Utility company Helix Gen Funding buys LIC power plant for $167M

UPDATED, 5:42 p.m. June 15: An affiliate of Midtown-based utility company LS Power paid $167.4 million for a large Long Island City site that is home to the Ravenswood Generating Station, according to property records filed with the city Thursday.

The lot at 37-20 37th Avenue, also known as 37-20 Vernon Boulevard, spans more than 1.1 million square feet, records show. Helix Gen Funding, a New Jersey-based arm of LS Power, closed on the purchase from the energy company TransCanada Facility USA earlier this month.

The buyer also secured a $160 million acquisition loan from Credit Suisse, records show. The company announced in November that it had agreed to acquire four generation facilities in the northeastern United States through Helix, which included the Queens facility and facilities in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Maine.

LS Power CEO Paul Segal said in a statement that the company is “committed to making this a smooth transition for the dedicated professionals operating these facilities and their communities.”

TransCanada used proceeds from the sales to fund its 2016 acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group, according to company spokeswoman Jennifer Link.

Long Island City has recently seen several deals and developments. Metropolitan Realty Associates purchased the industrial building at 48-49 35th Street for $55 million, and LargeVista Companies purchased the office building at 30-12 41st Avenue for $28 million.

(To view more new construction projects in Long Island City, click here)

This post was updated to include a response from TransCanada.