The LIC Summit 2024
The Changing Cultural and Real Estate Landscape in Long Island City
October 8, 2024 / LIC Neighborhood / Queens Real Estate & Business / Queens Buzz.
A. Prelude to Attending the LIC Summit 2024
It was a beautiful, sunny, dry day as I walked over to the Museum of the Moving Image in LIC / Astoria. I arrived around 11 am to attend part of the second half of the LIC Summit, which is a real estate and business conference which examines in depth, an LIC centric world, but also mindful of the surrounding environment.
After I made my way through a flawless check-in, I found my way into the theater and sat down to listen in on the panel providing a Long Island City real estate update. These panels are structured such that the moderator serves up a number of questions to the panelists for comment, which is then followed by audience questions, which sometimes are the best, because they are asked by people like you and me, who have lived and worked in the area for a long while and witnessed and have adjusted to the huge changes that have occurred in Long Island City over the past couple of decades.
I. First Panel - LIC Residential Real Estate Update
This panel included Patricia Dunphy of SVP of Rockrose Development, Eric Benaim CEO / Founder of Modern Space, Dan Mogolesko SVP of the Durst Organization, Peter Papamichael Principal of the VOREA Group and Crystal Xu Director of Business Development United Construction & Development Group.
As I came in at the end of the panel presentation, I only caught the Q&A portion of the program, which follows.
A performance theater / school owner pondered aloud whether the developers were still interested in involving and supporting the arts and culture scene in Long Island City. At the turn of the century LIC was well known as a thriving artists community, as it offered very competitive rents and good access to mass transit. In the near quarter century since then many - if not most - of the artists have moved out of the area as they can no longer afford the rents, which have skyrocketed from under $1,000 / month to over $4,000 per month.
One of the panelists said they are interested in supporting the arts and he mentioned Culture Lab LIC as one of the arts institutions that has survived the changes. But that was pretty much the full extent of the conversation surrounding the arts community. So I reckon the short answer would be no.
- CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the LIC Summit 2024 - Real Estate Development in LIC Queens NYC.
The LIC Summit 2024 - Continued
October 8, 2024 / LIC Neighborhood / Queens Real Estate & Business / Queens Buzz. Continued.
Congestion pricing came up. Many were thankful that Governor Hochul put implementation of the proposal on hiatus prior to its official roll out which had been scheduled for June 30th. The panelists believe there's a strong possibility that Long Island commuters may decide to park their cars in Long Island City to avoid paying tolls across the Queens Borough Bridge and in Midtown Manhattan. That would put a strain on an already tight supply of parking space in Long Island City. One panelist commented that most developers only build the minimum parking required by law.
There was something mentioned about $3,000 / month being affordable housing. NYC codes require affordable housing. The significant tax breaks given to developers were cited as helping them build. In the past there was 421A which provided tax breaks for the creation of multi-family buildings. After it expired, it wasn't immediately replaced, as there was some resistance within the legislature to providing these sorts of huge community funded tax breaks, to wealthy developers. But in time the developers won out and 421A is in the process of being replaced by 485X in tandem with another set of tax breaks, 467m, incentivizing office to residential conversions.
One panelist commented that the definition of affordable housing is evolving - meaning that what's affordable is continually being redefined. Now 'affordable' can range from anywhere from 45% of AMI [Area Median Income], to 60% of AMI, to 80% of AMI and now 100% of AMI. If I am not mistaken, 100% of AMI means that the tenant would be spending the equivalent of 100% of the Area Median Income just on rent. In 2022 the AMI was $94,500 for a single person.
It was at this point that one of the panelists gave a shout out in support of the City of Yes proposal that Mayor Adams has been pushing. He said that the legislation would be immensely helpful to real estate developers and investors. And that it would create more housing which would reduce rent prices. Another panelist noted that during CoVid rental prices dropped 40% because tenants fled the city [which they could no longer afford]. He added that rental prices have since recovered. One of the panelists noted that developers can't make the numbers work without the tax breaks. Please note that we do have the information required to fact check any of the statements made in this paragraph, so lector caveat.
II. Second Panel - LIC Studies & Plans
The second panel was comprised of Ebony Young, Deputy Queens Borough President; Robert Basch, President of the Board of the Hunters Point Conservancy; Wil Fisher, Director of External Affairs of Rise Light & Power; Carolyn Grossman Meagher, Director of Economic Development and Regional Planning at the Department of City Planning; and Julie Won, the local NYC Councilmember [CCM].
