Barone Management Targeting Small Users With LIC Warehouse

Barone Management is planning to build a three-story office and warehouse building in Long Island City in an attempt to capitalize on booming demand for industrial space.

The company wants to build 88K SF at 9-03 44th Road in a project that would feature warehouse space on the ground floor, Crain’s New York Business reports. The plan is to split the warehouse space into units of up to 3K SF to lease to small businesses and construction firms.

The second and third floors will together feature around 44K SF and will be designed as offices. Barone expects that space will be attractive to typical office users and to warehouse tenants on the ground floor that want their offices upstairs. Barone Management founder and President Scott Barone told Crain’s there is demand from traditional industrial space users that have been pushed out by logistics tenants using space for last-mile deliveries.

"I think at least half of my warehouse tenants will be contractors that service New York City," Barone said. "Plumbers, electricians, businesses that install sprinkler systems. These are tenants that traditionally were in Long Island City but have gotten pushed out."

The industrial real estate market in the United States has seen significant growth in the past decade. Finding space in places like New York City is a major problem, and some developers are looking to build multistory warehouses to deal with that challenge.

Prologis, for example, renovated its 205K SF, two-level warehouse at 1055 Bronx River Ave. to feature 10 loading docks that can accommodate 53-foot trailers. Developer Dov Hertz is planning a 350K SF, three-story distribution center on a 4-acre site in Red Hook, Brooklyn.