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Sixty-room hotel planned for LIC

32-47 Queens Boulevard

 
A Queens family bought a two-story building on a 10,000-square-foot corner lot in Long Island City for $3.8 million, according to the broker on the sale, and plans to build a 60-room hotel at the site.

The 14,375-square-foot building at 32-47 Queens Boulevard at 33rd Street was occupied by scaffold supply company Scaffolding Solutions, which vacated the property a day before the October 7 closing, said Stephen Preuss, a director of sales in the Queens office of Massey Knakal Realty Services, who brokered the deal.

The buyer was the Chen family, owner and operator of two Flushing hotels, Preuss said. The sellers were principals in the scaffold business, he added.

The site is east of Queens Plaza, which is nearby the future home of two boutique hotels and a budget hotel. Two blocks west of the Chen site, Sam Chang opened a Days Inn at 31-36 Queens Boulevard last year.

The Chens expect to demolish the building in the next six to 12 months and build a hotel of at least three stories, Preuss said. The family will own and operate the hotel, which will likely offer limited services, he noted. The Chens have not yet filed demolition or new building plans with the city.

The Chens "are looking to capitalize on the growth of Long Island City and Astoria, and catch some of the crowd that doesn't want to pay $300 to $400 a night in Manhattan," he said. The site is across the street from the 33 Street/Rawson Street stop on the No. 7 train.