Worklife in LIC evaluated. Court Square commercial development continues.

Dark skies over Court Square? April 2008, Long Island City

Interesting article this morning about the downsides of working in Court Square which included: lack of basic stores like pharmacies, grocery, dry cleaning etc, for errands during the day; the challenging commute from Jersey; the industrial ‘ghetto’-like vibe; few options for lunch. Upsides were: commuting from Brooklyn via the G train, quiet & low-key. Some felt that LIC offers a nice relief from congestion, others felt that Queens is beneath them. On this blog, we’ve heard a lot from the LIC resident point of view, but not so much from the working population.

Here’s a taste:

“Coming here from Manhattan is a real culture shock,” said one employee puffing away in front of the newest Citigroup building with three other forty-something, heavyset men on Monday morning. “There, you walk from store to store. You have so much variety. Here, forget it, man. The cafeteria’s too pricey so we usually eat Chinese food. There’s also a Spanish place, and a lot of ethnic stuff.

“It’s interesting, but, after a while, interesting gets old.”

“The hardest part is that there are not as many pretty girls passing by,” a man from the Bronx wearing a baseball cap offered, prompting wistful sighs of agreement from his three smoking buddies.

“Parking is also too expensive,” offered another employee who has been commuting from New Jersey by car for about seven years. He pays $7 daily to park, but refused to divulge the name and location of the lot. “It’s a secret. Most people pay like $10 a day, Manhattan prices.”

“But if you like peace and quiet, this place is perfect.”

Citicorp Tower, Court Square, LIC

The article cited a throwback article from 2006 about commercial development in Court Square, which is remarkably relevant to the current climate in LIC. Commercial developers even 2 years ago were not sure of LIC’s viability, yet some have taken the plunge:

1) Tishman Speyer, is finally expected to break ground on a scaled-down Gotham Center in Queens Plaza(pdf)–originally the developer giant planned to build 3 million square feet, but the most recent description of the project on the EDC Web site is for a 1.5 million-square-foot complex with the option of 1.5 million additional square feet in a second building phase.

2) E.J. Minskoff Equities’ $300 million mixed-use development North 30 is scheduled to be finished in late 2009, according to theEDC, but judging by the language it doesn’t sound like the commercial portion has really taken off. The site says there is “opportunity to create as much as 650,000 SF of mixed-use space at 30-30 Northern Boulevard between 40th Avenue and 40th Road.”

3) “The opportunity to create more than 580,000 sf of mixed-use space at (24-02 43rd Avenue) in Court Square,” is also available in Rockrose’s planned development, according to the EDC, leaving the potential for many more office workers to make Long Island City their professional home.

4) And let’s not forget about Rockrose’s 10 Court Square.

• The local: Worklife in Long Island City [Observer]

• A Long Island City awakening [NY Times]

• Behold the behemoth 10 Court Square [liQcity]