SI Developer Acquires Teleport I and II

NEW YORK CITY-The Nicotra Group is enlarging its Corporate Park of Staten Island with a pair of buildings across the street from the developer’s current holdings. Built in the 1980s as Teleport I and II by Murray Construction and Silverstein Properties, the two three-story properties on South Avenue will now be known as Corporate Commons, following the Wednesday closing of Nicotra’s $25-million purchase.

Richard Nicotra, co-chair of the Staten Island-based company, tells GlobeSt.com that the two properties–totaling 286,000 square feet–will be 100% available when sole tenant AT&T’s 20-year lease expires at the end of December. The telecommunications giant–which coincidentally announced Thursday that it would lay off 12,000 employees–hasn’t occupied the space in seven years, he says.

The first order of business will be a $10-million to $15-million renovation on the two properties. “We’re starting on that today,” Nicotra says. A designer has been brought in to revamp the lobbies and landscaping as well as any systems upgrades. On the latter count, not much work may be necessary, he explains, saying “These buildings were designed in conjunction with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, so there is redundancy” on their operating systems. The space within the two buildings–with floorplates as large as 58,000 square feet–can also be divided depending on tenant needs.