Nonprofit Group for the Blind Buys 138K-SF Queens Building for NYC HQ
By Liam La Guerre June 19, 2017 12:42 pm
reprints
Alphapointe, a nonprofit that strives to help blind people find work, has purchased a building at 87-46 123rd Street in the Richmond Hill section of Queens for $21.9 million, the company has announced.
The 138,000-square-foot building between 89th and Jamaica Avenues will become the New York City headquarters for the organization, which is Gotham’s largest employer of blind and visually impaired people. The seller of the property was Michael Hamroff.
The organization currently rents 100,000 square feet at 3611 14th Avenue in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn for office, factory and warehouse space. It plans to relocate more than 200 employees, 130 of which are blind, to the new location in Queens.
Alphapointe, a Kansas City-based organization that merged with New York City Industries for the Blind in 2014, had been looking for a new home in the Big Apple that it could stay in long-term. It hopes to start moving in later this month and complete the relocation by September of next year.
“Our goal has always been to find a sustainable permanent home in New York so we would not have to spend our funds on ever-increasing rent,” Reinhard Mabry, the president and chief executive officer of Alphapointe, said in prepared remarks. “But we had to wait until we could find a space that is accessible and a good place to work for our employees while also allowing us to grow.”
The new location will have offices, a manufacturing facility that specializes in janitorial and office supplies, a contract sewing department, a call center and a warehouse. Alphapointe plans to renovate the new property to the tune of $3 million to $5 million, employing a contemporary design, signs for navigation and a sensory garden, where employees and guests can socialize.
Hamroff did not immediately return requests for comment.
