"This city is kind of like Madonna--it's always reinventing itself," declared Kayman. She said now Silicon Alley, which didn't even exist a few years ago, now is "everything south of 41st Street." With a low vacancy rate throughout Manhattan, particularly in Midtown, many companies are looking elsewhere to meet their space needs. New Jersey has been heralding its success in drawing some business to its shores, but Kayman argued Long Island City was more affordable and had more space to offer than New Haven, CT, Jersey City and Stamford, CT combined.
"We have five buildings with 2.2 million sf of space participating in our Digital NYC Program," she said. "We've gotten a bunch of new tax incentives passed to grease the wheels. The kicker is that tax incentives for moving to C-4, C-5, C-6, M-1, M-2 and M-3 are up to $3,000 per employee per year, up from $1,000. Also, there's a 20-30% energy discount and a $2.50 per sf abatement available.
"Vast Video is going into Long Island City and our office is busier than ever," she continued. "We're still seeing a large influx of business moving into the city from other cities in the northeast and a huge influx from Europe and Asia now too."
Cohen shared a personal memory of when he first took a top Citibank executive out to Long Island City to see the site where its office tower now stands. The executive rode the one stop from his office to the site across the East River and asked, "Where am I?" Cohen said now the Citibank building is "the largest building between Boston and Baltimore outside of Manhattan."
From experience such as taking the early 20th-century Ford plant and transforming it into The Center Building to converting an old Gimball's warehouse into a jeweler's center, he noted he has often seen people are surprised to find their businesses are more successful in Queens when they relocate. He noted they shouldn't really be surprised and said he always points out, "Even if they lost one and a half of gross value from relocating and losing some business, the net profit would be made up by the EDC's tax breaks."
He said it's a matter of uncovering the value of property too. "When we looked at the Ford plant, we found out the roof used to be where they parked cars before they were taken to the showroom. It was so well reinforced for weight that now it's perfect to support all the equipment needed for technology needs today. There were very little costs to adapt an early 1900s factory to the future."
Brause noted that in the development of his company's new project, BridgePlaza TechCentre, they've encountered no problems wiring the building as fiber is run from Manhattan over the Queensboro Bridge to Long Island City along the Queensboro Plaza. The project is located right on the Plaza. He also noted other projects will find not only the EDC's breaks a help, but the FAR has changed to allow up to 15 FAR in some areas.
All three speakers noted the quality and supply of the workforce in the area, noting even more multifamily projects on the way, such as Avalon Bay's Queens West development. They noted the safety of the area and said nearby LaGuardia College adds an element of security with professionals attending evening classes and a connection to culture and education in the area.
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