City to Open Pre-K in Former Industrial Space in Queens
By Tobias Salinger January 12, 2015 6:05 pm
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A coin-operated arcade game business is vacating its longtime distribution center in Richmond Hill, Queens and leasing the one-story, 12,400-square-foot property to the city, Commercial Observer has learned.
The city’s School Construction Authority signed a 10-year lease with two five-year options to open an approximately 100-seat pre-kindergarten school this September at Bay Coin Distributors‘ warehouse at 132-10 Jamaica Avenue, brokers from Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates told CO. The parcel commanded an asking rent of $30 per square foot, said Dmitri Gourianov of Kalmon Dolgin.
“The current owner was operating a business there; he didn’t really need the whole property,” Mr. Gourianov said. “He leased a couple blocks away. At the end of the day, it was a great deal for everybody.”
Mr. Gourianov and his Kalmon Dolgin colleague Neil Firtle represented Bay Coin Distributors in the deal, while David Lebenstein of DTZ negotiated on behalf of the city agency, Mr. Gourianov said.
The property, which is between 132nd and 133rd Streets, sits blocks from the Jamaica-Van Wyck station on the E subway line as well as the Van Wyck Expressway.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has made universal pre-K for all children of the city a centerpiece of his administration, extending the service to 51,500 children this past fall, as several publications reported at the time. Administration officials hope to enroll all 73,000 of the city’s four-year-olds by the first day of classes in September, according to a release on Mayor de Blasio’s website.
