The Gural family is the latest Manhattan real estate dynasty to expand its Brooklyn and Queens holdings, and it has plans to convert two recently-purchased buildings into office spaces for “creative types.”
The Gurals, who own an 8.5 million-square-foot office portfolio mostly in Manhattan, acquired a five-story, 40,000-square-foot former warehouse, at 285 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, for around $15.6 million. They also purchased a four-story, 70,000-square-foot former industrial property, at 10-27 46th Avenue in Long Island City, for almost $14.3 million.
Eric Gural, who manages the family’s commercial holdings, said the Gurals plan to spend around $10 million refurbishing the two properties into modern office spaces, according to Crain’s. “These are creative-type buildings and they will appeal to creative people,” he said, noting the spaces’ large windows and high ceilings.
The deals double the family’s New York City office portfolio outside of Manhattan; last year, the Gurals acquired a 70,000-square-foot commercial property at 7 Bushwick Place in East Williamsburg for $12.5 million, and also bought another office conversion at 11-05 44th Drive in Long Island City for $17 million.
Meanwhile, Gural said the family is considering redeveloping its five-story, 50,000-square-foot office building at 27 Union Square West – best known for the popular Coffee Shop restaurant housed on its ground floor. A larger 70,000-square-foot property – comprised of either residential, office, retail space, or a combination of the three – could replace the existing building.
Eric Gural’s father, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank chair Jeffrey Gural, has continued to push for a $1 billion casino at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J. [Crain’s] – Rey Mashayekhi