A newly released Insignia/ESG report predicts that MetLife, which took 404,000 sf in Queens during the first half of 2001, will serve as the catalyst for businesses to move into the area. The leasing activity nearly doubled in that borough from 2000-2001, while availability dropped from 12.3% to 9.6% over that period. British Airways' 83,000-sf lease renewal in Jackson Heights and Scharff Weisberg's 40,000-sf lease in Long Island City both contributed to the trend.
But Karson was reluctant to make projections for 2002. "This is a speculative market, making it difficult to predict."
"A decade ago when Citibank took space, there wasn't the critical mass in Midtown and the East Side we see now," says Karson. "Jersey City has relieved the expansion Downtown, Long Island City will take the pressure off of Midtown and the East Side.
"You've got cheaper space, economic incentives and convenient transportation," says the EMD. "That, and the tendency after Sept. 11 for businesses to want to decluster is the reason you see the move occurring now."
The 2001 upzoning of 37 acres in Long Island City should help attract commercial development to the area. "This FAR rezoning makes Long Island more attractive to big businesses, because they can build larger buildings" says Karson.
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