Long Island, NY, is undergoing a residential building boom — just in time for Amazon to drop a corporate office there that eventually will employ 25,000 people.
A LawnStarter analysis of data from real estate brokerage Redfin shows that among more than 70 U.S. metro locations, Long Island — home to three of the five boroughs of New York City, NY — saw the biggest jump in residential units approved for construction from June 2017 to June 2018. How big? The number of units approved for building permits skyrocketed by 101 percent during the one-year period.
Much of the residential growth has occurred in Long Island City, a neighborhood in the Long Island borough of Queens.
On November 12, Amazon tapped Long Island City for half of its second headquarters, or HQ2. That’ll bring more 25,000 jobs to Long Island City. The other half of HQ2, also promising more than 25,000 jobs, is going to Crystal City, VA, a suburban neighborhood just outside Washington, DC. As part of the Amazon deal, Crystal City is being rebranded as National Landing.
No doubt, Amazon’s presence will mean thousands of new residents in Long Island City. Since word surfaced that Amazon is eyeing Long Island City, interest in condos and apartments there has spiked. And that’s been accompanied by a spike in condo prices and apartment rental rates.
Long Island City would provide enough condos and apartments to absorb at least some of the Amazon arrivals. More than 16,700 new condos and apartments have been built since 2006, with nearly 12,000 more set for completion by 2020, according to the Long Island City Partnership, which promotes economic development.
Long Island City was New York City’s fastest-growing neighborhood in 2017, with the addition of 2,800 residential units, New York’s Department of City Planning says. Last year, New York magazine dubbed Long Island City “the country’s fastest-growing neighborhood,” based on the number of residential units that had been completed there since 2010. About 68,000 people currently live there; the population is projected to surge past 100,000 by 2021, the partnership says.
So, what’s the attraction to Long Island City, aside from its views of the Manhattan skyline, lower housing costs compared with Manhattan and hop-skip-and-a-jump proximity to the city’s core?
“Once an epicenter of manufacturing, Long Island City is now home to one of the city’s most exciting art scenes. The neighborhood is dotted with late 19th- and early 20th-century industrial buildings that have been transformed into galleries, museums and studios, and there’s a fast-growing list of must-visit restaurants, shops and performance venues,” according to New York City’s tourism arm.
According to LawnStarter’s analysis of Redfin data, here are the 12 areas that saw the biggest jump in approval of residential building permits from June 2017 to June 2018.
1. Long Island, NY
(+101% permit increase)
photo: Flickr
2. Colorado Springs, CO
(+97.3% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
3. Honolulu, HI
(+81.2% permit increase)
photo: Flickr
4. Tucson, AZ
(+70.3% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
5. Manchester, NH
(+47.8% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
6. Orlando, FL
(+45.2% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
7. Edison, NJ
(+43.1% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
8. Los Angeles, CA
(+42.6% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
9. North Port, FL
(+39.7% permit increase)
photo: Zillow North Port, FL
10. Knoxville, TN
(+36.9% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
11. Charlotte, NC
(+37.7% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
12. Fort Myers, FL
(+37.4% permit increase)
photo: Wikimedia Commons
