Summer development blazes on at the Pulaski Bridge in LIC
There’s one spot at the intersection of 11th street and Jackson Ave where you can stand in place and swivel around to catch four new developments taking shape around the Pulaski Bridge base. We checked in during the spring, and here’s the summer update:
First up is Hunters View, brother of One Hunters Point on Borden Avenue. The outer facade is almost finished, and it’s starting to look more like the condo building we all knew it would be. (Live like a rocket, right?) According to the sales agent, both buildings of the Hunters Point Condos are just over 50% sold.
Hunters View condo building, Jackson Ave, Pulaski Bridge, LIC
Right next door, the longtime mystery building, is the L for Livable, L Haus. Well, it’s not quite livable yet, but it’s certainly moving in that direction. Usually development gets stagnated at some point in the process, but the Pulaski Bridge cluster, perhaps spurred on by each other, are all enjoying a very speedy cruising altitude.
The L Haus condo building, Jackson Ave, Pulaski Bridge, LIC
The speediest of them all, seems to be the rental building tucked in on 11th Street just north of the Pulaski Bridge entrance. This 38 unit building with possible ground floor retail is making very steady progress.
Rental building, 11 St & Jackson Ave, Pulaski Bridge, LIC
And last but certainly not least, is 10-50 Jackson, which is the most complete of all the developments, and move in dates should be right around the corner. You might want to wear your sunglasses when you are near the building since it doubles as a large scale sun reflector.
10-50 Jackson condo building, Jackson Ave, LIC
They should rename that spot Condo Square
What about 10-63 Jackson??
Hunter’s Point Condo’s have been saying that they’ve been just over 50% sold since opening day. How long has it been now… Almost a year?
I guess sales have stagnated.
sales have definitely stagnated. All the condo sales are at the same place they were months ago.
Who’s turn is it to start the City Lights vs. Arris brouhaha today? I left my schedule in my other pair of pants.
please don’t.
Who are these people that want to live at the intersection of Jackson Ave and the Pulaski Bridge? Crossing the street will be the most exciting part of your day. We live nearby and that intersection totally sucks. Not to mention the exhaust and the beautiful views of…….something.
What’s the with Arris/Citylights brouhaha? Why is this something to argue over? What is there to argue about?
There’s always something to argue about.
Developers and buyers in LIC have consistently confounded most of us with their interest in what would otherwise be incredibly poor real estate locations. Butting up against a rail yard with late night and early morning train traffic? Sure, lets put luxury lofts there. At the intersection of two busy four lane roads and the main artery from Brooklyn to the Queensborough Bridge? Sure- lets put FIVE buildings there! In Queens Plaza a block from the strip clubs with a view of the housing project and a tangle of elevated subways? Nothing says luxury like that!
But despite conventional wisdom, the buildings keep going up and the sales seem to ultimately do alright. The wisdom of web forums does not always equal the wisdom of the markets themselves.
What boards normally don’t note are the other (blatantly obvious) aspects of an area. In this case, for example, the extremely close proximity to the vernon/jackson subway stop, close to all of the restaurants on Vernon, a very quick walk to the waterfront, etc.
This is NY, not some distant suburb - there’s more to location than a busy street or abridge. So yes, conventional wisdom in Montana is not the same thing as conventional wsidom in NY.
It’s all about what you want and where you want to be. Sutton Place may be the right fit for some people whereas the LES may be right for others. Some people (not on this board specifically) envision their own perfect surroundings and make a blanket statement about what is “good” or “bad” when it’s actually their own opinion. That’s fine, it’s just shocking that some people don’t realize that their own opinion is not the same as everyone else’s. So, I agree with you jb, conventional wisdom does not always equal “blog wisdom”
My wife and I bought in Hunter’s View. We considered the area very carefully before we signed the contract. Yes, it is a busy intersection, but we found that after business hours and on weekends that the noise was minimal. The building is built with extremely well soundproof windows anyway. We liked the layout and finishes and really liked the price - the closest 2 bd prices were at least $100/sq ft higher. Once all the construction is finished , say 6-8 months or so, the area will be very livable in my opinion. Of the five buildings in the area, possibly 3 of them may have retail space. It will take time, but we think it will be a great place and neighborhood in general to live in.
