In the first major transaction of its new floor-by-floor leasing program at Forest Hills Tower, Muss Development has signed Plaza College to a long-term, 40,000 s/f lease to serve as its main campus.
The college will relocate its main campus from Jackson Heights to a portion of the ground floor and the entire second floor. It will have a separate, dedicated entrance on Queens Boulevard and exclusive use of the private courtyard in the rear of the building. The academic center will move into its new campus in September 2014, pending build-out of the space, in advance of its 100-year anniversary celebration in 2016.
The lease marks a shift at the 17-story, 375,000 s/f tower located at 118-35 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills.
Last year the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) signed a 200,000 s/f lease to serve as its regional headquarters in response to Superstorm Sandy.
But now that FEMA — which will retain a presence at Forest Hills Tower — has begun to give back much of its space in the building, Muss is negotiating with several new tenants.
“Our decision to shift to a floor-by-floor leasing campaign is already paying tremendous dividends,” said Jason Muss, principal of Muss Development.
“FEMA has been an excellent tenant. Their presence also gave us the time and opportunity to re-think the best way to maximize our opportunities at Forest Hills Tower. We are seeing strong demand for single and partial-floor leases.”
Ken Siegel, Bill Korchak, and Kyle Crennan, of Jones Lang LaSalle, represented Muss Development in the new transaction. Roy Chipkin, of CBRE, represented Plaza College.
