Gateway to new office market.

Plans for a far West Side stadium for the New York Jets and the expansion of the Javits Center may be the gateway to a new office market for New Yorker's commercial brokers.

With 475 Ninth Ave. recently built above the Lincoln Tunnel, interest in residential space has climbed. However, according to Adelaide Polsinelli, a senior executive broker with Besen and Associates, at least some of the area is zoned for commercial use as well.

Polsinelli is brokering a package of two apartment buildings and a vacant lot on Ninth Avenue for $15 million. The vacant lot is zoned for commercial use.

"A commercial (building) is probably a good thing to put there," Polsinelli said.

Whether its plans for a stadium, the expanded Javits Center or an extended line for the No. 7 train, there is no question the area should be bustling within the next few years.

"Now this opens the door for the area to be more gentrified, as well as opening the door for all the West Side hoopla going in the right direction," Polsinelli said.

The roadblock to expansion on the West Side always has been transportation. But with talk of expanding the No. 7 train to the West Side and the idea of a light rail system, the expansion possibilities are made more viable.

Nicholas LaPorte, executive director of the Associated Builders and Owners, said transportation will be the key to commercial--or any other type--of expansion on the West Side, which he called Manhattan's "softest market."

"It's a good place for expansion," LaPorte said. "The rates are reasonable compared to Midtown, but you've got to get people there.

LaPorte said that when the ABO holds an event at the Javits Center, shuttle buses must be used to take people from Midtown.

Alan Sidransky, director of commercial mortgages for Fairmont Capital, said he had seen heightened interest from clients in the far West Side.

Also, Sidransky added, many developers are exploring the possibility of converting properties for residential and commercial use.

"We have been seeing an increasing number of inquiries about the financing of purchases and properties on the far West Side as well as conversion loans--both for residential and commercial properties," Sidransky said.

The endlessly rising real estate market has prompted curiosity from developers, Sidransky said.

"The location, location, location aspect has been taken to somewhat of an extreme here," Sidransky said.

He added, "It's going to happen," pointing out to doubters that "there was a time when people didn't think you could sell million dollar condominiums overlooking the Holland Tunnel."

The expansion options are limited, Sidransky explained. "There's nowhere else to go. It's either north or west." (The floorplates in most buildings to the north in Harlem are thought to be impractical for large-scale commercial space.)

Although he declined to name developers who were exploring the area, Sidransky said, "We've dealt with some very large developers of both office and residential property and they have inquired about what can be done there."