real estate DEATH, TAXES & GENTRIFICATION by david dynak THE ART OF ELDER LAW For more than 30 years the elder law firm of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates has been providing New Yorkers with legal solutions that protect, relieve and endure for generations. Our dedicated attorneys are skilled in the art of giving legal advice and are accomplished in elder law, Medicaid eligibility, estate planning, trusts, estate mediation, wills, asset protection, guardianships, probate and most issues associated with the challenges of aging. Our distinguished reputation is based on a commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards and our core values of honesty, integrity, and excellence. “We won’t settle for anything less”. 1-877- ELDER LAW 1-877-ESTATES Queens • Long Island • Manhattan • Brooklyn ATTORNEY ADVERTISING Like death and taxes, decade after decade there were things you could be certain of: that the New Jersey Nets basketball team played and practiced in New Jersey; that the New York Islanders played on Long Island; that Manhattan was for millionaires. But even the decades-long established norms and assumptions about places and buildings can change drastically in a matter of a few years, shattering our understanding and stereotypes. The Nets not only play in downtown Brooklyn, but have just revealed a plan to build a state-of-the-art practice facility on the top floor and rooftop of a waterfront eight-story warehouse building in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. The Islanders hockey team is moving its home games to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2015. And a deep-pockets international investor, whose family favored Manhattan for real estate acquisitions, has recently told me to seriously start searching in Long Island City because “Manhattan is for billionaires now.” Add change and gentrification to things one must be certain of in life in New York City. So it should have come as less of a surprise when H&R Real Estate Investment Trust and Tishman Speyer announced earlier this year an $875-million development in Queens Plaza, which will feature residential, commercial and retail components. Folks, that is awfully close to a billion dollars on one single project in Queens . This mega tower next to Gotham City office tower and across the plaza from Jet Blue HQ will put a stamp of legitimacy on Queens Plaza’s residential growth. So far all the apartment and condo buildings there have been rather small, built by smaller developers and have lagged in desirability behind those on the waterfront of LIC. It’s the hotels that have received more press near the Plaza. But now, with even the Clock Tower building having been bought by a residential developer, it seems we’re going to see more apartments and less commercial space than one would expect from a loud, pedestrian weary and car-traffic-jammed slice of land, albeit one featuring a transit hub accessibility. And what about the state-of-the-art art storage facility going up on the corner of 21st Street and Queens Plaza North by UOVO? It’s not just storage but a facility where private and institutional collectors can spend time inspecting, curating or just enjoying their entire art collections. Private rooms are rumored to feel more like museum showrooms than storage cages you’d expect when you hear the word “storage. So when the smoke has settled after the first Macy’s fireworks on East River since 2008, we can rest assured that over time the real estate train of development and change is unstoppable. Whether we support and profit from it, or resist and dislike it, even beloved professional sports franchises relocate on basis of real estate deals. Would it be totally crazy to dream about the New York Knicks relocating their practice facility from Westchester to Long Island City, so they too, like the Nets, can have all of their operations in the city they represent? After all, Madison Square Garden will need to move after 60 years at 34th Street, after its lease “in perpetuity” was reduced to 15 years to make room for the Penn Station expansion. So why not the Knicks in LIC, at least practicing? Remember this: global warming is real but gentrification is more real! David Dynak is a real estate broker at First Pioneer Properties and an LIC resident. He’s lived in Western Queens since 1993.
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