iFLY, a world leader in indoor skydiving tunnels, will be opening its first New York City attraction with a new installation coming to a site by the entrance to the Midtown Tunnel at 10-04 Borden Avenue in Long Island City.
The company has now signed a lease for a state-of-the-art facility, covering 6,800 square feet of retail space between the first and second floors of 10-04 Borden Avenue, a larger commercial development project, where it will be an anchor attraction.
Borden Ave Op Zone, a joint venture between New York-based developer The VOREA Group and Andru Coren, is bringing 10-04 Borden Avenue to life. The project will transform an old commuter car park into a flexible mixed-use space, covering 50,000 square feet, with three storeys and over 6,000 square feet of outdoor space.
An ideal location
“With more than 60,000,000 annual vehicles between the Queens Midtown Tunnel and the Pulaski Bridge, 10-04 Borden Ave presents commercial end-users with the ability to create an incredibly visible presence within NYC,” says Peter Papamichael, principal of The VOREA Group.
“iFLY as an anchor to the project will bring an immense amount of foot traffic and attention to the site. In addition, the new construction building is 1.5 blocks from the Vernon Blvd 7-train – which is one stop from Grand Central Station, 5-minutes from Times Square station and has connectivity within 12 minutes to Hudson Yards.”
“We couldn’t be more excited about partnering with Vorea to bring iFLY to Long Island City,” adds Patrick Framel, iFLY’s VP of global development. This project will be truly iconic; VOREA has the vision and capabilities to make the dream of flight a reality in Long Island City.
Creating a destination
Rachel Cohen of the project leasing team, Igloo says:
“The site lies at the intersection of Borden Ave, Jackson Ave and Vernon Blvd – LIC’s premiere retail corridor. For an area that is exploding with families and young children, there are relatively few activities for the whole family. VOREA is excited to bring something to the LIC community that will be fun for all.
“Our objective is to bring additional retailers, showrooms and creative end-users to the project, creating a destination for Long Island City as well as those in surrounding neighborhoods like Greenpoint, Manhattan and other parts of Queens which are accessible within minutes.
“The ability for building branding and convenience of the project location creates a commercial offering within NYC which is very compelling.”
The iFLY facility is expected to be completed in Q2 2023 with the wider project reaching full completion in Q4 2023.
Recently, iFLY also announced a new partnership with Quest, Qatar’s first-ever indoor theme park. Quest is a brand-new 32,000-square-metre indoor theme park that opened to the public last summer, featuring over 40 rides and attractions.
