O’Connor Capital Partners leases 5,000 s/f to the Queens Council on the Arts in LIC

The Maximilian, Long Island City - Queens, NY

Queens, NY According to William O’Connor, president and CEO of O'Connor Capital Partners, his firm has signed a lease with the Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) to occupy the 5,000 s/f community facility space at the Maximilian. The property is a recently completed 188-unit  residential and mixed-use property in Long Island City. O’Connor Capital developed the property as a joint-venture with Rose Associates.

The lease with the QCA at the Maximilian brings the arts organization to the ground-floor space alongside bakery Cannelle Patisserie, the current retail tenant, as well as the site purchased by The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

The Maximilian was completed in April 2014, with the retail component opening in October 2014. The QCA was the intended user of the facility throughout the development process, and will be the first tenant to occupy this newly built community facility space. The QCA will utilize its new location for gallery, event and office space, as well as for artists’ studios. The move-in date is pending the finalization of funding to be provided by state and municipal organizations.

“We are pleased to be bringing the Queens Council on the Arts to the Maximilian, and be a part of the cultural growth and development of the arts in Queens, which is gaining in prominence as a vibrant cultural center of New York City,” said O’Connor. “The QCA has played a key role in directing city, state, federal, and private funds to emerging artists and organizations, and their commitment to establish their presence at the Maximilian will elevate the property’s position in the market.”

“This new space provides the optimum environment to support our mission to serve the artistic community, and enhance the cultural climate of the borough,” said Hoong Yee Krakauer, executive director of the QCA. “There will be rotating art installations just outside our facility space, and our location adjacent to The Graduate Center of the City University of New York will provide enormous synergy as a center for arts and education.”  The Maximilian is ideally located nearby cultural institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art’s PS1, and offers easy access to transportation, just one subway stop to Grand Central Terminal.

“I am happy to welcome Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) to Long Island City,” said Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan.  “I look forward to continue working with QCA to ensure that the arts have a growing space in our great community in Queens."

The QCA is a non-profit organization established in 1966 to support individual artists and arts organizations. In addition to acting as a fiscal sponsor, the QCA has grown in reputation as a wide-ranging arts service organization providing grants, professional development, and education services. It offers grants every year to individual artists and organizations in a number of categories, in addition to providing workshops and classes. The QCA initiated free concerts in the park in the 1960s, and over the next decade advanced the development of the Queens Museum of Art, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, and the Colden Center, among other noteworthy institutions.

The Maximilian is a prominent presence on the Long Island City skyline, with panoramic views of the East River waterfront and Manhattan skyline. In addition to its burgeoning residential development, Long Island City is noted for having among the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutions, and studio space of any neighborhood in New York City.