This panel discussion was focused on future plans for LIC. Hence the panelists represented the Queens municipal government, resilience and quality of life, sustainable energy, the NYC Department of Planning and District 26 in the NYC Council.
CCM Won talked about where we are right now. LIC is sometimes referred to as the Yuppie Chinatown. In District 26 which is northwestern Queens [Astoria / LIC / Sunnyside], about 80% of the residents are renters, under the age of 45, who have young children. Editor's Note - We've not yet been able to source / fact check these statistics.
Deputy Young said we're all One LIC and that no community is sustainable that doesn't take care of all of its members.
Grossman Meagher said that currently LIC is split into two different communities. On the south side of the Queens Borough Bridge there are a lot of restaurants, green space and dwellings with nice views. On the north side of the Queens Borough Bridge there's an industrial area which has a lot of untapped value. The between zone is along 44th Drive. A change in zoning will unlock the property value of this area.
She said the zoning hasn't changed there since the 1960's, which is why the Mayor with his City of Yes legislation, wants to open up the community, so the developers can develop it and build housing. She noted, as the NYC Department of Planning has all year, that the zoning there hasn't changed since the 1960's when this was an industrial / manufacturing area. By changing the zoning both private and public investment will pour into the area and upgrade it, as was done on the south side of the Bridge in LIC.
Ebony chimed in that there might possibly be more parks and sustainable energy.
On October 20, 2024 CCM Won has helped organize a 'Walk Up' along the LIC waterfront to show what is and talk about what could be. The walk up includes Anable Basin, and Queens Bridge Park which apparently once had an indoor swimming pool. She told us that two surveys are in the works - one in tandem with a community organization called Woodside on the Move and the other by the NYC Economic Development Corporation.
The goal is to bring together the two communities into 'One LIC' which is the name of a rezoning concept / plan for which the surveys will provide input. They want to clean up the subway station in the area as well as what one panelist called 'no man's land' which is the dividing stretch of blocks separating the two neighborhoods. The goal is to develop the community to entice / build foot traffic in order to attract private investment in the area.
One of the panelists noted that LIC is [one of] the fastest growing community[ies] in the U.S. But that statement pertains to the south side of LIC, not the north side.
Fisher, of Rise Light & Power, told us that the Queens Bridge public housing complex was built in 1939, and the Ravenswood power plant was erected in 1963 after the waterfront had developed into an industrial area.
Basch said he began going to visioning sessions in 2015. Then, in 2018, before the pandemic hit, Amazon first announced it was planning to build a second headquarters here in Long Island City. And then shortly thereafter, in early 2019, Amazon decided not to relocate in LIC because the reception by the representatives of the people who lived here wasn't very warm.
[Editor's Note. In defense of the government officials and locals, it's worth saying that demand for apartments would have skyrocketed because of a huge influx of Amazon employees, which would have put a lot of pressure on rental prices, forcing many of the then existing residents to leave the community. Many have since left anyhow, because prices have continued rising, but they had more time to make the adjustment. But I digress]
And then during and since the pandemic he said he's been attending meetings focused on the One LIC plan. He's encouraged that the CCM and the NYC Department of Planning are involved because he thinks that means the government [and big money] more serious about getting something done. He noted that Hunters Point South is LIC's town square / community center. He also noted that LIC is 3rd from last in terms of per capita green space in Queens [not sure I got that statement right and it's not been verified / sourced]. He said he'd like to see 7 - 9 acres more of green space, because something like 18,000 more apartments are due to come online fairly soon.
Grossman Meagher [NYC Dept of Plg] said that having a public meeting space helps develop the feeling of community, it also helps with climate change resilience and it's a great real estate development tool to use to obtain public / private investment. She said the western Queens waterfront was used primarily for manufacturing in the 1960's and now they want to change the zoning to require more green space and public access along the entire waterfront, as has been done in parts of Williamsburg, LIC and [mostly the west side of] Manhattan.
Grossman Meagher also told us that efforts have been made to research the possibility of increasing public access to the waterfront along the western Queens shore of the East River. To that end Plaxall which owns the Anable Basin, TF Cornerstone which owns several skyscrapers in LIC, Con Edison which owns a good stretch of waterfront property north of Queens Bridge, and the NY Power Authority and the NY Department of Sanitation - both of which have waterfront property - have all been asked to commit to providing some dozens of feet of waterfront access along the East River in LIC / Astoria.
