MTA, City Agency Staying Put in Big Chunks of Vornado-Owned LIC Building
By Terence Cullen January 11, 2017 4:10 pm
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A pair of government agencies has signed north of 300,000 square feet of deals at Vornado Realty Trust’s 33-00 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City, according to The New York Post.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority inked a renewal and expansion to occupy a total 152,000 square feet at the 442,626-square-foot Queens property between Honeywell and 34th Streets, the Post reported. That’s a growth of 17,000 square feet, which will be on a piece of the sixth floor. The Post noted that the transportation agency currently occupies part of the seventh floor and the entire eighth floor.
The renewal keeps the state agency at the LIC building until 2026, according to the Post. Its previously lease was set to expire in 2020, CoStar Group indicates.
Asking rent at the building is about $40 per square foot, the Post said.
Josh Kuriloff and Jodi Roberts of Cushman & Wakefield represented the MTA, while Glen Weiss and Josh Glick of Vornado represented the landlord in-house. Both sides declined to comment via spokesmen.
Currently headquartered in 1.6 million square feet at 2 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, the MTA is also in the process of selling off its 341-347 Madison Avenue between East 44th and East 45th Streets to Boston Properties.
But the property isn’t home to just state agencies. The New York City Human Resources Administration, which deals with poverty and income inequality issues, renewed its 150,000-square-foot presence at the building, according to the Post.
The agency occupies the first two floors of the eight-story building, according to CoStar. HRA has been based at the property, also known as the Center Building, since at least 2000.
HRA did a direct deal with Vornado, which was again represented by Weiss and Glick.
Vornado closed on the LIC property in March 2015 for $142 million, as Commercial Observer reported at the time. New York Foundling Hospital leases about 35,000 square feet in the building, and the New York City Office of Court Administration occupies 19,861 square feet, CoStar indicates.
Municipal agencies are no stranger to LIC, which has experienced a heavy development wave over the last decade. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene occupies the entirety of the 662,000-square-foot 2 Gotham Center at 28th Street and Queens Plaza South, as well as five floors of 1 Court Square a few blocks away.
