By Gus Delaporte 4/23 7:30am

Lease Beat

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Brooklyn-Based Medical Practice Expands to Forest Hills Tower in Queens

Central Medical Services of Westrock, a medical practice specializing in workers’ compensation cases, has signed a 10-year, 4,150-square-foot lease on the ninth floor of Forest Hills Tower in Forest Hills, Queens, The Commercial Observer has learned. Asking rent for the building is in the mid-$30s per square foot.

CMSW will occupy the space in the Muss Development property at 118-35 Queens Boulevard beginning in May. The practice is headquartered in Brooklyn with satellite offices in Jamaica, the Bronx, Syosset and White Plains. Read More

By Al Barbarino 12/20/12 8:00am

Year in Real Estate

New York And New Jersey Continue To Deal With Aftermath Of Hurricane Sandy

Fast & Furious: The minute-by-minute, behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to this year’s F.E.M.A transaction

The whirlwind negotiations between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Muss Development to create an impromptu relief outpost in Queens in the days following Hurricane Sandy’s descent on New York would not have happened had it not been for one of the real estate industry’s leading dynasties.

In a deal that would later come to symbolize the overall dedication of the city’s real estate titans, government officials and executives banged out terms for 200,000 square feet of temporary space at the Forest Hills Tower in a mere five days, a minor miracle in the world of office leasing. Read More

By Al Barbarino 12/20/12 7:45am

Year in Real Estate

East Coast Begins To Clean Up And Assess Damage From Hurricane Sandy

Above and Beyond Hurricane Sandy

FEMA spokesperson William Rukeyser described the ad-hoc, jumbled feel of the company’s impromptu space in the Forest Hills Tower like a scene from a hard-hit neighborhood, with hanging wires, antennas strapped to the ceiling, Post-It notes and sheets of paper with various instructions scattered about, and impromptu folding tables holding printers and other office equipment. Most seemed at a loss for words when assessing damages.

“It’s—It’s—It’s just a mess,” Durst Organization spokesperson Jordan Barowitz told The Commercial Observer less than a week after the storm hit, struggling to describe the destruction in Lower Manhattan. Read More

By Al Barbarino 11/13/12 3:47pm

Post-Tropical Storm Sandy

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FEMA and Muss Development Ink Deal for Hurricane Relief Headquarters in Two Days

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has pulled together a Queens home base for its Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in a matter of days.

FEMA, as the agency is better known, is taking 200,000 square feet across 10 of 17 floors in the Forest Hills Tower, located at 118-35 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, Queens.

Negotiations began last week with owner Muss Development, and by Sunday the relief agency had begun its move into the building. Read More

By daniel Geiger 2/02/12 9:00am

Lease Beat

97-77 Queens Boulevard.

Educational Affiliates Ink 40K in Queens

Educational Affiliates is signing a 40,000-square-foot lease at 97-77 Queens Boulevard, a large office building owned by the LeFrak Organization in Rego Park, Queens.

The tenant operates career schools that train nurses, medical assistants, commercial drivers and computer specialists among other professions.

A source familiar with the lease said that Educational Affilitiates plans to open a nursing school at the location. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 1/30/12 8:00am

Lease Beat

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown

Queens District Attorney to Relocate

The Queens District Attorney’s Office is considering a large lease in Forest Hills, Queens in offices that used to be occupied by the major airline JetBlue, several sources told The Commercial Observer. 

The office of the Queen’s DA, Richard Brown, is in talks to lease approximately 180,000 square feet at Forest Hills Tower, space that was formerly leased by JetBlue, which decided last year to relocate from the 500,000-square-foot building to Long Island City. Read More