Eastern Consolidated Looks to Market City Block in Queens
By Karsten Strauss January 16, 2013 9:00 am
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Eastern Consolidated has been granted exclusive rights to find a buyer for a 1.67 acre lot in Queens. The lot, located at 112-21 Northern Boulevard, allows for up to 357,000 square feet of mixed-use space to be built. A bid deadline is expected some time in February.
The space could be used for residential, retail, hotel or other types of use, said Eastern executive managing director, David Schechtman. “The important thing: Northern Boulevard is one of the most important east-west thoroughfares in the borough and maybe the city.”
According to a January 13 report from The New York Daily News, the owner of the plot is the tenant currently in place there—Di Blasi Motors Inc. The Di Blasi dealership will remain on site through November. “They’ve been there for more than 50 years and they’re very excited about the 50 years to come—they are staying in the neighborhood,” Mr. Schechtman said. Tom Di Blasi did not respond immediately to calls for comment.
The 73,000-square-foot parcel is located near the intersection of the Grand Central Parkway and Whitestone Expressway between 114th Street and 112th Place in North Corona. There are two, triple-net-leased structures situated on the triangular-shaped parcel, as well as an ancillary garage structure positioned near the southeast corner of the property. Those structures may be torn down by a buyer, said Mr. Schechtman.
The property has been on the market for one week but Eastern has already received interest. “It’s not just the Queens developers of the past twenty and thirty years,” he said. “You really have an international market, an international buyer pool.” Circling parties include buyers from Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia and U.S. builders from the Midwest, Mr. Schechtman explained.
One of the selling points Eastern hopes to communicate to potential buyers is the area’s promise, citing a number of developments in the works, as well as the property’s proximity to places of interest, such as the Northern Boulevard business district, Citi Field and the adjacent Willets Point redevelopment area, where a large mixed-use development will be constructed by Related Companies and Sterling Equities Inc., the real estate arm affiliated with the New York Mets.
The services and retail are close by on Northern Boulevard and parcel is near the vibrant downtown Flushing neighborhood, Schechtman said.
