Amazon Signs LOI for 1M SF in Long Island City

Although Amazon hadn’t announced a development partner for Long Island City’s share of its second North American headquarters as of Tuesday afternoon, it has selected a landlord for its initial presence in the neighborhood. Savanna has confirmed that it had entered into a letter of intent for the e-commerce giant to occupy approximately one million square feet at its One Court Square property.

“It’s truly a privilege for Savanna to have the opportunity to partner with Amazon in a transaction that has the potential for tremendous job creation for New York City,” said Nicholas Bienstock, managing partner at Savanna. “We look forward to a successful execution that will bring extraordinary benefits to the neighborhood, the city and region as a whole.”

To accommodate Amazon at One Court Square, Citi—which developed and formerly owned the LIC office tower—said it would relocate 1,100 of its 3,000 current employees at the site and accelerate plans to consolidate operations to its Lower Manhattan headquarters. “Given what it would mean to New York and Long Island City to have Amazon establish a significant presence here, we want to do our part to make this possible,” said Citi CEO Michael Corbat.

Not everyone endorsed the deal. Incoming New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district borders on Long Island City, tweeted that her constituents had expressed “outrage” over the selection. And City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said the lack of community engagement in the site selection process was “extremely troubling.”

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