells Steakhouse and The Baroness, and popular arts destinations like the SculptureCenter and the Secret Theater.
Future tenants of QPX will have no trouble accessing Manhattan and the rest of NYC. Six different train lines are within a five-minute walk: the E, M and R trains at the Queens Plaza subway station and the N, W and 7 lines at Queensboro Plaza. The site is also less than 5 miles from LaGuardia Airport and less than 15 miles from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
“It’s no surprise that businesses are flocking to this vibrant NYC neighborhood,” Daniel said. “It’s filled with exciting shops and restaurants, easily accessible through public transit and just minutes from the heart of Manhattan.”
This feature was produced in collaboration between Bisnow Branded Content and Modern Spaces. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
