FreshDirect lists massive LIC site ahead of Bronx move

Online grocer FreshDirect is gearing up for its move to the South Bronx and has listed its current waterfront complex in Long Island City.

The facility, at 23-30 Borden Avenue, consists of manufacturing and storage space. FreshDirect is hoping to sell it to a buyer who is willing to lease it back to them for a year while they transition to the Bronx, the Queens Courier reported. The building has about 276,705 square feet of space and 406,552 buildable square feet.

This type of space is in high demand right now, according to Bob Knakal, chair of New York investment sales for Cushman & Wakefield. He is heading up the marketing effort with David Chkheidze.

“In recent years, the progression of the New York City real estate market has exerted upward pressure on the value of repositioning the city’s once-thriving industrial, warehouse and manufacturing properties,” Knakal told the newspaper. “As a result, the demand for this product type has never been greater and continues to attract the attention of a rapidly transforming distribution industry.”

FreshDirect broke ground on its Bronx facility in December. The online grocer won a lawsuit against a community group fighting its relocation. [Queens Courier] — Tess Hofmann