It’s a different kind of union deal.
A property located at 48-18 Van Dam St. in Long Island City was recently purchased by pension funds Local 27 IBT and Local 813 IBT, who hope to lease out the space and also make it their new home.
Local 813 represents New York and metropolitan area employees in the private sanitation, funeral, demolition, rental car, the paper and corrugated, and the factory and warehouse industries. Local 183 and Local 27 merged in the 1990s.
The two-story, 55,000-square-foot property is bounded by 48th and Hunters Point avenues and in between the Long Island Expressway and Queens Boulevard. According to Louis Puopolo, who represented the buyer and is co-head of operations at Douglas Elliman Commercial, the buyer is looking to provide commercial opportunities to an area that is dominated by residential and office construction.
“The buyer was keenly aware of the fact that the supply of quality commercial product would continue to shrink due to the rapid pace of residential, hotel and office construction in the nearby Court Square and Hunters Point neighborhoods,” Puopolo said. “In recognizing the growth of Long Island City, Locals 27 and 813 now have the unique advantage of controlling costs by owning their own space and creating value for the organization and their membership.”
According to the Commercial Observer, Environetics has been hired as the architect. The first floor will be dedicated to retail space while the second floor will be office space. There are currently three companies leasing space within the building, taking up about 17,000 square feet.
Local 813 IBT Pension Fund is currently headquartered in a suite at 45-18 Court Sq.
