July 9, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
Citigroup has sold a nearly one-acre lot in Court Square for $143 million, according to City records.
Consisting of nine parcels – which are mostly vacant or industrial properties – the development site lies between 44th Road and 44th Drive next door to the CUNY School of Law and across the street from the Citi tower.
Citigroup made headlines in February when the site was put on the market.
According to published reports, the site offers roughly 780,000 square feet of developable land. It is zoned in a commercial district that allows retail, residential, hotels and some manufacturing.
One of the buyers listed in Department of Finance documents is Jia Shu Xu, a Flushing-based developer of C&G Empire Realty, who has a handful of projects planned throughout the borough.
The buyers’ attorney did not respond to calls or emailed requests for comment.
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4 Comments
Megan,
I couldn’t agreed more – our beloved little neighborhood has become a major throughfare for the privileged and yuppies who appeared overnight. There are hardly any anemnties for the area like supermarket, dry cleaners, gym, but yet the greedy developers keep on building because there is no money to be made if you build community projects that will enhance the area. It’s time for me to move – sadly!
31 years ago, I purchased an 1880’s former NYC firehouse in Dutch Kills (LIC North). After years of weathering the bad years of prostitution and drugs and unusable public schools. Finally things settled down and our community could relax and enjoy our wonderful, sweet neighborhood in such a great location. Then in 2006 The City came to the Dutch Kills Civic leadership “Bearing gifts” by way of taking Dutch Kills through over a year process of re-zoning. Ostensibly the Community was to be listened to and the plans for the new zoning would reflect the community’s interests, or so we were promised. We wanted more residential development, but we wanted to still maintain a low scale residential area, limiting the worst of the Industrial/commercial enterprises (wholesale Halal Butchers, hundreds more car repairs and bodywork joints, toxic dry cleaning plants, abandoned factories etc.) .
9 months before the ratification of the rezoning, City Planning made HUGE announcements everywhere stating that NO MORE HIGH RISE COMMERCIAL Buildings would be permitted. Residential building was barely addressed or encouraged except to limit heights. By the way with the exception of some Grand 1930’s buildings on Qns Plaza, there were NO high Rise Commercial buildings and NONE in Dutch Kills at all to ban. so what were they limiting???. By making this announcement, there was a RUSH to build HIGH RISE COMMERCIAL buildings. ALL of them to be hotels.
We need amenities in Dutch Kills, we begged for shops and restaurants, we got 18 high rise Hotels piercing the sky and blocking our light. 18 thirty+ story hotels in an 8 block radius. How about that? millions of meetings and promises that City Planning would listen to what THE COMMUNITY wanted. Amanda Burden was the Commissioner of City Planning and the head of the City Planning Commission. Speaking with her was like speaking with Marie Antoinette. So pompous and condescending. our community was ripped apart by this nutty plan. instead of “Let them eat cake!” Burden’s basically said to us,”Let them eat 18 hotels!”
Do beware of The City bearing gifts in the form of re-zoning.
Please no more residential. We need commercial.
I bet whatever they build is goin’ to be sweet!