NYC Schools Construction Authority Buys $24M Jamaica Parking Lot for High School
By Mark Hallum January 25, 2022 1:29 pm
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The New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) has purchased a parking lot in Jamaica, Queens for $24 million to build a 801-seat high school on, according to city records.
The SCA picked up 164-16 Hillside Avenue from the family of Bernard Dowd of Manhasset section of Long Island, N.Y., who acquired the land at an auction from New York City in 1990 for about $625,000 and passed away in 2018, according to property records filed on Monday.
The Dowd family declined to comment. A spokesperson for the SCA said the agency purchased the lot to build an 801-seat high school that will open in September 2026, as part of a broader plan to ease crowding of students at Queens high schools with the addition of approximately 6,200 seats across the borough.
The new school will be located just four blocks from Hillcrest High School. The SCA is planning a flurry of projects in Queens in the coming years including an annex to the Francis Lewis High School that will add 555 seats in 2022, an annex to Cardozo High School with 795 seats in 2023 and the expansion of the Northern Boulevard High School with 3,066 new seats, set to finish in 2025.
Savills confirmed that their firm represented the SCA in the deal.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
