Overview

Long Island City (LIC) is buzzing due to the 2001 rezoning of 37 blocks in the central business district (CBD). The neighborhood is notable for its rapid residential development, waterfront parks, and thriving arts community. Opportunities to develop office space at rents significantly lower than those of nearby Midtown Manhattan make LIC an affordable and competitive location for many businesses. Several major development projects have spearheaded LIC’s redevelopment, including Tishman Speyer’s 3.5 million square feet Gotham Center and Rockrose’s 800,000 square feet 10 Court Square project The rezoning and consequent new development is estimated to have added 30,000 new daily office workers and 35,000 new residents to the area in the last decade.

View the Long Island City Central Business District Summary 

Office Market

Located less than ten minutes from Midtown Manhattan, LIC is an ideal location for a variety of businesses The 2001 rezoning allowed for substantial mixed-use development, creating new opportunities for growth. 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.

Two primary districts – Queens Plaza and Court Square – make up the 37-block CBD, with Jackson Avenue serving as the main thoroughfare connecting the two. East of the CBD, many large, former industrial buildings are being repurposed for office or light industrial use. They provide a low-priced alternative to the newer, Class A buildings found in the LIC CBD or in nearby Midtown Manhattan.

Many high-profile companies have already discovered the benefits of LIC, including Citigroup, HSBC, JetBlue, MetLife, Silvercup Studios, United Nations Federal Credit Union, and Barclays.

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Available Commercial Incentives

• Commercial Expansion Project (CEP)
• Energy Cost Savings Program (ECSP)
• Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP)
• Relocation and Employment Assistance Program (REAP)

See www.nyc.gov/businessexpress for more information about incentive programs

Office Market Snapshot¹

Class A Office Space¹

Class B/C Office Space¹

*Includes Gotham Center
1. Data gathered from CoStar

Retail Market

Amid Long Island City’s well known galleries and art museums, like PS 1 Contemporary Art Center and the Noguchi Museum, a vibrant retail community is growing. All along the East River waterfront in Queens West and Hunters Point South, developers are working to keep pace with demand as young artists, business professionals, and families move in from all around the City. Planned residential development will house as many as 50,000 new residents in the area. The result is a burgeoning retail community centered mostly along Jackson Avenue and Vernon Boulevard, popular corridors where dozens of new shops have opened their doors in the last several years. Exciting bars and restaurants are springing up next to new art and theater venues carved from the area’s classic industrial façade, creating a new quality of life for residents and capturing the imagination of developers throughout the City.

The Long Island City Partnership serves the CBD and surrounding areas by advocating for economic development that benefits LIC’s industrial, commercial, cultural, and residential sectors. Their goal is to attract and retain businesses, welcome new residents and visitors, and promote a vibrant and authentic mixed-use community The LIC Partnership provides many valuable services that help support the retail experience in LIC, such as removing refuse from the sidewalks and streets of Queens Plaza and Jackson Avenue; providing nightly security patrols along Queens Plaza and Jackson Avenue; hosting networking and educational events; and facilitating graffiti removal.

Demographics¹

Current Retail Development²

1. Data gathered from Demographics Now
2. Data gathered from CoStar 

Who's Here

• Food Cellar & Co.
• National Frontier Market
• Harry’s at Water Taxi Beach
• C-Town Supermarket
• LIC Bar
• Noguchi Museum
• Hunter’s Point Wines & Spirits
• Spokesman Cycles
• Duane Reade
• Court Square Diner
• Emily Spa
• Studio Square Beer Garden & Event Space
• Dutch Kills Bar
• Sage General Store

Large Scale Development Activity

Gotham Center

Tishman Speyer Properties is nearing completion of Phase I of the 1.5 million square foot Gotham Center, a new commercial office building on the former site of a municipal parking garage and collection of industrial buildings in Queens Plaza Phase I will complete 662,000 square feet of the project

• Use: Office / retail / parking
• Status: Construction (expected completion 2011)

Jackson Avenue Streetscape / Queens Plaza Reconstruction

The Jackson Avenue project will include a new landscaped median, enhanced amenities, and improved open spaces. The Queens Plaza project will create a new roadway redesign, improved crossings and streetscape, landscaped medians, a protected bikeway and pedestrian path, and a 1.5-acre park.

• Cost: $50 Million
• Use: Recreation / transportation
• Status: Construction

10 Court Square

Rockrose Development Corporation is designing a build-to-suit, SOM-designed commercial 800,000 square foot office building on a city block in the Court Square area across from the Citigroup building and the UNFCU building.

• Use: Commercial / retail
• Status: Planning

5 Pointz

Developer Jerry Wolkoff assembled an entire city block between Jackson Avenue and the Sunnyside Yards at the South end of LIC for a 1 million square foot planned mixed-use development.

• Use: Commercial / retail
• Status: Planning

4300 Crescent

Rockrose Development Corp. shares a full city block with the United Nations Federal Credit Union building in the Court Square area.

• Use: Residential
• Status: Construction

30-30 Northern Boulevard

Minskoff Equities is planning a 650,000 square foot commercial development along Northern Boulevard, one block north of the commercial core.

• Use: Commercial
• Status: Planning

Abs Partners

ABS Partners is brokering two large sites combined for 360,000 square feet on either side of Northern Boulevard, one block north of the central CBD.

• Use: Commercial or Industrial
• Status: Planning

Queens West (Rockrose)

Rockrose Development Corporation is building the final stages of Queens West, a mixed-use residential development along the East River waterfront The development will contain 7 towers with 3,200 residential units.

• Use: Residential / retail
• Status: Construction

Hunter's Point South

Hunter’s Point South is a 5,000 square foot proposed mixed-use, middle-income housing development situated on 30 acres of prime waterfront property in LIC. In addition to housing, the new development on public land also includes retail uses, community space, a public school, public parkland (including waterfront access) and accessory parking.

• Use: Residential / retail / recreation
• Status: Planning