Located less than ten minutes from Midtown Manhattan, Long Island City (LIC) is an ideal location for your back-office needs. LIC is particularly attractive to companies with a substantial Midtown presence, in particular those that are interested in reducing their occupancy costs.

The area was rezoned in 2001 to allow for substantial mixed-use development (up to 11 million square feet). What was once a collection of large industrial buildings and parking lots is fast becoming an edgy office market bordered by galleries, art museums and a burgeoning residential community.

LIC Core: Queens Plaza & Court Square
Two primary districts – Queens Plaza and Court Square – make up the 37-block LIC Core, with Jackson Avenue serving as the main thoroughfare connecting the two. East of the Core, many large, former industrial buildings are being repositioned for office use. They provide a low-price alternative (high teens to low twenty's per SF) to the newer, Class A buildings that are more typical in the LIC Core.

Many high-profile companies have already discovered the benefits of Long Island City.  They include: 

• Citigroup
• HSBC
• MetLife 
• Silvercup Studios
• UNFCU 
• Barclays

Several companies have recently signed long-term lease commitments in LIC including, Collins Building Services, The Fortune Society, Net-A-Porter, Tourneau,  and Unique Settings of New York, among others.

Arts & Media in Long Island City
Long Island City is home to dozens of arts and media organizations and several media and art related developments are under consideration.  One proposal involves the development of a dramatic two million SF mixed-use campus that will include soundstages, 650,000 SF of commercial and retail space and add 1,000 units of housing to the East River waterfront. Art institutions P.S.1, MoMA, and the Sculpture Center all have a presence in the district as well.

The LIC Core is easy to access via a variety of transportation options:

• Seven convenient subway lines: 7, E, V, G, N, R & W
• Long Island Rail Road at the Hunter’s Point Station, with a second station planned in the near future
• Numerous bus lines including 19A, 39, 67 & 101R
• Ferry landing at Queens West provides service to Midtown, Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn

Long Island City's Central Business District is considered part of the Northwest Queens submarket, which consists of 7.4 million SF of office space. 3.1 million SF of that space is designated as Class A.

Nearly $50 million in City, State and Federal funds have been secured to further improve the LIC Core and the surrounding area.

Queens Plaza Re-imagined
Work has begun on the $32 million reconstruction of Queens Plaza. This project will create the following:

• More open space for public enjoyment 
• Better roadway design with reconfigured traffic patterns 
• Streetscape improvements 
• Enhanced pedestrian access

Jackson Avenue Expanded 
Work has begun on the $17 million upgrade to Jackson Avenue. The redeveloped Jackson Avenue will be more pedestrian-friendly, with a boulevard that connects Court Square to Queens Plaza. The area will feature:

• New sidewalks 
• Landscaped medians 
• More lighting, street furniture and artistic elements

Many development projects have already been planned or are currently underway in Long Island City.  They include the following projects:

• Queens West
  A 75-acre, $2.3 billion mixed-use development located at Hunters Point.  As planned, the Quenns West project will house 6,400 residential units, 2.3 million SF of office space, 225,000 SF of retail space, two elementary schools and parking for over 5,000 vehicles.  A 20-acre park system, uniquely designed to service the developments recreational needs, is interspersed among the development parcels.
• Gotham Center
  Tishman Speyer to develop up to 1.5 million SF in Queens Plaza on what are today a municipal parking garage and a collection of industrial buildings.  Demolition of the garage is complete and construction has begun on Phase I; a 625,000 SF Class A office building that will be leased to the Dept of Health. Phase II offers the opportunity to develop an additional 1.5 million SF at a nearby site.   
• North 30
  Opportunity to create as much as 650,000 SF of mixed-use space at 30-30 Northern Boulevard between 40^th Avenue and 40^th Road.   As proposed, the $300 million development will house 200,000 SF of academic space, residential space, and an 800-seat auditorium.  Project to be developed by E.J. Minskoff Equities. 
• 10 Court Square  
Opportunity to create more than 800,000 SF of mixed-use space in Court Square. Project to be developed by Rockrose Realty.

A number of City and State incentives are helping to attract tenants to LIC. Business income tax credits, rent reductions, real estate tax savings and energy discounts are just some of the benefits available to businesses in the area.

The estimated savings from the following as-of-right programs can total $15 per SF or more per year. (See table below for sample benefits calculation.)

Relocation and Employment Assistance Program (REAP)

• Annual credit against City business tax of up to $3,000 per employee for companies that relocate from outside NYC or from Manhattan below 96th Street
• Benefits are available for up to 12 years, refundable for first five
• Benefits are available for all jobs moved and created over the first five years, up to the greater of 100 and twice the initial number of employees
• Company must have been operating for 24 months before the start of the tax year during which it relocated
• Minimum required investment of $25 per SF on leased space, or the building must be improved by 50 percent of its appraised value

To apply, download this REAP Application (PDF) maintained by nyc.gov.

Commercial Expansion Program (CEP)
A credit of up to $2.50 per SF per year for five years is available to tenants signing qualifying leases in pre-1999 buildings with at least 25,000 SF of floor area. To be eligible for the program, minimum lease terms and investments are required as indicated below:

• Minimum lease term must be (a) three years if 125 people or fewer will be employed in the premises; or (b) 10 years if more than 125 people will be employed in the premises
• Minimum investment level must be at least (a) $2.50 per SF for leases of less than 10 years and for renewal leases of 10 years or more that include newly leased space; (b) $5.00 per SF for renewal leases of 10 years or more involving only previously occupied space; and (c) $25.00 per SF for new and expansion leases of 10 years or more

To apply, download this CEP Application (PDF) maintained by nyc.gov.

Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP)
Provides abatements of real property taxes for varying periods up to 25 years for eligible industrial and commercial buildings that are built, modernized, rehabilitated, expanded, or otherwise physically improved.

• The abatement is equal to the amount by which the post-completion tax exceeds the initial tax (post completion must exceed 115 percent of initial tax to qualify for any abatement)
• Applicants must make a minimum required expenditure (MRE) equal to at least 30 percent of the taxable assessed value of the project

Application for the ICAP program are coming soon. In the meantime the following ICIP applications remain in use:
Preliminary ICIP Application
Final ICIP Application

Commercial Rent Tax (CRT) Savings
Exemption from the 3.9% tax on commercial rents, which all firms who rent 250,000 square feet or more in Midtown are subject to.

• Application for commercial rent tax exemption must be submitted annually

CRT Application

Average Annual Savings of $15.92/SF*
We’ve made some sample calculations to illustrate potential savings afforded by select financial incentives. The table below is provided as an example only. Actual savings vary on case-by-case basis.

* Example in table assumes: 90 employees; 20,000 SF leased space; per SF real estate tax of $2.50; per SF electricity cost of $2.80; and annual NYC business income tax liability of $45,000.