#10
Very true. I enjoyed your comment.
I agree with #10, 11, & 12. Go to the area right now, and it may not be your cup of tea. NO ONE LIVES THERE, and the only thing you see is the busy commercial vehichle traffic. But what those who’ve chosen to purchase there have realized is that within a year, there will be FIVE brand new large scale developments filled with 800-1,000 people who were willing to put down their hard earned cash to live there. These aren’t idiots, they must have done relatively well financially in life to earn enough income to afford these places. Throw in the extreme close proximity to the 7 station at Vernon/Jackson, the “non-vernon restaurants” (Jackson Ave Steak House, Manetta’s, Manducattis, BANY, etc.) and the ground floor retail still to come. And they’ve gotten a nice discount compared to those purchasing on the west side of Vernon. I would admit, if you look at the present condition without any foresight, this place looks crazy to live in; but mark my words, when these buildings have filled up in a year or two, this will be a legitamate and desireable section of the Hunters Point neighborhood.
Now, let the die-yuppie-scum talk begin…
Also Jackson Ave is schedule to get a mojor upgrade. It was blogged about here
Keep dreaming, some of these posts on here sound like desperate realtors in disguise. We live in LIC, we love it and we want to see it change for the better. We’re not old timers, but we’ve been here long enough to see the changes and when I say you can’t polish a turd, I say it with nothing but love for the neighborhood.
You might be living close to Bella Via, but you’ll get killed by a dump truck when you cross the cluster@$&# that is the Jackson/Pulaski/21st St intersection to get there. Not to mention that if current trends continue, all the retail you’re talking about will consist of 8 Duane Reades, 5 Wireless Huts and all the Commerce Banks you’ll need. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get a Chipotle.
Its nice that these high rises have commercial stores, because this nieghborhood needs it. I’m dying for LIC to make the big time. I’ll be the first person through the doors of the Foodcellar, but all that these sterile filing cabinets bring are sterile chain stores. There will be nothing to replace 10-63 and I mean the coffee shop, not the condo.
Zap, I am #13 (and am most certainly not a real estate broker) and I have to disagree with you. No one thinks that Pulaski Bridge/Jackson Ave will suddenly turn into Park Ave and everyone will want to live there. What it will turn into is a nice 3 block area, along a busy street, that I will want to live along (emphasis on the I, not you). As you know, this is NYC - busy intersection does not mean toxic real estate. My point is that all of the people who have bought in this area are well aware of the traffic situation, yet they are still willing to pay a LOT of money to live here. Do you think they are all that stupid to totally disregard the busy intersection in front of them? The truth of the matter is that at Rush Hour, this intersection is extremeley busy, and I would recommend walking under the bridge on 50th at those hours (if you’re on the side of Hunters View or L Hause). I am considering buying at HV, and at rush hour, the walk under the bridge to the subway station ACROSS JACKSON is under 2 1/2 minutes. That doesn’t seem like too much time to pass the “cluster@$&# that is the Jackson/Pulaski/21st St intersection” as you called it (and by the way, 21st street is a good 5-6 blocks past there, not really close to what we are talking about here). Your assumption that everyone who bought in that area is “dreaming” is ignorant, as is your assumption that there will be “8 Duane Reads” etc.. I’ve been here for a long time too, and I’m excited to see this area get some life in it.
Sorry, I’m #13 & 16 - Zap’s name must’ve been in the Name box. Didn’t realize it before I hit sumbit.
#16, I do not dispute much of what you have to say, but you should know that 21st is 1 block east of this intersection, and not the 5-6 as you claim. 11st and 21st are consecutive blocks. Just thought I would set the record straight.
All the comments have some truth to them but i tend to agree with #11 the most…the key is to try and vision the area when it’s finished / built out. Hey we live in NYC and unless you have unlimited wealth and can live in some enclave like 15 CPW or the Plaza, buying a place is a balancing act…you never get everything you want. There are always trade offs.
Yes that intersection is busy…but so is every single intersection in Manhattan. Would L Haus be perfect if it was on the water? Maybe, but then pricing would be $1,200/sf. All of LIC is transforming and the Jackson Ave corridor is going to be a cool strip of new development, from Bordon all the way down to Queens Plaza. It’s already begun but the next huge wave will be the influx of retail to support all the new residents.
