NYC Department of Environmental Protection Signs 155K-SF Lease in LIC
By Mark Hallum February 19, 2026 8:00 am
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The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is relocating its Queens offices and lab to a spot near the feculent shores of Newtown Creek, Commercial Observer has learned.
The city’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) arranged the 155,000-square-foot lease at Innovo Property Group’s 24-02 49th Avenue in Long Island City for a term of 20 years, according to sources familiar with the deal. The DCAS and DEP filed an application to relocate DEP’s lab facility to the property in September 2023.
The source did not disclose the asking rent in the building, also known as the Bridge, but the average asking rent for industrial properties in northwest Queens was $24.56 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to data from CoStar.
The DEP will relocate from a smaller, older facility at 59-17 Junction Boulevard in Flushing, which was “too small to fully accommodate DEP’s existing staff, new equipment, and storage space needs for lab supplies,” according to the 2023 filing. The DEP will be neighbors with the New York City Housing Authority in its new building.
Sources said that CBRE’s David Stockel and John Isaacs represented the tenant. CBRE also handled negotiations for the landlord, according to sources.
CBRE could not be reached for comment, while Innovo Property Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Newtown Creek flows into the East River at the spot marking the border between Brooklyn and Queens. The U.S. Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) is still working on remediations to the polluted waterway, a former maritime thoroughfare for the industries that used to line its banks.
About 15 years ago, the creek was declared a federal Superfund site, and the EPA is only recently making strides to clean up its eastern branch.
It’s unclear if DEP is moving to the new location to assist in that remediation effort. DCAS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
