RXR Realty, the real estate investment firm that has become one of the largest office landlords in Manhattan, is now also one of the busiest buyers in the outer boroughs, where it has just cut a deal to acquire the Standard Motors Building in Long Island City, Queens, for $110 million.
The six-story property at 37-18 Northern Blvd., may be best known as the headquarters for the Jim Henson Co., the famed puppet-making shop and children's programming production outfit. Other tenants in the 95-year-old, 315,000-square-foot property include the one that gave the building its name—Standard Motor Products Inc., a manufacturer of automobile engine parts and systems, which continues to base its operations there.
RXR Realty is buying the property for nearly three times the $40 million that seller Acumen Capital paid for it six years ago in a bad market. Among other things, the big run up in the price is a reflection of how much values have risen in gentrifying markets like Long Island City that have become more attractive among office users. In another sign of a changing market, three of the city's biggest property brokers—CBRE's Darcy Stacom , Bill Shanahan and Paul Gillen—handled the sale for Acumen Capital.
13 comments:
A horrible building, on a horrible block on a horrible boulevard in a horrible neighborhood. They're nuts to pay that price!
Part of the effort to get the yards roofed over. Former home of a auto parts manufacture company - asbestos anyone? heavy metals folks?
This building is in the middle of nowhere wedged between a noisy highway and noisy toxic trainyard.
Been in it and it has all the charms of a prison - Soviet factory - futuristic hell hole that would not be out of place in a Matix movie.
BUT, Jimmy Van Bamer is giving plenty of money to fellow library trustee homeboy CB1 honcho George Stamatiades who's Dutch Kills Civic is the home of all those hotels and is now talking about 10 story buildings across the street on Northern.
These guys are making every mistake in the book and sooner or later it will bite all of us in the ass.
Used to be Karpen, a furniture factory.
Looks like a great place to house drones for the elite - maids, busboys, sweepers, etc.
Has the charms on the outside of a human warehouse.
Maybe there is something to those comments about a future stratified society we see here.
This is going to be a knockdown, isn't it?
Like how Seth Pinsky, former EDC head for Queens is involved.
Like Alex Roosa in Flushing, all these hacks who do not have the brains to help us cash in to take advantage of their public service that never really served the public.
Anon2 why do you say the trainyard is toxic?
You mean like the Knockdown Center with the Hipsters, hipsters,hipsters?
"Anon2 why do you say the trainyard is toxic?"
- You're obviously a transplant if you don't know.
"- You're obviously a transplant if you don't know."
Is there a code of silence around it or something? How is it any more toxic than Northern Blvd?
Code of silence? It's not a secret. Well known fact.
Went to a conference yesterday where the cultural landscape of Queens was reviewed and strengths and weaknesses of the borough for that sector discussed.
One of the strengths cited was the elected officials.
Then someone from the audience pointed out that giving tons of money to a handful of groups while most of the cultural community is starving is not 'a cultural scene.'
It was mentioned that when Henson Enterprises is leaving LIC, and Steinway is ignored (except in discussions on all that undeveloped property) while the likes of the Chocolate Factory and Astoria Performing Arts Center is extolled as Queens answer to Lincoln Center and the Theater District - there are some real problems around here with leadership.
Jimmy and the usual suspects throwing kisses to each other no stage is either a comedy (if your are the public) or a tragedy (if you are in the arts in Queens).
Yes, you can kiss Henson good-bye as well as that Brooklyn Grange.
Knockdown?
This was put up in the 1920s/1930s when they used to know how to erect buildings.
This construction was one of the reasons the Germans lost WWII at Stalingrad. You could spend a month hammering away at this building and it would stand.
Now the hotels and towers on the East River are about as strong as the World Trade Center.
Cheap to build whose only purpose is to mint money.
really? the soviet commies were known for a lot of things but exemplary construction certainly wasn't one of them.
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