QNE_p069

QC04232015

REAL ESTATE York business school gets new center Rendering courtesy of York College York College’s Academic Village and Conference Center. Irregularly shaped block with development potential for sale BY LIAM LA GUERRE lguerre@queenscourier.com @LiamLaGuerre That’s one tasty looking block for investors. A pizza-slice-shaped block in Ridgewood with two one-story buildings is being marketed for about $5 million as the real estate market in the neighborhood continues to boom, following recent big transactions and plans to construct large developments. The small block is a triangle formed at the intersection of Fresh Pond Road and Cypress Hills Street, with 70th Avenue to the south. Currently, the approximately 6,733-square-foot lot holds a laundromat and a café. What may be particularly attractive to investors is that the property has a residential zoning and an extra 7,366 square feet of additional air rights, and can go up to a maximum height of 50 feet, or about fi ve stories. The price breaks down to nearly $360 per buildable square foot for the property, which is much higher than the average of about $220 in Ridgewood, according to broker John Gonsalves of Greiner Maltz Investment Properties. However, the property has already received many offers as that price is still relatively low compared to other parts of the city. “We have received several full-priced offers. I thought it was a little rich for the market but apparently the market thought otherwise,” Gonsalves said. “There is defi nitely a lot of interest from Brooklyn and Manhattan investors. They see Ridgewood as a steal.” Another reason for the $5 million price tag is that the buildings are already fully leased with retail tenants, and those properties tend to traded higher in the neighborhood, Gonsalves said. He added that one interested real estate investor is a developer who has had projects in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and sees the opportunity with this property to collect rent from the retail tenants for a few years before developing it when values in the neighborhood increase. The laundromat, which has a threeyear lease, and the café combine to give possible owners a net income of more than $200,000 annually. The building is a few blocks away from the Fresh Pond Road M train subway station to the north, and not far from the Myrtle Avenue commercial strip to the south, making it attractive for possible future residents. Photo courtesy of Greiner Maltz Investment Properties BY LIAM LA GUERRE lguerre@queenscourier.com/@LiamLaGuerre Now that the city has launched its Jamaica Now Action Plan to revitalize the neighborhood, more and more businesses are expected to migrate to the area. York College, a City University of New York (CUNY) institution that has a 50-acre campus in downtown Jamaica, is hoping to be an incubator and usher in new companies to the neighborhood, and also partner with them for the benefi t of students. The school has already been negotiating with businesses looking to move to and grow in Jamaica through Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s STARTUP NY tax-free program. In addition to York’s business networking, the school plans to add a nine-story, 162,988-square-foot Academic Village and Conference Center (AVCC) in the near future. The center will further promote business as it will be anchored by the School of Business at York, providing the next generation of managers, company owners and entrepreneurs with modern classrooms and more services. The new building, which was approved by the CUNY board of trustees back in 2011, will replace the aging 4,000-square-foot Classroom Building at 94-43 159th St., which was the fi rst structure built on York’s campus. Updated renderings of the Ennead Architects-designed center reveal a modern glassy exterior. School offi cials believe it will revolutionize the experience at York not only because of its appearance, but also because of the various amenities in the building. In addition to the business school, the building will house a bookstore, student common and recreation spaces, a conference center and some administrative offi ces. “It will sort of serve as our front door,” said York College President Marcia Keizs. “It will really be, in our minds, a critical facility for us.” Permits have yet to be fi led for the new structure with the Department of Buildings, and the project still needs more funding, according to Keizs. She added that an anticipated completion date has not been decided.


QC04232015
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