■REAL ESTATE BY LIAM LA GUERRE lguerre@queenscourier.com I @LiamLaGuerre Rendering courtesy Emmes Asset Management Construction to transform the old LIC zipper factory is underway It’s in raw condition now, but owners of the former Waldes zipper factory in Long Island City are planning to unzip its potential as a retail and office hub. Renovation of the four-story industrial building at 47-16 Austell Pl. has begun after Emmes Asset Management bought it earlier this year for $13.5 million. By the end of summer it will have a finished lobby with cobblestone flooring to match the cobblestone streetscape of Austell Place. The facade of the 56,500-square-foot building is being modernized, and local artists will have the opportunity to decorate the exterior. The elevator is being upgraded and another one will be added in the structure, which is being called Offices at Austell. New windows are being installed throughout the building and concrete floors will be polished. An official completion date wasn’t given yet for the entire building. JRT Realty and Cushman & Wakefield are handling marketing. The ground floor will have 10,000 square feet available for a mix of retail, such as a potential brewery, restaurant or coffee shop. Owners hope to attract students from nearby LaGuardia Community College, and commuters from the Hunters Point Avenue LIRR and 7 subway train stations with the retail options, in addition to employees in the building. The three remaining floors each have 15,500 square feet of space with 13- to 15-foot-high ceilings and open floor plans. There is also a large rooftop space with views of the Manhattan skyline, but the company doesn’t have any specific plans for the outdoor space yet. About $35 per square feet is the asking price for space in Offices at Austell, according to a representative for the owner, which is about the same in similarly converted The Factory and Falchi buildings a short distance away. The building on Austell Place isn’t the only one that Emmes is converting in Queens. Last year, the Manhattan-based firm paid about $30 million to buy Astoria events hall Studio Square from S Hospitality Group and converted it to Offices at the Square, a mixed-use office and commercial space. NEW RENDERINGS FOR HALLETS POINT DEVELOPMENT REVEALED Renderings and details for the first building of the Durst Organization’s Hallets Point development project in Astoria were revealed. The structure will consist of two 20-story structures emerging from a podium, as reported by New York YIMBY. The Dattner Architects designed buildings will feature views of the waterfront and a large-scale rooftop space for residents. The first structure has a 2017 opening date. The overall 2.5-million-square-foot Hallets Point project includes 2,400 units with 483 affordable apartments in multiple residential buildings, with retail space, a supermarket, a school and a public waterfront promenade. Durst purchased a controlling interest in the project from Lincoln Equities Group, the original developer, for more than $100 million last year. The company paid $15 million for the final parcel of land at 1-02 26th Ave. which it needed for the huge project, according to city records filed in February. The Hallets Point project is one of two mega developments on the Astoria waterfront. The other, called Astoria Cove, was passed by the City Council last year. It includes more than 1,700 units, of which 27 percent will be affordable housing. Rendering courtesy Dattner Architects
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