Real Estate - Stribling
Real Estate
The Next Hot N BY PATRICK W. SMITH STRIBLING & ASSOCIATES New York Magazine declared in August 1980 that #longislandcity was “The Next Hot Neighborhood”. It took a very long time, but as this article discusses, #LIC has transitioned from a speculative area for real estate investment to a very desirable residential neighborhood that seems poised to expand further in terms of real estate prices, public amenities and retail offerings. I recently published The Long Island City Condominium Report, the first report to comprehensively analyze the LIC condominium market from 2006, when the first condominium came to market, through yearend 2016. The report received excellent press coverage and a wide-range of market participants, including developers, investment partners, sellers and buyers have read the report. Several readers commented back regarding “The Luxury Report”, a special section that analyzed 3 topics related to Long Island City’s growing luxury market. Following are the 3 main findings from The Luxury Report: 1. The average price of an apartment in the Top 10% grew by 44% from $1.296 million in 2007 to a very impressive $1.865 million in 2016. 2. In 2009, only 14% of buyers in Long Island City paid cash as compared to 2016, when the percentage of cash buyers increased to 24%. 3. In 2006, there were zero sales priced at $1 million or more. In 2016, the number and percentage of $1 million+ sales grew to all-time highs of 116 recorded sales and approximately 50% of all transactions. For purposes of this article, we verified that the market share of $1 million+ sales as of midyear 2017 reached a new high of 52%. 30 AUGUST 2017 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Real Estate
Neighborhood What caused the Long Island City Luxury Market to greatly expand in such a short period? Considering that LIC has always enjoyed extremely convenient subway access to the office markets in Manhattan (which is noted in the New York Magazine cover from 1980) and while transportation is very important, it was not the main catalyst for the major gains in the Long Island City luxury market in recent years……. At the same time that Manhattan and even a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn experienced astronomical price increases, an interesting thing happened in LIC, 17.5 acres of waterfront parks were finished, a highly regarded Pre-K through 8th grade public school opened in TF Cornerstone’s development on Center Boulevard, and there were numerous completions in the rental market (captive audience for the condo market) and a few condo developments were completed as well (but not enough to satisfy demand). And, all of the development activity finally activated the retail scene with businesses that actually cater to area residents. The upshot is that as the result of significant public and private investments in Long Island City, the neighborhood has become a preferred location for discerning renters and buyers. What happens next? Judging by the amount of public works projects and development that is underway or in the pipeline, Long Island City will continue to grow and prosper. Following is a summary of several projects that will fuel LIC’s further expansion: 1. Hunters Point South Phase 2. Construction has started on an additional 5 acres of riverfront parkland and TF
Cornerstone was selected as the developer of a new development that will feature 1,197 apartments, retail and a new school. 2. Tishman Speyer’s massive 3 building development, The Jackson, at Queens Plaza, features 1,800 apartments and its sister office development, The JACX, features 2 high rise office towers where WeWork has already signed on. 3. A brand new 22,000 square foot library designed by Steven Holl Architects will open in 2018 in Gantry Plaza State Park. 4. The Durst Organization is moving ahead with a 63-story 1 million square foot mixed-use building at the Clock Tower site. 5. Jerry Wolkoff is developing 5pointz directly across from MoMA PS1 with two towers of 47 stories and 41 stories. The development will feature 1,000 apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail. 6. Chris Xu is developing One Court Square, 23-15 44th Drive, consisting of 78 floors, 774 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space. 7. As per BuzzBuzzNews, the impending shutdown of the L train in Brooklyn will significantly increase demand for real estate in Long Island City. Long Island City has evolved from a nascent market less than 10 years ago to a robust market where year over year condo sales increased by 72% to $252 million in 2016. With many neighborhoods in Manhattan continuing to become cost prohibitive, more transient and investor-oriented, an even greater percentage of demand will shift to Long Island City from buyers seeking a real neighborhood with beautiful riverfront parks, a small town vibe, great views, superior infrastructure and extensive amenities in which to put down roots.