My part of LIC is better than yours.
Nuh-uh, mine is GONNA be an awesome, legitimate portion of the neighborhood in 5 years.
LOL, you have to cross a busy street sometimes.
Naw, there’s totally an underpass, ‘natch.
Anyway.
Isn’t the Hunterspoint Av. station closer anyway?
Yes, there is a symbiosis effect going on. More residential brings more retail, more retail brings more residential. The thing that has been holding back LIC is the lack of retail. This place will really start to pop once that gets going and LIC loses its frontier aura. With a legit supermarket and a Duane Reade we are starting to get some credibility. It’s an exciting time to live in LIC.
“With a legit supermarket and a Duane Reade we are starting to get some credibility”
“Credibility”? Among whom?
Do you real estate people realize how offensive the way you talk about a neighborhood sounds?
What #22? How is talking like that offensive? Do you realize how silly you sound all these years with LIC not turning into what you what it to be? It will never be that, so stop already. NYC shoudn’t have to conform into what Mid-westerners want it to be.
Really? Talking like a neighborhood is some sort of commodity that needs to approved by some mystery validator at some future point when it has the “right” amenities and deomographic composition for said entities isn’t offensive?
I wonder what the people who have lived here their whole lives think. I bet they can’t wait to finally feel validated for living here once there is a Duane Reade.
24, Brandon, as an old-timer, I just shrug at this point when I hear those thoughtless comments. As soon as apartments became more than just a place to live, the game changed in LIC. Everything is viewed through the lens of growth, change, money, earnings. There’s no more useful vocabulary to discuss where one lives anymore. Credibility? Why of course.
Yeah, # 21 - that comment was a bit too much, even for people who are looking forward to having a supermarket. There’s only so much \starting to pop\ and \frontier aura\ that one can hear without wanting to puke.
I just did.
Condo glut. Except for the Star Tower. That doesn’t make any sense. Supposedly they are at 50% already. How can that be? These others ones at 50% after months and months.
I think the 50% sold is their automatic response. I can’t see them saying “Yeah, we’re 10% sold”.
They have to make their properties look better than they really are.
They’re probably telling the truth 50% of the time.
#15 - Couldn’t have said it better myself. They should have bought in Citylights
I’m 21, and I’m not sure what is so offensive about what I said. The fact is that these two business that will make the neighborhood much more inhabitable (and marketable) when they finally open.
Credibility Among whom? Among anyone that has a need to eat and buy groceries or fill a prescprition who does care to cross a river to do it.
I think #31 the issue is that LIC has been a bonafide NYC nabe for years and years now. We don’t need a grocery store to validate us so yuppies can feel righteous about coming to live here. LIC was mostly industrial and if you look at the neighborhood as a whole, it still is. People have lived here for years without a grocery store, they’re not invalid for having done so. They’ve been smart actually.
Yes I guess you are right – technically it has always been a neighborhood. However, most people prefer that their neighborhoods they live in have these amenities. That’s all I’m saying. Why must everything in LIC be seen through the eyes of old and new? That makes you take a simple comment acknowledging that the addition of these amenities makes the area more livable and turn it into a referendum on yuppies. It’s all getting very tired.
#32, you have to be kidding. This area was no bona fide neighborhood. It was a scattering of houses in the middle of factories and warehouses. The opening of retail establishments that one would expect in a desirable, active neighborhood, like a grocery store (!), or a pharmacy like a Duane Reade, does bring credibility to the area as a more desirable neighborhood to live.
Why is it that people like 34 have to tear down the old LIC as they talk up the new? I always sense an inferiority complex with these saddies.
32, when I was growing up in the 70s, we had two supermarkets on Vernon, a butcher, two bakeries, an outstanding Italian deli and fruit and veg market, a pharmacy, tailors, barbers, and many other local shops that were able to prosper for years before they got run out of town on the heel of rising rents.
It’s funny that even with all the mega-millions flowing through LIC these days, we had far more “credible” neighborhood services than is available today.
Hi #21…. I think it’s all in the delivery. Most people would acknowledge that the addition of a convenient (in location, even if not in price) supermarket will be a good thing. It’s just that when you discuss our neighbourhood in strictly commercial terms (with so many buzz words that it’s almost difficult to understand) you end up sounding like a broker, and people switch off.
