QUEENS — A property near the AirTrain station in downtown Jamaica, which houses a longtime seafood company, has been listed for sale for $24 million — one of the highest asking prices in the area in recent times, according to CPEX, a real estate firm that manages the site.
The company, World Wide Food Products — on 94th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard — has been at that location since 1975, according to its owner, Ron Romeo.
The lot, which is owned by World Wide Food Products, has the total space of about 35,000 square feet and buildable space of more than 420,000 square feet, according to the listing.
The site is located near the AirTrain station, where two major developments are expected to break ground next year, including a 24-story Hilton Garden Inn.
The other project, set to be built on the opposite side of the tracks, aims to bring 580 mixed-income apartments and more than 100,000 square feet of retail space.
Sean Kelly of CPEX said that while he cannot comment on that listing, he has noticed a growing interest in downtown Jamaica among developers in recent months.
In October, Chris Xu, a Flushing-based developer, paid $22 million for a property on Archer Avenue and Guy Brewer Boulevard, about 10 blocks away from the seafood company.
That property, Xu told DNAinfo New York, has the total space of nearly 90,000 square feet and buildable space of 720,000 square feet.
Xu said he intends to build market-rate housing and a supermarket there.
“We think that this market has a lot of the same attributes that downtown Brooklyn has,” said Kelly, referring to good transportation and numerous shopping options in downtown Jamaica.
He also said that the current average price for land in Jamaica is likely to be within the $50-per-buildable-square-foot range. In Long Island City, he said, the average price can be four times as high.
Romeo said that he will only consider selling the property, if the price is “right.”
“If someone comes along and is going to pay us a lot of money for our properties … then I’ll be considering,” he said. Otherwise, he said, he plans to stay at the location.
