Jewelry Maker Chisels Out Deep Cuts in Rent

NEW YORK CITY-Quality Casting, a jewelry caster servicing large manufacturers, custom designers and jewelry repair shops, is moving from the Diamond District to Long Island City and taking advantage of tax incentives offered by the city. In doing so, the company is bringing its net effective rent down to less than $2 per square foot, says Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates’ executive managing director Jeff Unger, who represented the landlord in the lease.

The jewelry manufacturer is relocating and expanding into 13,300 square feet at 31-00 47th Ave., also known as the Falchi Building. It’s been located at 64 W. 48th St. in the Diamond District, a neighborhood where asking rents are on the order of $40 to $50 per square foot, for more than 20 years. Walter Hollenberg of Midtown Commercial Real Estate represented Quality Casting.

The tenant will receive up to $3,000 in tax credits for each of its 55 employees every year for up to 12 years under the city’s Relocation and Employee Assistance Program, and as additional employees join after the relocation, they are qualified as well under REAP. Another tax break came in the form of the city’s Commercial Expansion Program, which provides rent abatement up to $2.50 per square foot for commercial, industrial and manufacturing businesses. However, Unger tells GlobeSt.com that the tax breaks aren’t the only factor.