LUNCH lines in Midtown fast-casual dining hot spots are starting to get lengthy again despite repeated stories of the office mecca’s inability to turn the corner occupancy-wise. The extraordinarily easy access to midtown is a large selling point for LIC apartments, because time is money and by the transitive property vested in me I do declare: commute = time = $ which = higher home and rental prices, Ka-Ching!
If lunch lines are a lagging indicator (and once again I so declareth = Yes), then new office construction in midtown is a leading indicator for LIC apartment demand, and is especially pertinent when that construction is centered along the 42nd Street corridor along which the 7-train traverses. Better yet if that new construction is already spoken for, which brings us to the picture above of JP Morgan’s new headquarters. While there may be plenty of uncertainty about the direction of the NYC real estate market, there is absolutely zero doubt that Jamie Dimon will mandate 100% occupancy when this tower opens in 2022 – you can take that to the bank!
Finally, I leave you with the LICtalk indicator, which predicts the future of everything, including local real estate values. The variable that I have honed in on is actually a binary one, it will happen or it won’t. “It” is the Monster Tower slated to replace the Grand Hyatt on 42nd and Lex, and “It” was first proposed 2 1/2 years ago and is on track as of this June to begin demolition in early 2022. “It” will be 83 stories high and contain a whopping 2 million feet of office space, which is ~25% more than the recently completed One Vanderbilt which bookends the other side of Grand Central Station. Giving the project extra incentive to move forward is TF Cornerstone’s involvement as one of the two co-developers as it’s manifestation buttresses rents in their current LIC holdings. One hand washes the other and this project will raise all boats in Long Island City. Cue gavel… So declared!
//NOW when it comes to local real estate news that’s all hat no cattle, this headline wins the prize “Tishman Speyer Refinances The JACX in LIC Through 100% Green Bond Offering,” Mehh! The press release, which some news sites regurgitated verbatim in all it’s gooey-ness, lauds the developer for all they did to make the JACX “green” – which they probably would have done anyway. It also allows the institutional buyers of the bond offering to check the box and do a jig for helping the environment while sacrificing a measly 8 basis points for the cause. I could mention how half of those 8 bps are probably eaten by the CEO of the ESG analytics firm – who flies private but drives a Tesla – that certified its greenness, but this is a blog about LIC. So I won’t curse his name until the waters of the East River reach the windows of my fifth floor apartment in a few years.
New Renderings Revealed For Massive Tower That May Rise Next To Grand Central – coming soon to a neighborhood near you?
Tishman Speyer Refinances The JACX In Long Island City Through 100 Percent Green Bond Offering – do they no longer offer the deal terms w/ these press releases?
Sprawling, Vital ‘Greater New York’ Exhibition Fills MoMA PS1 – exciting, see pics
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