SKYLINE Tower is an easy comparison for the state of LIC’s residential real estate. Too easy, and anyone familiar with the nuances of the local scene know why it’s an outlier. Nevertheless, given it’s size and the scope of it’s audaciousness – 802 condo units offered at a significant premium per-square-foot to other new-builds in central LIC – it makes for interesting real estate porn fodder.
Thus we gluttonously parsed the data put forth in a story that appeared in The Real Deal three weeks ago for morsels of insight. Most significantly 509 of those 802 units, or 63%, have been sold. Which means ~100 have been sold in the past year based on a story we wrote almost exactly a year prior. At that time we noted an acceleration in the run rate from 125-a-year to 150 -a-year. A slowdown to 100-a-year is not overly momentous in the scheme of things (Amazon HQ2, a pandemic!), nor revelatory given the abrupt rise in interest rates the last 9 months and subsequent changes to the economic landscape.
Therefore while there are no real conclusions to be drawn from this article, nor anything warranting a panicky tone, it largely confirms in a granular manner the headlines we have been reading (and expecting) across all NYC – and USA – real estate: things are slowing down.
Which is why a blurb in Crain’s this week stating that the Skyline developer sold 12 units in one fell swoop (and likely at a discount) to a real estate investor in China, is of interest but not surprising. +250 bps is so yesterday, ‘Get out flat’ may be the new game in town. Especially when there’s a plethora of projects still underway as observed by New York Yimby in their sweep through LIC recently. Four of those projects are listed below, and three were listed in my post earlier this week, including one which will surpass Skyline Tower to become Queen’s tallest building containing 880 units. While all seven projects are slated to be rentals, units are units when it comes to putting a roof over people’s heads.
The Quest To Sell Out Skyline Tower – the holy grail
Pilings Underway For 49-Story Skyscraper on Jackson Avenue – not to be confused w/ any 70+ story skyscrapers on Jackson
23-02 42nd Road’s Foundations Reach Street Level – a mere 37 stories, 240 units
27-01 Jackson Ave Begins Ascent – a measly 27 stories, 164 units
42-62 Hunter Street Rises in LIC – a puny 12 stories, 27 units
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