Real Estate
Skyscraper to Rise in LIC
BY ANGELA MATUA
A site on Northern Boulevard in Long
Island City that sold for $173.5 mil-lion
LIC and Astoria rental prices take a dip
BY ANGELA MATUA
AMATUA@QNS.COM
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JULY 2017 17
Rental prices in several western
Queens residents have dropped in the
past year, according to a report by a real
estate brokerage firm.
MNS analyzed prices in studio, one-
and two-bedroom apartments in Long
Island City, Astoria, Rego Park, Forest Hills,
Flushing, Jackson Heights and Ridge-wood
from May 2016 through May 2017.
According to the report, the average
price for a studio in these neighbor-hoods
is $1,838, the lowest its been
since rents were recorded last May. In
October 2016, the average price for a
studio was $2,070.
The average one-bedroom apart-ment
would set you back approximately
$2,089 now. In September 2016, the
average price was $2,297.
In May 2016, a two-bedroom apart-ment
cost $2,627 but in May 2017, the
average price was $2,508.
In Astoria, prices have seen a downward
trend since last May. The average price for
a two-bedroom apartment did increase
slightly in the past month from $2,479 in
April 2017 to $2,508 in May 2017, but is
still cheaper than the $2,627 in May 2016.
In Long Island City, where rental
prices have skyrocketed in recent years,
prices are also lower than they were
last May.
Other neighborhoods, like Rego Park,
have also seen large reductions in aver-age
rent prices. In May 2016, an average
studio rented out for $1,715 but in May
2017 that number was $1,528. Forest
Hills also saw drops in studio and one-bedroom
apartments but the price of
two-bedroom apartments has risen to
$2,578 from $2,447.
The average price of a one-bedroom
apartment in Flushing increased dramat-ically
from last year, jumping to $2,053
from $1,870. The average price of a
two-bedroom apartment also increased
while studio prices remained consistent.
Photo via Shutterstock
will add to the thousands of units
scheduled to be constructed in the
neighborhood.
Located at 29-55 Northern Blvd.,
the site was purchased by the Durst
Organization last year and the develop-ers
plan to build a 63-story rental tower
with 786,833 square feet of residential
space and 8,702 square feet for com-mercial
space.
Previously, the Hakim Organization
was planning a 70-story building at
the site, but the organization ran into
financial issues and decided to sell it.
The Clock Tower, an 11-story building
constructed in 1927, sits behind the
building at 29-27 Queens Plaza North. It
was landmarked in May 2015. Formerly
the Bank of the Manhattan Company
building, it was awarded first prize from
the Queens Chamber of Commerce as
the borough’s best business building.
According to LIC Partnership, the
neighborhood development organization,
there are about 9,000 new units slated
to be constructed in 2017, making it the
most number of units in a single year
in Long Island City’s history. The total
number of residential units built in Long
Island City since 2006 will total more
than 20,000 by the end of this year.
A new report also found that a record
number of rental units were built in Long
Island City from 2010 through 2016,
eclipsing other large cities nationwide that
also experienced a spike in development.
During that six-year time period, the
neighborhood saw 12,533 new units and 41
new apartment buildings being constructed,
according to RENTCafe. In comparison, the
next neighborhood on the list was Down-town
Los Angeles, with 7,551 new units
constructed during the same time.
Photo courtesy of Google Maps
