The building at 27-01 Bridge Plaza North is only one of several sites…
By Dustin Brown
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is “strongly looking at” a former manufacturing site in Long Island City to house offices for 1,000 employees, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
The building at 27-01 Bridge Plaza North is only one of several sites MetLife is considering for the new office complex, which will accommodate employees being moved from the company’s Manhattan headquarters, spokesman John Calagna said. The company plans to announce its final choice within the next two weeks.
“At this point we’re very hopeful the lease for the building will be completed in short order,” Calagna said.
In a deal announced Jan. 23, MetLife agreed to lease a portion of its Manhattan office space to Credit Suisse First Boston starting in the fall.
The company’s corporate headquarters will remain at One Madison Avenue, but 1,700 employees will be moved to other sites throughout the region. Only 500 MetLife employees will be left at the Manhattan site by the time the move is completed in October 2003.
he company has spent the past six months researching possible sites to which it could move employees displaced by the Credit Suisse deal. The currently vacant Long Island City building, owned by Brause Realty, was formerly used for automobile and plane manufacturing.
“We are strongly looking at the site as one of the possibilities for a solution,” Calagna said. “The building right now is completely gutted, and so it would be changed significantly from a manufacturing-type of building to office space.”
The Long Island City area is already the focus of a redevelopment effort which would transform 37 blocks into a major business district through rezoning and capital improvements.
“It’s a lot of jobs, and they’re considering it in an area that’s going through a lot of change, rezoning, and upscale usage,” said Dan Andrews, spokesman for Borough President Claire Shulman. “We would welcome them to be a part of that mix.”
With its easy access to eight subway lines and proximity to the company’s Manhattan offices, the Long Island City location would be a short commute for employees, most of whom live in the five boroughs.
Calagna said MetLife has been discussing the deal with city and state officials, including Shulman.
“We are working with a number of agencies to support the company in terms of its consideration of coming here,” Andrews said.
Reach Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
