Innovo Property Group (IPG), the investment and operating company founded by Andrew Chung and backed by Nan Fung Group, has closed a $438 million recapitalization of 24-02 49th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens.
IPG previously owned the property with Westbrook Partners and recapitalized the asset through an equity joint venture with Nan Fung Group as well as debt from Axonic Capital and affiliates of Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company. Athene is a retirement services company affiliated with Apollo Global Management.
IPG acquired the 830,000 s/f seven-story building with Westbrook just over three years ago in July 2016 for $195 million.
The property, which was a former Bloomingdale’s warehouse, features up to 24 ft. ceilings, over 100,000 s/f floorplates, a 20,000 s/f parking lot and potential for private indoor and outdoor amenity spaces.
In December 2017, IPG and Westbrook signed the building’s main tenant, the New York City Housing Authority, to a new, over 30-year lease for 600,000 s/f. PG and Westbrook created a commercial condominium for NYCHA to occupy 100 percent of its condo unit and began a substantial capital improvement program, upgrading the former warehouse into modern, Class-A office space.
The building’s enhanced infrastructure will be able to support various uses such as biotech, life sciences, medical research and education along with traditional office.
The building’s renovation project is nearly complete and IPG will soon be in the market to lease the remaining available space, approximately 230,000 s/f that includes the building’s top two floors and ground floor retail.
The available space is its own commercial condominium unit and designed to be a “building within a building” featuring a private ground floor lobby and amenity space, dedicated loading docks, parking, exclusive freight and passenger elevators, as well as roof access.
“This is a unique opportunity for tenants seeking a headquarters and/or campus feel right outside of Manhattan,” said Paul Amrich of CBRE, who has been engaged by IPG to market the space for lease.
“It is extremely rare to find floor plates this large and so well located to transportation. In addition, ownership has thoughtfully constructed a new private entrance, lobby and vertical transportation which allows a tenant to create a significantly branded building-within-a-building, not to mention the two remaining floors are at the top of the building.”
