A new eight-story building planned for Long Island City will seek to attract retail and commercial tenants in a neighborhood that has seen a residential complex boom in the last few years.
Jackson Square, a development that will be built at 23-20 Jackson Ave., includes three floors dedicated to retail and five floors of space for commercial tenants. Jackson Square is located across the street from the Citigroup building and is currently a one-story structure.
According to its website, the building will include 53,329 square feet of space on the fourth through eighth floors for commercial tenants and 30,000 square feet on the first three floors for retail tenants. Each floor also features outdoor space.
The Vorea Group, which purchased a 99-year lease for the site last year, is trying to entice tenants by promoting Relocation and Employment Assistance Program tax credits, which the city gives to businesses when they relocate outside of Manhattan. Businesses are entitled to $3,000 for each employee, Real Estate Weekly first reported.
Garry Steinberg, managing director and principal of marketing firm Lee & Associates, told Real Estate Weekly that the building’s location offers many benefits to tenants looking to move in.
“Today’s Long Island City offers unparalleled access to four boroughs and two international airports for customer traffic,” he said. “In addition, the area has a rapidly growing, affluent residential population, as well as an expanding commercial sector.”
The city is looking to rezone the Court Square section of Long Island City in hopes to attract more commercial and retail tenants, arguing that more supply will drive down rent costs. But in a February community meeting to discuss the plan, longtime residents and business owners expressed fear that the rezoning would only bring in tenants looking to pay top dollar and make it more expensive to live and work in the area.
No plan has been filed for Jackson Square with the Department of Buildings as of yet.