THE 3 MAIN FINDINGS FROM THE LUXURY REPORT 1. The average price of an apartment in the Top 10% grew by 44% from $1.296 million in 2007 to a very impressive $1.865 million in 2016. 2. In 2009, only 14% of buyers in Long Island City paid cash as compared to 2016, when the percentage of cash buyers increased to 24%. 3. In 2006, there were zero sales priced at $1 million or more. In 2016, the number and percentage of $1 million+ sales grew to all-time highs of 116 recorded sales and approximately 50% of all transactions. For purposes of this article, we verified that the market share of $1 million+ sales as of midyear 2017 reached a new high of 52%. www.qns.com
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The Next Hot N BY PATRICK W. SMITH STRIBLING & ASSOCIATES New York Magazine declared in August 1980 that #longislandcity was “The Next Hot Neighborhood”. It took a very long time, but as this article discusses, #LIC has transitioned from a speculative area for real estate investment to a very desirable residential neighborhood that seems poised to expand further in terms of real estate prices, public amenities and retail offerings. I recently published The Long Island City Condominium Report, the first report to comprehensively analyze the LIC condominium market from 2006, when the first condominium came to market, through yearend 2016. The report received excellent press coverage and a wide-range of market participants, including developers, investment partners, sellers and buyers have read the report. Several readers commented back regarding “The Luxury Report”, a special section that analyzed 3 topics related to Long Island City’s growing luxury market. Following are the 3 main findings from The Luxury Report: 1. The average price of an apartment in the Top 10% grew by 44% from $1.296 million in 2007 to a very impressive $1.865 million in 2016. 2. In 2009, only 14% of buyers in Long Island City paid cash as compared to 2016, when the percentage of cash buyers increased to 24%. 3. In 2006, there were zero sales priced at $1 million or more. In 2016, the number and percentage of $1 million+ sales grew to all-time highs of 116 recorded sales and approximately 50% of all transactions. For purposes of this article, we verified that the market share of $1 million+ sales as of midyear 2017 reached a new high of 52%. 30 AUGUST 2017 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Real Estate
Neighborhood What caused the Long Island City Luxury Market to greatly expand in such a short period? Considering that LIC has always enjoyed extremely convenient subway access to the office markets in Manhattan (which is noted in the New York Magazine cover from 1980) and while transportation is very important, it was not the main catalyst for the major gains in the Long Island City luxury market in recent years……. At the same time that Manhattan and even a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn experienced astronomical price increases, an interesting thing happened in LIC, 17.5 acres of waterfront parks were finished, a highly regarded Pre-K through 8th grade public school opened in TF Cornerstone’s development on Center Boulevard, and there were numerous completions in the rental market (captive audience for the condo market) and a few condo developments were completed as well (but not enough to satisfy demand). And, all of the development activity finally activated the retail scene with businesses that actually cater to area residents. The upshot is that as the result of significant public and private investments in Long Island City, the neighborhood has become a preferred location for discerning renters and buyers. What happens next? Judging by the amount of public works projects and development that is underway or in the pipeline, Long Island City will continue to grow and prosper. Following is a summary of several projects that will fuel LIC’s further expansion: 1. Hunters Point South Phase 2. Construction has started on an additional 5 acres of riverfront parkland and TF
Cornerstone was selected as the developer of a new development that will feature 1,197 apartments, retail and a new school. 2. Tishman Speyer’s massive 3 building development, The Jackson, at Queens Plaza, features 1,800 apartments and its sister office development, The JACX, features 2 high rise office towers where WeWork has already signed on. 3. A brand new 22,000 square foot library designed by Steven Holl Architects will open in 2018 in Gantry Plaza State Park. 4. The Durst Organization is moving ahead with a 63-story 1 million square foot mixed-use building at the Clock Tower site. 5. Jerry Wolkoff is developing 5pointz directly across from MoMA PS1 with two towers of 47 stories and 41 stories. The development will feature 1,000 apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail. 6. Chris Xu is developing One Court Square, 23-15 44th Drive, consisting of 78 floors, 774 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space. 7. As per BuzzBuzzNews, the impending shutdown of the L train in Brooklyn will significantly increase demand for real estate in Long Island City. Long Island City has evolved from a nascent market less than 10 years ago to a robust market where year over year condo sales increased by 72% to $252 million in 2016. With many neighborhoods in Manhattan continuing to become cost prohibitive, more transient and investor-oriented, an even greater percentage of demand will shift to Long Island City from buyers seeking a real neighborhood with beautiful riverfront parks, a small town vibe, great views, superior infrastructure and extensive amenities in which to put down roots.
THE 3 MAIN FINDINGS FROM THE LUXURY REPORT 1. The average price of an apartment in the Top 10% grew by 44% from $1.296 million in 2007 to a very impressive $1.865 million in 2016. 2. In 2009, only 14% of buyers in Long Island City paid cash as compared to 2016, when the percentage of cash buyers increased to 24%. 3. In 2006, there were zero sales priced at $1 million or more. In 2016, the number and percentage of $1 million+ sales grew to all-time highs of 116 recorded sales and approximately 50% of all transactions. For purposes of this article, we verified that the market share of $1 million+ sales as of midyear 2017 reached a new high of 52%. www.qns.com
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