Citigroup looks to sell massive LIC development site

Parcel offers nearly 800K buildable sf and could sell for $140M-plus

From left: Court Square development site, surrounding area and Jon Caplan
From left: Court Square development site, surrounding area and Jon Caplan

Citigroup is offering the fee simple interest for a Long Island City Island development site just north of One Court Square that offers nearly 780,000 buildable square feet, The Real Deal has learned. The site could fetch north of $140 million, or roughly $180 per square foot, based on area land prices, according to sources familiar with the listing.

The 36,000-square-foot site spans half a city block, directly to the west of the CUNY School of Law at 2 Court Square, where Citigroup owns and occupies office space. The territory is bound by 44th Road, 44th Drive and 23rd Street, according to documents obtained by TRD. Several small unoccupied buildings currently occupy the site.

The C5-3 zoning is flexible and allows for residential, office, retail and hotel use.

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A JLL team led by Jon Caplan and Richard Baxter is marketing the site. The brokers declined to comment.

Last year, Savanna acquired the controlling interest in One Court Square, also known as the Citigroup Building. An investor group led by David Werner acquired the 1.4 million-square-foot, 50-story tower – the tallest building in the city outside of Manhattan – from SL Green Realty for $481 million in 2012, records show.

Adam Pincus contributed reporting.