School Construction Authority Relocating Office to 350K SF at One Court Square
By Mark Hallum October 3, 2022 2:16 pm
reprints
The New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) is migrating to the north side of Sunnyside Yards with a new office lease for 350,000 square feet at 1 Court Square, Commercial Observer has learned.
The city agency signed a 20-year lease to occupy 11 floors in the Long Island City, Queens, tower and will relocate from the nearby 30-30 Thomson Avenue by 2024, according to the landlord, Savanna.
Savanna declined to disclose the asking rents. It was a direct deal with no brokers, according to Savanna.
“The expiration of our previous lease gave us the opportunity to expand our office blueprint in order to manage a larger portfolio of projects to improve the quality of our school environments, reduce overcrowding, and ensure our school buildings and other facilities are in a state of good repair,” SCA CEO Nina Kubota said in a statement.
Kubota also noted that the relocation will provide the SCA’s workforce with better transit options with in-building access to the Court Square stop for the G and 7 trains, compared to the more sparse offerings surrounding the Feil Organization’s Queens Atrium at 30-30 Thompson where Feil provides shuttle service to nearby subway stations.
“Highly renovated assets that are properly improved and proximate to major subway and commuter hubs are attracting tenants and are able to capture demand in the market,” Brian Reiver, managing director at Savanna, said in a statement. “With the improvements made at 1 Court Square, the asset has benefited from the ‘flight-to-quality’ strategy tenants are focused on in today’s market.”
The SCA, which oversees the buildout of new public schools for the city, will occupy the sixth through 17th floors. The building was recently renovated to include a 150,000-square-foot retail annex where Target signed a 31,000-square-foot lease in June 2021, as well as efficiency and sustainability upgrades.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
