Elon Musk is reportedly planning to open a Tesla facility in Queens.
The electric car manufacturer leased the 150,000-square-foot space at 30-02 Whitestone Expwy. in College Point, according to an industrial report released earlier this month. The site was previously home to Toys “R” Us, Party WOW and the College Point Multiplex Cinemas.
After the theater was the last of the tenants to close its doors on May 5, a major demolition was planned for the lot. However, Triangle Equities, the real estate development firm that acquired the land in 2000, scrapped those plans in recent months, likely after Tesla expressed interest.
Their original plan, announced in Dec. 2023, was to develop a 425,000-square-foot multi-story logistics facility. They said the site was a prime location for such a facility, given its vicinity to major roadways leading to other boroughs, Long Island and Westchester.
According to the new report, the site will no longer be torn down and will instead be retrofitted into a two-story facility for Tesla. However, it’s unclear exactly what it will be used for exactly. Some speculate it will be a supercharging station, at least in some capacity.
According to The Real Deal, the College Point site will offer 700 parking spaces.
Tesla currently has a few showrooms and designated body shops in both Brooklyn and on Long Island, but none such locations exist in Queens. Given Tesla’s unique sales model of bypassing car dealerships, the company has been involved in several legal disputes in trying to expand its storefronts.
There are currently over a dozen charging stations, both regular and supercharged, scattered throughout the borough.
As part of a citywide investment into supercharging stations, the automaker also acquired a 40,037-square-foot lot in Maspeth earlier this year for $18 million.
Construction on the College Point facility will begin in the summer of 2025.
