A U.S. subsidiary of Australia's largest property company has been designated by the city to build an office building and a public high school on the site of a city-owned parking garage in Kew Gardens.

The New York City Economic Development Corp. said yesterday that Lend Lease Group will develop a 425,000-square-foot office tower and a 190,000-square-foot public high school on the site, directly behind Queens Borough Hall. A three-story, 1,100-space municipal parking garage now stands there. The new development will include below-ground parking for 1,500 cars.

Details are still being worked out and the height of the proposed building has not been finalized, EDC spokesman Bruce Brodoff said. The site's footprint is 126,000 square feet.

Lend Lease's Capital and Real Estate Services division will develop the site, while Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. will oversee construction.Lend Lease owns U.S. properties worth more than $35 billion, including 44 Wall St. and part of 60 Broad St.; and Bovis was one of four contractors involved in the World Trade Center cleanup.

"Lend Lease was selected because it is uniquely qualified to successfully deliver the best project at the lowest cost," the city said in a statement. Terms were not disclosed.

"This office complex will allow Kew Gardens to solidify its position as one of Queens' most prominent business districts," EDC president Andrew Alper said, adding that the new garage will help alleviate the chronic lack of parking around the Queens civic center.

Possible tenants for the office building include government agencies and businesses that might appreciate the site's proximity to LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports, the city said.

The site is bounded by Union Turnpike, 82nd Avenue, 126th Street and 132nd Street.

The city sought bids for the Kew Garden site in January 2001. A 1985 no-bid deal to develop the Kew Gardens site fell through during the administration of Mayor Edward Koch. At that time a 28-story office building was planned.