North River Company (NRC) announced that Maquette, a New York-based fine art logistics company, has expanded within the company’s Long Island City portfolio.
Maquette signed a new 46,860 s/f lease at 48-49 35th Street, a three-story, 260,000 s/f warehouse originally built in 1949. The tenant also occupies 20,500 s/f at NRC’s property located at 33-02 48th Avenue in Long Island City.
The lease enhances Maquette’s position as a leader in the fine art logistics sector, offering installation, transport, shipping, packing and storage to some of the nation’s foremost museums, dealers and galleries.
“We are delighted to accommodate Maquette’s requirement in what is a very specialized field with space that is tailor-made to meet its demands, with high ceilings, large floor plates, ample natural light and direct loading, which was particularly appealing to the tenant,” said NRC director Forrest Mas, who, along with principal Chris Pachios, negotiated the new lease directly with the tenant.
The former Matsil Bros. apparel manufacturing facility, 48-49 35th Street was purchased by NRC in December 2018 with a view to growing the tenancy in a supply-constrained market. Current tenants include Motorola and Ralph Lauren.
NRC is continuing to market the 47,850 s/f third floor/penthouse of the property where the opportunity exists to create an accessible rooftop for a creative office tenant, or hybrid industrial user.
“The remaining availability includes up to 70,000 s/f of rooftop space with unobstructed views of Manhattan, large floor plates, great natural light and onsite parking that positions the remaining space as ideal for creative companies seeking a dramatic and highly functional environment,” said Mas.
“Long Island City continues to be desirable due to its proximity to Manhattan as well as its superior transit and road access. While the Amazon deal fell through, it endorsed Long Island City as a serious market alternative; as a result, tenant inspections are up, which will likely lead to significant leasing activity going forward.”
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, big names such as Lyft, Uber, Estée Lauder, Centene, Macy’s, Altice, and WeWork continue to establish or expand their presence.
Recently, Alexandria Real Estate Equities made a second Long Island City purchase with plans to redevelop the former Prestone Press printing property into a life sciences facility
