Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group paid nearly $31 million to snap up Long Island City’s clock tower building, city records show. But preservations are working to get the property declared a landmark before it’s torn down.
PMG paid $30.9 million to buy the Morrell Smith-designed building at 29-27 41st Avenue, records filed with the city over the weekend show. The seller, the Criterion Group, bought the property in May for $15 million.
The Astoria-based Criterion, run by Shibber Khan, has been wheeling and dealing as of late, recently purchasing a $57 million development site and selling off a 214-unit apartment building for $88 million.
PMG could not be immediately reached for comment. Earlier in November, the developer paid $46.3 million to buy the property adjacent to the tower.
Preservationists have been fighting since last year to get landmark status for the building, which was the tallest in Queens for more than 40 years.
Christian Emanuel, an organizer leading the effort, said late last week that commercial tenants in the building received a notice to vacate within 180 days due to impending demolition.
“We already filed,” paperwork with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Emanuel said. “The clock’s ticking. We just don’t know how fast.”