Onyx Recruits Pair to Inwood Logistics Center

8 minutes read

For Onyx Equities, it pays to have a logistics hub close to one of the top-trafficked airports in the country.

The firm signed two tenants for a combined 87,000 square feet at its Inwood Logistics Center in Queens, the Commercial Observer reported. Jamaica Bay is the only thing separating the industrial property from JFK Airport.

That proximity is likely what attracted Gate Gourmet to the property. As the name suggests, the company is an airline catering company, meaning its whole business is centered around airports. The company signed a lease for 63,000 square feet at 95D Inip Drive.

Separately, Yanwen Express agreed to lease 24,000 square feet at 71 Inip Drive. The company works in third-party logistics, especially catering to cross-border e-commerce shipping involving small packages.

The lengths and asking rents on the leases were not revealed. In Inwood, the average asking rent for industrial space ranges between $18 and $20 per square foot, according to LoopNet.

A Cushman & Wakefield team including Helen Paul, Rico Murtha and Thomas DeLuca represented Onyx in both deals. Cushman’s Jimo Liu represented Yanwen Express, while JLL’s Tom DiMicelli represented Gate Gourmet.

Other tenants at the 10-building campus include ECMS Express. Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood and Onyx acquired the complex — which spans more than 18 acres and 501,000 square feet — back in 2023 for $146 million; the seller was the Elias family, which owned the portfolio through Ben Elias Industries, an apparel company that started winding down operations and liquidating assets the previous year.

Across the outer boroughs of New York City, the vacancy rate in the industrial market jumped year over year in the fourth quarter to 6.4 percent, according to a quarterly report from Cushman. The asking rent per square foot, meanwhile, declined over the same period to $28.07 per square foot.

— Holden Walter-Warner