FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com DECEMBER 26, 2013 • The Queens Courier 3 ROLL CREDITS: RKO Keith sold for $30M Aereo flies from LIC BY MELIS A CHAN [email protected] Technology startup Aereo is leaving its Long Island City headquarters for a bigger space in Manhattan, the company announced last week. “Moving day! We’ve outgrown our space in #LIC. Heading across the river to new digs. We love ‘ya #Queens!” Aereo posted on its Twitter account December 20, along with a photo of its packed up office. Launched last February, Aereo enables customers to view live and recorded broadcast TV on Internet-connected devices. The company, sued by major broadcasters for copyright infringement, is undergoing a legal battle that may go to the US Supreme Court. “We are unwavering in our belief that Aereo’s technology falls squarely within the law and we look forward to continuing to delight our customers,” Founder and CEO Chet Kanojia said in a statement last Thursday. The company’s Twitter account said more updates on the expansion are coming soon. The growing online TV service company was based out of 37-18 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City and has another headquarters in Boston. It also maintains an office and operations facility in Brooklyn, an Aereo spokesperson said. The company, which employs more than 100 people, is expanding its national presence and launched in Baltimore this week. A leader in the Queens technology community said the move might have been caused by the lack of affordable commercial office space in Long Island City. “That’s something we need for the tech community to grow here,” said Jukay Hsu, founder of Coalition for Queens. “They’re BY MELIS A CHAN [email protected] The former RKO Keith’s movie house in Flushing has changed hands again. Developer Patrick Thompson has sold the historic theater site for $30 million to JK Equities, a private real estate company based in New York, a spokesperson for the new developers Aereo tweeted this photo of its packed up Queens office, along with its announcement of the move. an extremely innovative and fast-growing tech company. I know they were looking for more space. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find it here in Long Island City.” Coalition for Queens is a nonprofit, looking to transform the borough into Photo Courtesy of Twitter/@Aereo a leading hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. “I’m very sad to see them to go. They’re a great company, really forward thinking. We would have loved to keep them here in Queens,” Hsu said. said. “The offer was generous, and Patrick decided to sell,” said Michael Nussbaum, a former spokesperson for Thompson, who now represents JK Equities founder Jerry Karlik. “This project has been a long time coming,” Nussbaum said. “We’re hoping that this group will finally put a shovel in the ground.” Plans to build a 17-story mixeduse apartment tower at 135-35 Northern Boulevard remain the same, Nussbaum said. The 400,000-square-foot project still includes 357 rental apartments, 360 parking spaces, stores and a community center. JK Equities has also committed to restoring RKO Keith’s landmarked lobby. “The only thing that’s being changed is the ownership,” Nussbaum said. “This will be the tallest building in Flushing when it is completed. That building will just jump right out and give Flushing an incredible landscape.” The project to transform the long vacant and deteriorated building has been in the works for 25 years. This is the third title change since 2002, when notorious developer Thomas Huang sold the building he heavily damaged to real estate investor Shaya Boymelgreen. Boymelgreen later failed to make mortgage payments, allowing Thompson to buy the foreclosed property from the bank for $20 million in 2010. The theater opened in 1928. Witnessing the end of vaudeville, it closed in 1986. It is unclear when work will begin, Nussbaum said. THE COURIER/File rendering New developers will stick with a plan to build a 17-story mixed-use apartment tower at the former RKO Keith’s site. MORE SHOPS COULD BE COMING TO GLENDALE BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] A 350,000-square-foot shopping center could be coming to Glendale soon, according to a brochure by Schuckman Realty obtained by The Courier. The center will be located on 8200 Cooper Avenue, next to the The Shops at Atlas Park, and will be built in two phases. Phase one, which is expected to be completed by fall of 2015, consists of more than 137,000 square feet of retail space, 133,650 square feet of storage, about 500 free parking spots and outdoor seating areas. Phase two will have about 80,000 square feet of retail space and will be finished in spring, 2016. The proposed development will have three anchor tenants along with small stores, restaurants with outdoor seating and freestanding A Schuckman Realty informational packet shows plans to build a new shopping center in Glendale. buildings with drive-thrus. Some Glendale leaders and residents are worried the area will be inundated with traffic. “I don’t think it is a very good spot to put more shops. There is too much traffic,” said Michelle Cook-Lopez, a member of the Glendale Property Owners Association. “Personally I think we need more manufacturing jobs. We are losing that in Glendale.” Schuckman Realty did not return calls or emails for comment.
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