Real Estate BY ANGELA MATUA Retail and Residential Law offices in Astoria to become sevenstory, mixed-use building By Angela Matua A two-story building and a neighboring empty lot in Astoria will become a seven-story, mixeduse building, according to city records. Located at 25-28 Broadway, the building currently houses the law offices of Larry Dorman and Michael S. Murphy. The new structure would include 13,371 square feet of residential space for a total of 19 units. The commercial space would measure 2,365 square feet. There will also be 10 parking spots and the apartments will be located on floors 2 through 7. Woodside-based San Vite Realty Holding Corp. owns the building and Jamaica-based RCGA Architects will be responsible for design. Antonio Disaverio, owner of San Vite Realty Holding Corp., said he is “not aware” if the law offices will occupy the retail space in the new building. “It’s still in the planning stage,” he said. Demolition permits have not yet been filed for the existing building. The building sits between several mixed-use structures that house restaurants and retail shops like a Bonchon, Boost Mobile store and nail salon. Just across the street, a former C-Town is in the process of being converted into a Food Emporium and will be incorporated into a five-story development with 64 units. New York Yimby first reported the story. Square Feet How much house could you purchase in Queens for $300,000 compared to other cities? www.qns.com i LIC COURIER i DECEMBER 2016 15 By Angela Matua The median listing price for homes in the United States is $300,000, but that number can mean a wide range in terms of home size. Point2Homes, a real estate search company, recently released a study that looks at the median home size (1,700 square feet) and median listing price in the country ($300,000) to gauge what living spaces and prices look like across the United States. Not surprisingly, the home size and prices varied widely across the top 50 U.S. markets and throughout the four boroughs. Staten Island was not included in the study. The study found that you could buy 1,700-square-foot homes in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and one in Los Angeles for the price of one home of equal size in Manhattan. The four boroughs in the study were so different in range that they reflected the whole scale of prices throughout the 50 cities included in the study. For $300,000, interested homeowners could purchase a 1,271-square-foot home in the Bronx, a 661-square-foot home in Queens, a 448-square-foot home in Brooklyn and a measly 165-square-foot living space in Manhattan. The median price per square foot in Queens, which the study found is $454, is less than a quarter of Manhattan’s $1,821. But at $236 per square foot, the Bronx gives buyers the most space for their dollar. Though the study uses median listing prices and median home size, the statistics do not necessarily match up with what is actually on the market. New York’s building code calls for a minimum of 400 square feet for living spaces so a 165-square-foot living space in Manhattan would probably be a room in a larger apartment. A recent report by Douglas Elliman found that Queens rentals and home prices have seen a double-digit increase since 2015. Compared to June of last year, the median sales price for a home in Queens in June 2016 jumped 20.8 percent, from $385,001 to $465,000. ATTOM Data Solutions, a housing data company, released a report in October that found that the average Queens resident has to pay a whopping 83.7 percent of their income to be able to buy median housing throughout the borough. Square footage is only part of a home owners purchasing decision and location is obviously a large factor. In Detroit, $300,000 can get you 6,977 square feet, which represents 42 times more space than Manhattan. But Detroit may not have the same job opportunities and is not the major hub for culture, fashion and finance that the city is. Photo courtesy Grimshaw Photo courtesy of Flickr / Wally Gobetz
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