30 The CourieR SUN • REAL ESTATE • december 18, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com ▶ real estate Rendering courtesy of Pi Capital Partners New Elmhurst luxury rental building The Elm West revealed BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected]/@LiamLaGuerre The Elm East meets The Elm West. The developer of The Elm East, an Elmhurst luxury building located at Broadway and Queens Boulevard, has revealed renderings for a project planned across the street called The Elm West. Flushing-based Pi Capital Partners is developing the sibling project at 85-15 Queens Blvd., according to a published report. The new building will be larger than its predecessor, which was completed in 2012. The Elm West will have 130 luxury units, 50,000 square feet of retail space and a community facility, according to New York YIMBY. Tenants will benefit from panorama views of the Manhattan skyline, according to Pi Capital. Permits have yet to be filed with the Buildings Department for the new building, but if it’s anything like its sister, The Elm West will have a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. 15 acres of vacant land in Maspeth selling for nearly $70M BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] @LiamLaGuerre Maybe the future of manufacturing and warehouses in Queens isn’t dead yet. Three vacant parcels of land zoned for manufacturing that combine for more than 15 acres are up for sale in Maspeth, and could be the future site of an industrial complex. The three sites, which combined have about 1.3 million buildable square feet, are just east of the Kosciuszko Bridge and close to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Together they are asking for about $67.9 million, or $100 per square foot. The biggest chunk is about 12 acres and located to the right of supplier Restaurant Depot. The second largest, at 2.2 acres, is at 42-02 56th Rd., and the final parcel measures about 1.5 acres and is located at 44-02 57th Ave. The lands are being marketed by Alan Cohen and Ben Waller of real estate firm ABS Partners, who said the parcels would be great for a logistics or distribution center that needs to be close to Manhattan. “The opportunity for a buyer to control such a large piece of real estate so close to Manhattan does not come around very often,” Cohen said. “With a diminishing supply of warehouse space in Queens and Brooklyn, a buyer could utilize the million plus square feet of air rights to create a thriving manufacturing center.” The Elm West Map via Google Maps The large 12-acre site Bringing down rents can raise income for landlords BY MINAS STYPONIAS Fall and winter is a time when rental inventory builds and rental prospects thin out. Even the most l u x u r i o u s of apartments loses the ability to attract a substantial amount of interest from the constantly diminishing renter base from November through March. But what option does an owner have? What can be done to combat this dip in interest and prospects? My normal strategy in the fall and winter months is to encourage landlords to accept a monthly rent at a lower rate than their current asking price so that they increase their opportunities among the diminished renter pool, and also limit their financial loss over the course of the year. For example, if a landlord has a property that is marketed at $2,400 per month on Nov. 1, their apartment is limited to an everdiminishing pool of individuals willing to pay high market prices during a slower market. If their apartment does not rent as of Dec. 1, this landlord has effectively lost $2,400 in yearly net rental income. Should that apartment now suffer another month or two of vacancy they will continue to lose the entire $2,400 per month for every month it remains vacant. If a similar landlord with an identical apartment markets their apartment for $2,200 per month on Nov. 1, their apartment will show up in a larger array of searches, and they will have an increased customer pool based on the lower amounts renters are willing to pay in a down market. If their apartment is rented for occupancy on Dec. 1, their net effective loss by marketing their property for $200 less in rent is $2,400 for the year. Their willingness to adapt to the slower market demand has permitted them to minimize their loss on their annual net rental income and prevented them from having an apartment sit for a longer period of time. Landlords can also adjust their vacancy period during these slower months by offering their units for short-term leases of 3, 6 or 9 months, so that at the point of renewal their apartment will now be vacated during a much more lively and competitive marketplace. This also affords them the opportunity to renew with that tenant at a rate more in tune with what their apartment should normally be comparable to. Minas Styponias is a licensed real estate broker for BuySell Real Estate in Astoria, where he was born and raised. He has had a career as a luxury rental property manager in New Jersey and Manhattan. Styponias speaks English, and is conversational in Greek and Spanish.
SC12182014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above