Macy’s Leases Studio Space in Its Former LIC Warehouse
By Terence Cullen August 12, 2015 7:00 am
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Macy’s has inked a 15-year deal for the entire third floor of The Factory in Long Island City, or 150,000 square feet, according to the landlords, in a building the mega-retailer used to own.
The company’s photo studios for its website and catalogues will be be consolidated in the space. Asking rent was in the mid-$40s per square feet at 30-30 47th Avenue between 30th Place and 31st Street. Some sections of the third floor have some of the structure’s highest ceilings reaching up to 30 feet.
The company was looking for a single-floor option for its studios as well as office space, it told Crain’s New York Business, which first reported news of the deal.
Scott Gottlieb, Michael Laginestra, Michael Wellen and Ken Meyerson of CBRE represented Macy’s, while Brian Waterman, Howard Kesseler, Jordan Gosin and Brett Bedevian of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the joint owners: Atlas Capital Group, Square Mile Capital Management and Invesco Real Estate (IVZ).
“The urban chic space, combined with reasonable rates and convenient proximity to Manhattan made The Factory a logical decision for Macy’s,” Mr. Waterman said in prepared remarks.
The 1-million-square-foot building, which was built as a storage facility almost 90 years ago for Macy’s, has been repositioned in the last year with a soup-to-nuts renovation. With all the attention budding around LIC, the owners looking to lure tenants away from Manhattan and the Brooklyn waterfront with the area’s comparatively cheaper rents.
The trio of owners have been able to do so with Applied Research & Consulting, which in June inked a 3,567-square-foot deal to relocate from Midtown South. TEI Group, an elevator company, opted in February to sign a 22,725-square-foot lease at the building in a relocation from Midtown.
The Macy’s lease is one of the largest commercial leases the neighborhood that has seen a significant amount of residential development in the last decade. JetBLue relocated to 27-01 Queens Plaza North from Forest Hills in 2012, leasing about 200,000 square feet in the building.
