The Jacx, center, pictured with Jackson Park (left) and 2 Gotham. (Photo: Jesse David Harris)
Jan. 22, 2019 By Nathaly Pesantez
A large primary care practice will soon open in Long Island City, making it one of the first of its kind to open in the rapidly growing neighborhood.
NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine have signed a 15-year lease for a multispecialty practice at The Jacx, a two-tower development rising at 28-07 Jackson Ave. in Queens Plaza, and set to be completed this summer.
The 26-story towers—One Jackson and Three Jackson—are connected by a four-story base.
The Jacx (Photo: Jesse David Harris)
The state-of-the-art medical center will span 28,000 square feet at One Jackson, taking over the eastern half of the second base floor and leading to a street level entrance.
The practice will be served by Weill Cornell Medicine physicians, and marks one of the few health care service providers in southwest Queens.
Tishman Speyer, the firm behind The Jacx, said the facility will serve Long Island City’s growing residential and commercial populations.
The need for health service providers in the area has long been recognized, with Community Board 2 consistently ranking the lack of health care services as one of the most pressing issues facing the area.
“Southwest Queens lacks a primary care medical facility and outpatient clinics to serve the medical needs of Community Board 2’s increasing population,” reads part of the fiscal year 2019 district needs statement. “Queens residents travel to Manhattan or to Eastern Queens to receive specialized medical services.”
The board noted that a health care survey by the Floating Hospital of New York determined Long Island City to be one of the most critically underserved communities in the city.
The Hunters Point neighborhood and areas south of the Queensborough Bridge, where most of Long Island City’s newest development is happening, currently have a mix of urgent care centers and small medical practices. A Weill Cornell-affiliated practice is presently located at 50th Avenue, but only provides pediatrics and internal medicine care.
NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine did not respond to additional questions about the practice by press time.
The medical practice lease was among the final agreements that filled all of The Jacx’s 1.2 million square feet.
Macy’s, which was initially supposed to occupy 567,000 square feet at the development for its corporate and support teams, recently tacked on another 300,000 square feet as part of a 20-year lease.
The new agreement means the department store giant will occupy all 22 floors of One Jackson, as well as the third and fourth floor’s of the development’s base, each measuring 90,000 square feet.
Bloomingdale’s, which is owned by Macy’s, will occupy the top 11 floors at Three Jackson. WeWork, which announced four years ago that it would expand into The Jacx, will be taking up floors five through 15 at Three Jackson.
The development will also house more than 50,000 square feet of street-level retail that includes a boutique gym, a food hall and a gourmet market.
Tenants are expected to move into The Jacx in late 2019 and continue throughout the first half of 2020.
“Our ability to pre-lease most of The JACX prior to construction and all of the space prior to completion firmly demonstrates Long Island City’s viability as an office hub and a magnet for today’s creative workforce,” said Rob Speyer, president and CEO of Tishman Speyer.
The firm already has a significant imprint in Long Island City, especially in the Queens Plaza area. Jackson Park, a three-tower luxury development just across the street from The Jacx, was recently completed. Two Gotham Center, around the corner from The Jacx and home to the city’s Department of Health, was completed in 2011.
The two-tower development, according to Tishman Speyer, marks the single largest addition to Queens’ office inventory since 1990.
