California firm spends $72M on trio of Queens dev sites

LBA Realty purchased three sites along Grand Avenue in Maspeth

54-15, 55-15, 56-19 Grand Avenue and David Thomas of LBA Realty (Credit: Google Maps and LinkedIn)
54-15, 55-15, 56-19 Grand Avenue and David Thomas of LBA Realty (Credit: Google Maps and LinkedIn)

A California-based company has purchased three development sites spanning roughly 385,000 square feet for $72 million.

LBA Realty bought the properties 54-15, 55-15 and 56-19 Grand Avenue in Maspeth from buyers including Cascades Containerboard Packaging and Star Corrugated Box Co., according to property records.

LBA is a real estate investment and management company that focuses on office and industrial properties. The company owns more than 13 million square feet of office space and more than 26 million square feet of industrial space in the western United States, and the Queens purchase appears to be its first in New York City, according to its website.

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LBA did not respond to a request for comment about its plans for the properties. The company, based in Orange County, purchased 4440 E. 26th Street in Downtown Los Angeles for about $29 million in May  and is also behind LA’ One Culver project, where tenants including WeWork and Equinox have signed leases.

54-15 Grand Avenue is currently vacant land, while 55-15 and 56-19 Grand Avenue are occupied by commercial and industrial facilities, according to property records.

Prologis recently backed out of its deal to pay $265 million for a FedEx warehouse in Maspeth, while UPS made a triple-net-lease deal late last year for a 475,000-square-foot warehouse in the neighborhood at 50-02 55th Avenue.