JRT Sees Western QueensMarket as Ascendant in the Wake of the Amazon Split
JRT Realty Group is pleased to announce that the firm brokered three of the 10 largest commercial real estate leasing transactionsin Queens in 2019, the most closings of any firm listed in top ten. JRT, along with DY Realty Group and Cushman & Wakefield, represented the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene’s for a new lease at The Factory at 30-30 47th Avenue in Long Island City, and delivered two leases at Court Square Place at 24-01 44th Road, also in Long Island City, representing the landlord United Nations Federal Credit Union on a new lease with The New York Times and representing the tenant Collins Building Services, a major facilities maintenance firm, on a lease renewal and expansion.
30-30 47th Avenue
The New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene’s new office spans 80,340 square feet at the former Macy’s warehouse converted into office space. The team of JRT, DY and Cushman & Wakefield currently represents half of the City of New York’s entire real estate portfolio.
24-01 44th Road
TheNew York Times moved its 350-person digital advertising team from the New York Times Building to a 57,846-square-foot office space on floors 9 to 11. Meanwhile, existing tenant Collins Building Services now occupies 30,760 square feet across two full floors on 12 and 15.
“These three tenants are indicative of the diversified profile of companies calling Long Island City home,” said Jodi Pulice, Founder and CEO of JRT Realty. “The neighborhood has a great transportation system, new luxury residential buildings, popular restaurants and available waterfront land with fantastic views of the Manhattan skyline, but importantly, the area offers larger and less expensive office space in Class A facilities.”
The Amazon Effect
2019 brought a wave of activity to Long Island City and Western Queens, positioning the area to become the next major business center in the Five Boroughs, along with Midtown Manhattan, Downtown Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. While many owners were dismayed by the collapse of Amazon’s HQ2 move to Long Island City, the incident shined a bright spotlight on the area and businesses across New York City are seeing the many advantages of commercial space there as a result.
“Amazon pulling out of LIC was a loss at the time,” said Pulice. “However, it put LIC and Queens in general on the map in a more significant way. The world, not just New York, now not only knows where LIC is, but also has developed a hunger to learn more. We are highly active in Western Queens and we are seeing firsthand that interest has exponentially gone up from Astoria to LIC.”
JRT is eagerly anticipating the official March opening of a 100,000-square-foot office building at 34-11 36th Street at Kaufman Astoria Studios. JRT will represent to studio on all leasing transactions at the new space.
About JRT Realty
As a best-in-class commercial real estate provider, JRT Realty Group has an active presence within major urban and suburban commercial real estate markets throughout the United States. JRT exclusively leases and manages more than 100 buildings totaling more than10 million square feet of office and industrial space. With a strategic alignment with Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global real estate services firm, JRT’s portfolio exceeds 30 million square feet of space from both landlord and tenant representation. JRT is a certified Minority and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the National Minority Business Council and the New York City Department of the Authority of New York and New Jersey. JRT Realty has been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Minority Business Council’s Outstanding Business of the Year, the Top 50 Women in Real Estate Award from the Association of Real Estate Women and the Smart CEO Brava Award.
