A development firm linked to the actor Robert De Niro may soon take over an Astoria site owned by Steinway to build the city’s latest state-of-the-art film studio.
Wildflower Ltd., a New York-based company, is under contract to purchase a 5.3-acre site at 87 19th Ave. for $73 million, the Commercial Observer reported first.
The site, which is being sold by the piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, may be developed into a 600,000-square-foot campus for content creation, including film, VR, and gaming, a spokesman for Wildflower confirmed to Crain’s.
The firm, led by Matt Dicker and Adam Gordon, has partnered with De Niro, his business partner, and film producer Jane Rosenthal and his son Raphael De Niro. The actor’s son is a broker and a part of the team at Douglas Elliman.
Newmark Knight Frank’s Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub are also said to be involved with the project—with the two engaged in raising $150 million in equity and $275 million in debt, according to the Observer.
The deal is expected to be closed by the end of the year, and while the development project’s final budgets have not been finalized, Wildflower’s spokesman confirmed that the project cost will be in the range of $400 million.