Fisher told us that in 2019 NYS had passed a bill to de-carbonize its energy usage by 2035. He told us that his company, Rise Light & Power, is currently working on a plan to convert some of its energy production from fossil fuels to solar piped in through the Long Island Sound and East River from wind farms on the ocean. He said there's not likely to be any new power plants built in NYC, which means they'll not be able to retire the existing one anytime soon. He said that by 2035 they expect to be distributing 9 gigawatts of wind / solar power [I think per day, but this is unconfirmed] out of the Ravenswood power plant / facility, which can power 6.7 million homes at present consumption.
Currently the power plant is walled off from the public for health, safety and security reasons. Over time he expects they may be able to change their waterfront configuration as their function in the power supply chain changes. He also said though, that the current carbon plant would continue producing energy the old-fashioned way and noted that it provides a number of well-paying union jobs. He cited the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn Marine / Army / Cruise [not sure which] Terminal as an example.
I think he told us that they have a 27 acre site along the East River, most of which is currently used for industrial energy production. Over time they may be able to reconfigure things - "move things around". Something about NYSERDA - which is the NYS Energy Research and Development Agency. He estimated that during an open streets event, about 90% of folks heading north turned around at the Queens Bridge, because what's north of there is largely industrial and not designed for foot traffic. He surmised that that could be changed.
Grossman Meagher said that Ravenswood is not currently part of a rezoning plan. She went on, promoting the City of Yes legislation, noting that 10 neighborhoods produce the most affordable housing in NYC. [Editor's Note: is that because of zoning or because of location / location / location?] She said that NYC used to do about 50% of its work in manufacturing [presumably in the 1960's and before]. She said that that is still somewhat the same in terms of percentage [50%], but now instead of manufacturing things [Editor's Note: like Ronzoni noodles or Steinway pianos], NYC is producing films [and again presumably other items that are intellectual capital not objects per se].
She told us that there's always a tension between legacy and new businesses, which is why the NY Department of Planning is working with the Economic Development Corporation [both NYC agencies] to develop a citywide industrial plan.
Basch said LIC is still the fastest growing neighborhood in NYC and that 2,000 new apartments will come online within the next six months. Won said District 26 - aka LIC / Astoria / Sunnyside doesn't get its fair share of things. She said she supports the City of Yes, but that she is only one of 12 City Councilmembers who do so. She said something about Brooklyn Maritime obtaining a change in zoning (?) which permits them to build residential housing [I think intimating it's unfair because the zoning variances change from neighborhood to neighborhood]. Basch noted that NYC has a $110 billion budget and still the sewers in LIC don't work.
Former CCM Constantinides asked whether the new buildings will be weather resilient. Won said the Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for enforcing plumbing, sewer, transit and other environmental factors on new construction projects.
Grossman Meagher noted that generally the new buildings fare better during the storms than the older ones because of the new rules. She went on to say that government spending in support of private investment aids in the development of a community.
She noted that the EIS process [Environmental Impact Statement] was helpful in requiring all NYC agencies to identify what and how much government spending would be required to support a new development. The EIS process was mandated into law in 2005. The OMB - aka Mayor's Office of Management and Budget - then followed up on the EIS to make sure all NYC agencies were working in concert.
We then went to Q&A.
One audience member said real estate developers aren't the only parties affected by these plans. She asked about community green space and active space [like publicly available tennis, basketball and gym facilities w/o paying fees to landowners].
Won said there's going to be frustration because so many parties are involved. This is a proposal for legislation and it's not yet ready to be made into legislation.
Someone said that NYC and NYS don't maintain their properties in LIC, as well as the privately owned properties. Specifically they singled out the MTA subway station at Borden and 50th Street, which they thought should be keep cleaner. Won said send photos and perhaps she'll try to publicly shame them by doing an event there.
The last comment was made by a man who said there are three elephants not in the room. The first is Con Edison and the second is the NY Power Authority - both of which are large East River waterfront property owners, and the third is NYS which must be used to pressure the first two to make changes, because there are two very large power turbines there which supply a lot of NYC's power.
All in all, it was a very informative session, as you can see. And as usual.
- For prior LIC Partnership real estate meetings dating back to 2009 click this link.
- And if you care about your community I recommend you click here to view our report series on the City of Yes legislation, which takes power away from the people in the community and gives it to the Mayor, the real estate developers and international investors. And then contact your City Councilmember, which for District 26 is Julie Won.
