Kaufman Astoria Studios, one of New York City’s largest TV and film production facilities, announced this summer that they hoped to add two more soundstages to their century-old campus. Now, they’ve filed plans for a sizable four-story building at 36-02 34th Avenue, at the corner of 36th Street and across the street from their two main studios.
The 84-foot-tall development would hold 88,623 square feet of commercial space and 26,600 square feet of industrial space. Production studios, a parking garage, and offices would occupy the first floor, followed by studio support, a lunch room, and production offices on the three remaining floors. The garage would offer 138 parking spots, spread between the cellar and ground floor.
West Harlem-based Gluck + Architecture applied for the permits.
The Kaufman Organization, which controls the studio complex, purchased the 31,000-square-foot site for $3,000,000 in 2010. The lots are zoned for industrial use. However, the M1-5 zoning allows developers to build somewhat dense commercial and retail projects, in addition to purely industrial uses like warehouses and factories. The Bloomberg administration rezoned Long Island City and Dutch Kills in 2003 and 2010 respectively, but this area, along with several blocks along Sunnyside Yards and Northern Boulevard, were allowed to remain industrial.
This isn’t the only expansion that Kaufman Astoria is working on. The company recently scooped up the block-long United Artists Kaufman Astoria movie theater for $45 million, and the Kaufman Organization is developing a seven-story, 33-unit condo building called “The Marx” across the street from the movie studios. The one- and two-bedroom apartments hit the market a year ago, priced from $600,000 to $1,400,000.
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An official announcement from company, with sizable four-story building into “production facilities”. (confirm)