In its first project outside Manhattan in a decade, World-Wide Group is pouring $157 million into a luxury rental project near the Queensboro Bridge in an area of Queens where several towers are now rising.
The World-Wide Group has started construction on its first residential project outside of Manhattan in 10 years. The developer is pouring $157 million into a 421-unit luxury rental project in the Queens Plaza North section of Long Island City, Queens.
Apartments in the 21-story building at 41-50 24th St., between 41st Avenue and 42nd Road, will range from studios to three bedrooms. The project has been financed by German lender Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen Girozentrale. World-Wide is one of several rental developments rising in the neighborhood, just north of the Queensboro Bridge. Among others, Property Markets Group announced plans for a 410-unit rental building on 42nd Road, and Meadow Partners said it will convert a commercial building on Crescent Street into a new residential and retail project.
“We like to be on the rising tide of development,” said Rachel Loeb, director of development at The World-Wide Group, who was a Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2011. “We believe in this area of Queens as a residential market.”
The developer bought the 24th Street site last year for $28.9 million, according to public city records. The new property is expected to be completed in 18 months. Rents have yet to be set.
Current average rent for a studio in the Queens Plaza area is $1,990 a month, $2,750 for one-bedroom, and $3,750 for two-bedrooms, according to Jodi Stasse, managing director for new developments at brokerage Citi Habitats. She will be marketing 88 units at the third of four buildings of the roughly 400-unit Packard Square development nearby on Crescent Street that will open in the next few months. The 227 units in the first two buildings are fully leased.
“We will price it to where the market is,” said Ms. Loeb, who believes that despite all the new projects coming onto the market, apartments will be absorbed due to high demand and the area’s accessibility to Manhattan. She notes that eight subway lines are within a five-block radius from World-Wide’s new development, which will boast more than 25,000 square feet of amenities, including a landscaped roof deck with an outdoor pool. The building will also have 8,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
Rabina Properties and Cammeby’s International Group are partners in the project with World-Wide, which has developed more than $3 billion worth of luxury residential properties in Manhattan. Most recently, it completed condo projects Casa 74 at 255 E. 74th St. and the Milan Condominium at 300 E. 55th St., both in Manhattan.