When it emerged last summer that hedge funder Daniel Loeb was teaming up with real estate firm Brickman to redevelop a Long Island City warehouse, it was viewed as a testament to the Queens neighborhood’s burgeoning office market.
Now it has emerged that Loeb, who helms Third Point Investment but is investing in the project individually, paid Brickman just over $24 million for a 90 percent stake in the 150,000-square-foot property at 30-02 48th Avenue, according to property records filed with the city Friday. The deal closed March 8.
The two partners plan to spend millions refurbishing the three-story building, which will likely target the TAMI and creative office tenants that are increasingly looking to the outer boroughs for work space – and subsequently driving up office rents in markets like Long Island City.
Renovations are set to include a new lobby, elevators and a roof deck, Crain’s reported last year.
Loeb’s stake in the project was unclear before the deal with Brickman hit property records, and the transaction shows how the redevelopment’s value has increased since Brickman acquired the warehouse for $21 million in 2013.
Long Island City’s commercial real estate market has only heated up in that time, with recent office plays by the likes of RXR Realty and Vornado Realty Trust followed by a wave of similar warehouse-to-office repositions.
Neither Loeb nor Brickman returned requests for comment.