The Wall St. Journal and Curbed report this building, which we believe is the one that houses the Tung Shing House chinese restaurant, is being converted into luxury rentals by the LeFrak family, in their first project in Queens in nearly three decades.
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I passed by and they were redoing the exterior facade and windows which was still underway last I looked.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if they finished yet, but the new windows are a lot nicer looking and clean up that area.
I knew something was up and this is old news since the construction was ongoing for awhile. I did not realize it was conversions from office to residential but I guess I didn't really care one way or the other.
It freshens up that section.
Hopefully that helps start regentrification of the area.
ReplyDeleteA: There was and is way too much office space in the community especially with very large tenants moving out of other better locations.
ReplyDeleteB: The conversion will provide Residential housing which will contribute much better to the local community. Residential fits into that section very nicely and it should also be an improvement in marketshare for the local businesses as well.
For Lefrak who had existing ownership of this facility, the conversion was one of those smart business sense ideas all around. There is simply too much office space in the area and Residential will be a winner all around.
If someone wanted office space, there is plenty of space in the Forest Hills Tower and other more desirable prime locations.
Years ago before we had a glut of office space, this could have made sense but today converting this to residential is great all around. Hopefully businesses like the Tung Shing House aren't seeing rent increases especially because Lefrak should see more profit come in with residential than office space.
Hopefully this deal is a winner for everyone.
With the conversion from triple pane to single pane windows that I saw months ago I should have realized then it was residential but I didn't put the two together till I saw this article. Not surprised. The new windows are making the building look much nicer as well.
The structure of this facade is also very modular design in nature.
ReplyDeleteI admit I would not call this building a Luxury building in any way considering the structure of the existing building and the materials used.
However the exterior on this building is quite easy from an engineering standpoint to redo the exterior in a manner which also better suits the community needs. So its a true facelift for the building along with the conversion.
Rentals? No more condo's it seems. Is it that people no longer wish to buy and own their apartment? How does this affect the co-op and condo market in the area?
ReplyDeleteRentals are more profitable than Condos. Rental buildings can go co-op or condo in the future depending on the markets.
ReplyDeleteBut right now you would do a rental conversion first which is the smarter approach in this economy and market.
Queens happens to be short on rentals.
ReplyDeleteIn this area from Rego Park to Forest Hills, office space is not in any shortage.
However housing is in short supply at the moment and there isn't enough rental units which is the most profitable for the landlords.
So this conversion from office to residential rental is not unsurprising.
When they started redoing the windows on the exterior, the office space market was soft and there was an over abundence of office space in the region and market.
Actually, there are certain areas which are short of space and in certain areas.
ReplyDeleteBut for generic office space in Rego Park especially with the shopping in that area, the landlord owner Lefrak felt it was better to convert to rentals since it would lead to more income.
The section is right by the Rego Park mall shopping area which hasn't built additional housing.
So Lefrak was in a unique situation to boost profit margins with a conversion and also fill a niche and give the community something that makes sense all around from the renters to business owners and more which will see more consistent traffic in that neighborhood.
Office space is more transient in nature and there is plenty of generic office space available as large tenants have moved out.
If Im renting office space and I saw that building vs the Forest Hills Tower which has oodles of space available with huge tenants moving out, I would definitely go for the nicer Forest Hills Office Tower.
Its use for Office Space in that location isn't needed and there is too much supply of office space on Queens Boulevard while a shortage in rentals. So the swap is good and needed.
As far as the Condo poster: If a Condo was built, it would be the completion of the highrise at the Rego Park Mall at a future date if a Condo was needed and the market was doing well.
ReplyDeleteThat is where a condo belongs if it was worthwhile.