insta-hoods
Across NYC, ew e g bo ood are rising in formerly industrial areas. But as residents move in, will services follow?
W alk down the b oc s surrounding lun — new rent on Crescent Street in Queens P z — nd you’ i e y see more con-
struction wor ers th n residents. This long Is nd City enc ve — centered round the Queensboro P z subw y st tion — is in the midst of bui ding boom. C ose to lun , ne r y n entire b oc of 24th Street is wr pped in sc ffo ding. Me nwhi e, five b oc s south, wor ers re chipping w y on the 39-unit F ctory House nd 86-unit Dutch lIC condos, which st nd cross from e ch other. These not-yetinh bited deve opments c n m e this ’hood fee deso te, but nowing wh t’s in store he ps reve residenti hot spot in the m ing. Perh ps th t’s p rt y why ten nts h ve been quic to e se ne r y 90 percent of lun ’s 124 units since M y. and perh ps th t’s so why F ctory House nd Dutch lIC h ve both so d most of their units.
“[Queens Plaza is] no longer a neighborhood where people live because they can’t find anywhere else,” says Rachel Loeb, director of development at World Wide Group, lead developer of Luna, where prices begin at $2,293 for a studio, and nearby QLIC — a fully occupied 421-unit rental that opened last year. “It’s a neighborhood of choice.”
Like Queens Plaza, Manhattan’s Far West Side and Downtown Brooklyn, anchored by Flatbush Avenue, are two other nabes with commercial pasts now housing numerous new apartment buildings. Together the trio share a whopping 29,006 units in the pipeline, according to Halstead Property Development Marketing. Snap judgments might peg these areas as NYC “ghost ’hoods” — rapidly built-up districts still lacking critical masses of residents and must-have services. But industry insiders insist they’re poised to become vibrant communities. New retail, from coffee shops to department stores, will transform them from barren to bustling. They’ve become popular among young professionals, who don’t mind waiting for services in exchange for nicer, more affordable apartments.
“We see a lot of financial and legal [types] commuting to Midtown,” says MNS’ Andrew Barrocas of Queens Plaza. MNS will handle leasing at the 57-story, 477-unit Tower 28 rental this fall (MNS has received about 1,000 inquiries about it). “The subway accessibility makes it very easy to work long hours and be home in under 10 minutes.”
Preexisting infrastructure has accelerated interest in these “instahoods.” Downtown Brooklyn and Queens Plaza have great access to transportation — about 10 train lines run through each one.
“Part of what makes an urban area function well is having a mix of residents and people who pass through it on their way to other parts of the city,” says Patrick Lamson-Hall, research scholar at NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management. However, the northern end of the Far West Side still has catching up to do — despite Hudson Yards’ new 7 train station, which aids the area’s southern section. “Thinking of how the transit lines are, I can’t imagine anyone going through that area on their way to or from work,” Lamson-Hall adds.
Beyond subways, residents may be attracted to these burgeoning areas because they want to experience a neighborhood’s ascent.
“We’re growing with the neighborhood,” says QLIC tenant Ellen Norona, who’s lived in a one-bedroom with her husband since October. She adds that a Birch Coffee location is a nearby newcomer, which she likes because it’s better than your run-of-the-mill coffee house and holds events. “A part of the reason we want to renew w our lease is to see how it’s going to evolve, now that things are slowly starting to come up.”
But evolution can mean drawbacks. Despite that fancy coffee, Norona says Queens Plaza could do with more quotidien necessities, like pharmacies and supermarkets, though she says the grocer Baker’s Market will soon open nearby.
While it may feel frustrating, experts agree that this retail-residential imbalance is simply part of neighborhood growth.
“This becomes a chicken-chicken- says Mitchell Hochberg of Lightstone, developer of the 428-unit 30-02 39th Ave. rental in Queens Plaza.
The solution? Mixed-use development. Lightstone’s building, for instance, will include 3,200 square feet of retail. The 29-26 Northern Blvd. rental in Queens Plaza will have 20,000 retail square feet, along with 467 homes. But patience is key, since these spaces often sit empty even as move-ins begin.
But New Yorkers seeking the perks of new development for less don’t mind waiting for services to arrive.
Take newlyweds Laura Ratliff and Ryan Smith. Facing a rent hike in their East Village walk- up, they set their eyes outside of Manhattan to get more
for their money. They targeted Downtown Brooklyn, which not only offered better value for new-build projects, but a 15-minute commute to their Lower Manhattan offices.
“It was the opposite from previous apartment-hunting experiences in Manhattan,” says Ratliff. “[There] you have a wish list for features and you know you can’t have them all. [But] it was different to walk into these newer buildings and feel like we wouldn’t have to compromise on what we wanted.”
They settled on a one-bedroom at Avalon Willoughby Square with views of Midtown, a dishwasher and a washer/dryer. Ratliff doesn’t feel isolated. Food markets are reachable by foot. And she likes the easy access to areas like Fort Greene and Boerum Hill.
“[Downtown Brooklyn] is at the axis of all these great Brooklyn neighborhoods,” she says.
In time, some of these on-therise districts will become home to mega-developments, so residents like Ratliff won’t have to go far for entertainment. The Far West Side’s Hudson Yards, for instance, may not yet have actual residents, but this 16-building behemoth forms the largest private real-estate development in the nation. Built atop a still-active rail yard and slated for total completion in roughly a decade, the project will include not just posh residences, but community essentials like a performance venue along with a 1 millionsquare-foot shopping center that opens in 2018.
Meanwhile, in Downtown Brooklyn, the 1.8 millionsquare-foot mixed-use City Point will have three residential buildings reportedly totaling 1,140 units, including City Tower and 7 DeKalb Ave. There will also be 675,000 square feet of retail — including restaurants and the DeKalb Market food hall, with Katz’s Deli and Guss’ Pickles opening this fall to serve new residents.
City Point co-developer, Christopher Conlon of Acadia Realty Trust, says locals are finally getting the services they need closer to home: “These are Brooklynites who want to work, live and play in their own neighborhood.”
“Brooklynites want to work, live and play in their own ’hood.” — C ris Co lo (left), Acadia Realty Trust