New 15-story tower rising on Northern Boulevard in LIC.

A new state-of-the-art Class-A office building is set to rise at 30-30 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City as soon as a single tenant or multiple users prelease all or a substantial part of the planned 655,000-SF 15-story property, to be located just north of Queens Plaza between 40th Avenue and 40th Road.

Offering brand new, high-tech office space, a convenient five-minute subway commute to midtown, and rents at nearly a third of the price for comparable space in midtown Manhattan, the building will be developed by New York-based Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc. (EJME). The Insignia/ESG team of Richard Karson, Gregory P. Knoop, Eric Engelhardt, John Reinersten, Dina Raynolds, and Roni N. Horenstein has been named exclusive leasing agent, and Perkins Eastman Architects PC has been retained as project architect.

"30-30 Northern Boulevard presents an unprecedented opportunity for a company to occupy a world-class office building, literally minutes from Manhattan, at prices in the mid-20's per SF," said Knoop. "It's a very economically seductive scenario. The State and local economic development corporations are providing excellent financial incentives for companies to move to Long Island City. Transportation is already in place with subway connections to Manhattan via the E, V, N, R, W, F and 7 lines, and direct automobile and bus access via the Queensboro Bridge. Plus, the planned East Side Access project, which will enable Long Island Railroad to access Grand Central Terminal, will soon materialize."

According to Richard Karson who was instrumental in establishing Insignia/ESG's Long Island City office several years ago, "This is an unprecedented and highly financially viable opportunity for a Manhattan-based company to bifurcate its operations between the City and Queens."

Minskoff has plans in place and can construct a state-of-the-art building in as little time as 18 months.

"Our site is not an assemblage and consists of 100,000+ SF located within two blocks of Long Island City's major transportation hub," said Minskoff. "What's significant is that the site is close to MetLife's new premises at 27-01 Bridge Plaza. It will also benefit from all the redevelopment activity expected to ensue in the newly rezoned LIC district and our tenants will be eligible for the REAP, ICIP, energy programs and rent abatement benefits available through the economic development authorities."

Insignia/ESG is targeting banks, insurance companies and other institutional tenants who need staff offices, a call center, data/tech building, disaster recovery facilities, or payroll/processing location in close proximity to Manhattan. "We're marketing to tenants in midtown, situated between 34th Street and 59th Streets, who seek a cost-effective alternative to Manhattan in which to house satellite or head-office operatio