Revel Leases Queens Space to Build EV Charging Station Outside LaGuardia
By Mark Hallum March 6, 2024 4:31 pm
reprints
Revel has leased the site of a former hotel in Northwest Queens to build a station to give electric vehicles 48 new spaces to recharge.
The electric mobility company signed a 15-year, 26,520-square-foot lease for the development rights at 90-10 Ditmars Boulevard, owned by Barone Management, near LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in East Elmhurst, Queens, according to the tenant.
Revel did not disclose the asking rent for the location, which is at the site of the shuttered Marriott LaGuardia Hotel on the opposite side of Grand Central Parkway from the airport.
It plans to use the site to build an electric vehicle charging station open to the public. Revel expects to open the station in early 2025, according to the company.
“Airport rides are critical to any ride-share business, and there’s no way to achieve New York’s 2030 electrification goals without reliable fast charging available to the drivers delivering those trips,” Frank Reig, Revel’s CEO, said in a statement. “Revel’s LGA site, which will be the single largest public fast-charging station by any airport in the country, will allow thousands more drivers to electrify.”
Revel’s station will take over the hotel, which had been vacant since 2018 and was sold for $53 million to a person named Kenny Huang, The Real Deal reported in December 2022.
Kassin Sabbagh Realty’s (KSR) Mark Gallucci and George Skaliarinis represented Revel in the deal.
“We would note that this is a pivotal transaction that will continue to fuel our targeted expansion efforts in the NY Metro area,” the KSR brokers said in a statement.
The deal, however, is part of a larger mission to widen the availability of electric vehicle charging stations throughout New York City by 2030 when, under rules of the Green Rides Initiative, all ride-share trips will be required to be in either all-electric or wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
“The convenience of these 48 public EV chargers will encourage more drivers accessing our airport to go electric, particularly ride-share drivers that are a key piece of making our transportation network cleaner and greener,” Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a statement.
Revel is making an effort to create 500 electric vehicle charging spots in New York City and San Francisco by the end of 2025, and has partnered with Uber to bring stations online. So far in the five boroughs, there are 25 EV chargers in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; 15 in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and 14 chargers in Long Island City, according to Revel.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
