NEW YORK CITY-Based on a renewed confidence and rising demand for new multifamily product in the borough, the LeFrak Organization is planning to convert a 13-story office tower in Rego Park, Queens into a 108-unit luxury rental building, the Wall Street Journal reported. The project will be the company’s first New York City development in 28 years, after the family notably turned its attention to Jersey City’s Newport waterfront in the 1980s.
Richard LeFrak, chairman and CEO of the LeFrak Organization, tells the WSJ that the borough’s easy access to transportation, low vacancy rates and booming young and immigrant population is attracting the family back to Queens. In 1962, its third-generation company head Samuel LeFrak developed the landmark $125 million, 42-acre LeFrak City in Corona, a site that targeted the city’s working- and middle-class population. The property has 20, 16-story apartment buildings totaling 5,000 units.
At the same time, the article notes that the family is also shifting its focus from workforce housing development to luxury complexes like Newport, which now totals 14 million square feet of residential and commercial space. LeFrak says the company has other opportunities to develop in the borough, but would like to see how the Rego Park project “fares” due to high construction costs in New York City. To view the full article, click here.
LeFrak is a featured speaker at ALM Real Estate Media Group’s 10th Annual RealShare NewYork conference on Wednesday, October 12. To register, click here.
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