After 10 months on the market, the largest development site in Queens has found a buyer in Barone Management, according to the Times Ledger. The Whitestone-based construction and development firm has put down a deposit on the site and expects to take full title to it within 60 days.
The site comprises 12.8 acres on the Whitestone waterfront, at 151-45 Sixth Road. It was listed by Massey Knakal Realty Services on behalf of a group of lenders that foreclosed on the Bayrock Group, which purchased the land for $25.75 million in 2005.
Bayrock won approval to build 52 single-family homes on the former manufacturing site provided it developed a waterfront park on the additional 5.7 acres of underwater property that is included in the parcel.
Barone, whose purchase price was not disclosed, intends to see those plans to fruition. As previously reported, several obstacles on the site led industry insiders to believe the site would be sold at a discount.
“In a perfect world, development will begin in the middle of next year,” Scott Barone told the Times Ledger.
But before construction can begin, State Sen. Tony Avella is demanding the soil on the property be reexamined. Barone’s construction division was hired to clean up the soil, intoxicated by its industrial past, and completed the job last year before the property was marketed. Still, lawmakers are calling for it to be double-checked. [Times-Ledger] — Adam Fusfeld