Tesla Signs 150K-SF Industrial Lease in College Point, Queens

Elon Musk isn’t putting down cash just for votes in Donald Trump’s favor. He’s also paying for an industrial property in College Point, Queens.

Tesla, the Musk-owned electric car manufacturer, signed a 150,000-square-foot deal with Triangle Equities at 30-02 Whitestone Expressway, a shopping center for now-shuttered chains such as Toys R Us, Party City and College Point Multiplex Cinemas, according to a third-quarter industrial report from JLL.

Terms of the deal were not available, but average industrial asking rent for outer borough industrial space was $33.63 per square foot in the third quarter, according to the report.

It’s not known how Tesla plans to use the property. Triangle Equities and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. JLL (JLL) — which did not have a hand in the deal — declined to comment. It’s unclear who brokered the lease.

Triangle had planned to demolish the property after the cinema closed in May, but decided on a renovation after the prospect of landing Tesla as a tenant became a viable option, according to the New York Business Journal, which first reported the deal.

The owner acquired the spot for $9.8 million in 2000 and secured a $50 million loan near the end of 2023 from Centennial Bank, presumably for the full redevelopment of the site that was planned at the time, according to property records.

Now, the renovation will create a two-story site for the sole tenant with 775 parking spaces, the Business Journal reported.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.