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LIC Relieves Burgeoning City Office Market

NEW YORK CITY-The Midtown and East Side office markets have hit critical mass, prompting businesses to look elsewhere for space. Corporate incentives and a recent 37-acre FAR upzoning prompt big business to look to Long Island City, says Richard Karson of Insignia/ESG.

By Michael Gilliard | Updated on March 22, 2002

NEW YORK CITY-MetLife’s move to the area last year, the recent tendency toward corporate fragmentation, easy transportation and attractive asking office rents all make now the time to take space in Queens, particularly Long Island City, says Richard Karson, executive managing director of Insignia/ESG. The company predicts Long Island City may become the city’s fourth largest business district as a growing number of Midtown and East Side businesses move across the river.

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.”

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