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Plans for a new five-story, last-mile distribution facility in Long Island City are coming together after the developer secured a hefty loan for its construction.
An affiliate of Starwood Property Trust is providing $155M to Innovo Property Group for the development at 23-30 Borden Ave., the developer announced Thursday. The building will span 900K SF, per the announcement, and replace a demolished FreshDirect warehouse with a multistory building with elevated truck courts and a vertical parking structure.
“This transaction supports our philosophy that there is significant value in Long Island City developments,” Innovo founder Andrew Chung said in a statement. “Industrial has been one of the best-performing sectors in real estate, driven by the significant increase in e-commerce spending. We believe that this expansive, state-of-the-art facility with on-site parking will be in high demand.”
Chung’s firm, which is backed by Nan Fung Group, bought the property in 2019 with Atalaya Capital Management, paying $75M. An Innovo spokesperson declined to comment when asked if the building has any tenants committed.
There have been few multistory warehouse developments in New York City, though they have emerged as a solution to providing high-density last-mile distribution of online purchases.
As the coronavirus pandemic has forced people into their homes, online shopping has leaped forward — and industrial assets are reaping the rewards. In the third quarter of last year, industrial leasing in the city was up 70% year-over-year. E-commerce giant Amazon is expanding at breakneck speed in the city, picking up at least nine new warehouses in the pandemic, per The New York Times.
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