Verizon files plans for 154K sf storage building in Hell’s Kitchen

Kevin Herb, senior project manager at the telecom giant Verizon, submitted a new building construction project for a 154,140 square-foot storage building at 648 West 48th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on February 9, 2023 under job number M00816950. It calls for the construction of a six-story building. The project is described in the filing as: new building. The architect is WFC Architects.

In July, an application was filed for the demolition of the existing commercial (COM) building at 620 12th Ave in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan in the footprint of this new building plan. The demolition plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on July 28, 2022 under job number 123908085. It calls for the demolition of a four-story building. The project is described in the filing as: full demolition two story structure, using hand held and mechanical means to assist.

The property

The property is owned by Verizon. The parcel has frontage of 200 feet and is 116 feet deep with a total lot size of 22,150 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M2-4 which allows for up to 5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $15.5 million.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was ground leased by landlord Edison Properties at a valuation of $50 million to tenant Verizon on June 14, 2022.

The 102,800-square-foot property generated revenue of $4.2 million or $40 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has not received any significant violations in the last year.

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.

The neighborhood

In Hell’s Kitchen, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 41.7 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 17 percent of the space. In sales, Hell’s Kitchen has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $1.4 billion in sales volume in the last two years and is the 10th highest in Manhattan. For development, Hell’s Kitchen has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 6th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.9 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 9 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the eight commercial properties representing 256,163 square feet of the 416,264 square feet. The two identified owners are Brookfield Properties and Verizon. On the tax block, there were three new building construction projects totaling 204,240 square feet. The largest is a 154,140 square-foot storage building submitted by Verizon and filed by Kevin Herb with plans filed February 9, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 37,620 square-foot industrial (F-1) building submitted by Gary Flom with plans filed April 27, 2015 and it has not been permitted yet.

The owner

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Verizon owned at least 54 commercial properties with 22 residential units in New York City with 467,396 square feet and a city-determined market value of $66.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 68 percent of the 467,396 square feet of built space are industrial properties, with office properties next occupying 28 percent of the space. The bulk, or 36 percent of the built space, is in Brooklyn, with Manhattan next at 34 percent of the space.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 618 12th Avenue, PincusCo identified three commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. One of those three items was a sale which Prince Lumber bought the 19,100-square-foot, one-unit industrial (E1) on 610 West 47th Street and four other properties for $7.3 million from 611 WEST 46 LLC on January 7, 2022. Of those three items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $20.5 million. The most recent of the two was Bram Auto Group in which borrowed $10.5 million from Toyota Motor Credit Corporation secured by one condo unit in the 44,106-square-foot, two-unit industrial (RW) on 660 Joe Dimaggio Highway and one other property on February 14, 2022.

Correction: A prior version of this story reported Edison sold the property for $50 million to Verizon. But in fact Edison did not sell the property, it ground leased it to Verizon at a valuation of $50 million. 

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.