NEW YORK CITY-As Chinatown’s new Business Improvement District awaits a City Council blessing, landlords and agents are beginning to eye prime properties on Canal Street, brokers tell GlobeSt.com. New York City-based brokerage firm ABS Partners Real Estate LLC says they are looking to sell or long-term net lease an existing one-story property at 250 Canal, envisioning several repositioning alternatives for the site, such as commercial mixed-use, retail redevelopment or a hotel to be located on the southeast corner of Canal and Lafayette streets.

“Ultimately I think it will be very positive for the neighborhood,” Steven I. Hornstock, ABS’ co-managing partner and director of investment sales, tells GlobeSt.com. He describes the location as “highly visible” with “continual pedestrian and vehicle traffic,” given direct access to six subway lines and proximity to the Holland Tunnel and Manhattan Bridge.

The area is currently zoned for manufacturing uses, says ABS’ managing director Keith Lipstein, who is hoping for a commercial rezoning designation to pave the way for office and retail. “We’ve done a lot of research and we found particularly in that stretch of Canal, there is no manufacturing going on any longer,” Lipstein tells GlobeSt.com, explaining that manufacturing activity has moved out of the country or elsewhere in the city. “The designation of an M zone as manufacturing is out moded and, by definition, you are somewhat restricted on uses. If we changed over to a C commercial zone, that would allow other uses of the property, and it would have a higher density.”