IDCNY

Real Estate Weekly, June 21, 2000 by Lois Weiss

With no deals left in Manhattan, syndicators and vultures are turning to the outerboroughs, with Queens and Brooklyn on top of the to-do list.

Remember the International Design Center of New York, the IDCNY? The former Chiclet Factory near the Queensborough Bridge was turned into a contract furniture site at the top of the last market, just as furniture showrooms couldn't afford to pay for space in Manhattan, and just before the real estate world crashed. IDCNY has since gone through ownership and repositioning.

About two years ago, LaGuardia College bought the former Executone Building, the one with the IDCNY sign on it, for about $52 million.

Now, our Bridge and Tunnel spies say the remaining two buildings of what is now known as the Queens Atrium Corporate Center, of about 500,000 square feet each, are in contract to a David Werner led group for over $100 million.

The sellers are a consortium led by Oaktree Capital Management, and the property was being offered exclusively by Granite Partners' John Lyons, who referred us to the sellers.

There are five primary leases including MCI, the DeVries Institute and three, long-term city agency leases. Where the reclusive David Werner seeks value, others sometimes dare to follow.