I agree with 37. But I suspect that many people don’t view neighborhoods in the same warm and fuzzy (human?) way. To them, the choice of living in LIC is purely a cold, calculated money-making proposition. They have their eyes on the 5-, 7-year time horizon, when they’ll sell and bid a quick goodbye to a”credible” “marketable” LIC.
21, here again. I hear what you are saying, but I still think that I’m not the one with the problem. Judging by the comments here, I’m not the one with the inferiority complex. Sorry I sound like a broker (and when did that become a bad thing) when I talk about real estate. All I’m just saying is that I look forward to the reatail developments. Still don’t know what is so contreversial about that.
Everyone has their own idea and perspective, on what a neighborhood should be. Hunters Point was not only a neighborhood, but a real community, where the residents mostly knew each other, and interacted in all sorts of situations, on a daily basis. Many of the families had been here for generations. To say this was not a bonafide neighborhood, as #33 did, is a slap in the face of all of those families and individuals who have called this place home. It’s okay to have a different point of view, but don’t insult others by putting the neighborhood down, which you and so many others have eagerly moved into. It’s thoughtless posts like this one (and others like it), which start the bickering, fighting and throwing of insults. It’s all unnecessary. State what you have to say, and ditch the insults.
Charlie
Sorry. The first time I hit the submit button, it did not work, and I was redirected to a strange page, indicating something was wrong. I then left the page and came back to try again. The second time it worked, but posted twice. Another glitch, I guess.
Charlie.
Charlie has it completely right. I’m getting sick and tired of hearing people — our neighbors, no less — badmouth LIC without any regard to the people who lived in the area in the past. It’s just evidence to me of a coarsening of behavior and is plain obnoxious.
Of course, no one ever thought we were living in some ritzy neighborhood! But what did it matter? I have (mostly) fond memories of growing up in LIC, mainly because we were a tight community and we grew up with generations of one another’s families. That’s been lost not just in LIC but throughout many other parts of the country. Everything feels isolating and transient today. And though it’s great to see the neighborhood physically improve, bricks and mortar are not really what a neighborhood is all about. So prove me wrong and let’s see evidence of people supporting one another like we used to in LIC.
I’m ready for that support #41. Maybe there will be enough people buying here because they truly love the neigborhood as a place to put down roots. Of course when I moved here 20 years ago I didn’t realize that I would be here for so long, but LIC grew on me and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. I still fill that way for the most part even though there is alot of changes to get used to all at once.
The proliferation of buildings in that area is the product of a market on steroids. It will result in a glut of apartments for years to come.
Five buildings, a bridge and an avenue don’t make a neighborhood–these buildings have come about with no planning to support city life as we know it in New York, with pedestrian traffic and a sense of urban scale.
It is not that they are bad buildings, they are bad building sites lacking a context.
The people who have purchased at what is still the height of the market, at least in terms of what developers are asking, will see the prices drop in the next ten years. They will find themselves owning second quality apartments.
Lets hope that the people who will fill them will be first quality people.
“will see prices drop in the next ten years.” ?
really? Could you at least give me the lottery numbers for tomorrow night?
you are right 44, nobody knows for sure. There are zoning changes in LIC that have allowed for all this new development to occur. These buildings would not have been possible 10 years ago. I am referring to changes in the credit environment that permitted these buildings to come about, changes that will impact not only developers but also buyers as well. The pool of buyers is being restricted by this credit crunch, and prices will show the smaller market that will have access to credit to purchase an apartment. LIC is not isolated from the rest of the nation in this, and a macroeconomic view indicates that LIC will also fall victim to this. How much is anyones guess.There will always be better times to get into the market and out of it, everyone is a genius in hindsight.
The question is not whether prices will fall or how much, what I’m discussing is the fact that many of these buildings being presently built, like the ones at the corner of 11th and Jackson and near the entrance to the Midtown tunnel, are built with no regard to context, with a lack of a pleasant urban environment. Yes, they’ll be close to transportation, but the truth is that there is nothing unique or interesting about them or their contxt to make them an appealing long term investment.
45, stop being jealous of all the changes in LIC. If you are going to criticize, make it substantive and stop nitpicking.
You forgot Ten63