RKO on the market again

From Crains:

The long-vacant RKO Keith's Theatre in Flushing, Queens, is up for sale—again.

The 1920s-era cinema at 135-35 Northern Blvd. has been gathering dust for 30 years as a series of developers have bought and sold the property without completing plans to convert it to apartments or hotel rooms. On Feb. 17, the latest firm to take a crack at redeveloping the property, JK Equities, announced that it is putting the former movie house up for sale. RKO Keith's Theatre is being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield.

"In the past six months, we have received several unsolicited offers to purchase the site at attractive pricing," said Jerry Karlik, head of JK Equities.

RKO Keith's sold again

From the NY Post:

The fabled but long-shuttered RKO Keith’s cinema building in Flushing, NY, has been sold to a well-heeled developer for $30 million, The Post has learned.

The deal climaxes a 25-year saga of scandal and failure by previous owners of the Queens building.

New York-based JK Equities, headed by Jerry Karlik, plans to build a 17-story, mixed-use apartment tower on the site at 135-35 Northern Blvd. at the corner of Main Street.

The plans conform to city approvals granted years ago to a prior owner, Shaya Boymelgreen, and later amended for another owner, Patrick Thompson — who sold the property to JK Equities, which is experienced in redeveloping properties with historic character.

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Capital Markets senior managing director Kenneth Zakin, who worked both sides of the deal, said, “The building, vacant for over 20 years, is the development linchpin of northern Flushing, and its rebirth will eventually drive growth for the whole area.”

As much as I'd like to see this place cleaned up and made into something useful, in its current state, it represents all the corruption that Queens has had to deal with over the past 30 years or so. Someone should put up an historical sign in front of it to tell the tale.