Brause Realty welcomes MetLife to LIC's Bridge Plaza.

David Brause's heart told him in 1999 that his real estate firm's 90-year-old, 400,000 SF building in Long Island City was a gem in the rough, worth renovating on speculation because its size and location would attract a prime tenant.

He suspected -- given that telecom was hot and the building had the high ceilings, heavy floorloads and proximity to fiber that carriers need -- that a telecom company might want it for a carrier hotel, but he couldn't be certain. After all, the building's location -- on eight subway lines and one stop from Manhattan -- made it ideal for corporate offices at about a third to half of Manhattan's rent, and telecom had not established itself to rule out that it might be a passing fancy.

Brause Realty made two key decisions: to put the firm's reputation and dollars on the line for a massive retrofit, without lenders or tenants, and to make the retrofit comprehensive enough to attract and accommodate telecom tenants or office users.

Fast forward to the spring of 2001: Telecom had fallen out of favor, the capital markets turned a cold shoulder to further financing, and the entire industry contracted. With office supply in Manhattan still at a premium and traditional companies avoiding the tech-and-telecom rubble, Brause's vision was vindicated when MetLife, a credit-worthy Old Economy giant, leased the entire building at 27-01 Bridge Plaza North.

"At the time, in large part because of the marketplace, I truly believed it would be at least partially occupied by telecom tenants, but we always knew that a corporate office user was a possibility," said Brause, vice president of Brause Realty Inc. "I can't imagine a corporate user that wouldn't find our property desirable. We're on eight subway lines only one stop from Manhattan, and because we're in Long Island City and the city and state allow us to offer tremendous tax and other financial incentives, we can offer space at about half of what they're paying for comparable space in Manhattan.

"After completing such a massive renovation, we are thrilled that an ideal tenant such as MetLife has chosen our building as its new home," he added. "The fact is that in this day and age, all corporate users need what amounts to a tech center. Today's economy demands that corporate users be able to transmit and receive data quickly, and the building's location, right on a fiber grid, allows for that. Large corporate tenants need to be in a tech center, and that's exactly what this building is."