A thousand reasons to love Long Island City. Tips: Editor@LICtalk.com
WHEN the cupboards are barren we talk about real estate here at LICtalk. And why not, it’s been awhile since our last update and things change fast in these times a pandemic. It’s been six years since we last officially ran this series, today we’re going to do a modified version of it.
SNOW is temporary, apartment vacancies may stick around a little longer. The Real Deal reports that:
“At Tishman Speyers’ 1,871-unit Jackson Park, occupancy declined from 96 percent in 2019 to 59 percent as of September 2020” and “Rockrose’s 715-unit Linc LIC, at 43-10 Crescent Street, saw occupancy decline from 91 percent in 2019 to 67 percent in the third quarter of 2020.”
[Read more…] about Occupancy Plummets In Two Massive LIC Rental Towers
SO you’re looking for a long term relationship are you? Well Long Island City has one with the Elghanayan family and the love-fest continued in the past week as both Rockrose and TF Cornerstone announced their latest development plans for the neighborhood. The former is a 19-story, 300-unit tower in familiar territory for this branch of the family on Queens Street just off Jackson Avenue. For most a building this size would be a gargantuan meal, but for Rockrose it’s a mere appetizer in their menu. The only detail I found surprising was their supposedly only paying $13 million for the lots as it seems like a low price to pay for land that can house a building this big.
[Read more…] about Real Estate Mistletoe For Long Island City
YESTERDAY at the LIC Summit one of the speakers marveled at how everyone on the panel lived in Brooklyn and was talking about LIC. In fact given that this panel and several others included NYC policy makers the reality is that they were not only commenting about Queens but also deciding its fate when it comes to big decisions. Which I guess is how these things shake out when hiring decisions are made, but shouldn’t there then be extra special attention paid to the community voice and an awareness that these areas are not blank slates?
The obvious answer is ‘yes’ but the bureaucratic one is ‘huh?’ Our last post talked about the ‘Water’s Edge’ development, and that proposal should be an interesting litmus test. I learned yesterday that a) an answer should be forthcoming soon and b) there never was the intention of having a bake-off. We’ll see.
More disconcerting was the advocacy of ‘densification’ by all the Brooklyn Intelligentsia as the solution to the city’s problems, and how Queens was Ground Zero to test their urban planning theories. I believe it helps a few people and diminishes the quality of life for all – the only question is ‘To what extent?’ Either way, we will experience de facto densification in the addition of roughly 10,000 new units to LIC by 2020 and thousands of other units along the 7-train line outside of LIC. Why not wait to see how that plays out?
Another sign of cluelessness occurred [Read more…] about WHY IS BROOKLYN RUNNING QUEENS?
“The books are to remind us what asses and fool we are. They’re Caeser’s praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, “Remember, Caeser, thou art mortal.”
UPDATE: May 5, 11:30am – the NYT has just reported that “Book Culture, which has several Manhattan locations, has leased a 2,300-square-foot space at 26-09 Jackson” from Rockrose
Who says hard copy is dead? Not Rockrose. Who says retail is dead? Not Rockrose. Today at a Queens real estate event held by Bisnow, Rockrose SVP Patricia Dunphy announced that the developer will be leasing space to a book store in Court Square. While Patricia was coy as to which book store1, I’m going to make a few assumptions. The first is that it will be located in The Hayden, their new mega-tower on Jackson Avenue. Secondly it will open by the end of the year at the latest – because unlike a restaurant, the buildout should be fairly easy.
What other tidbits were shared at the Bisnow event? [Read more…] about BOOK STORE COMING TO COURT SQUARE