Strollers are becoming a more familiar sight along the Long Island City waterfront. But they are not the only sign that more families are moving to the area.
Increased demand for three-bedroom apartments, especially in the new residential buildings along the LIC waterfront, also reflects the changing demographic.
“We are definitely seeing more people looking for larger apartments,” said Eric Benaim, CEO of Modern Spaces NYC, a real estate firm located in Long Island City.
Three-bedroom apartments used to be hard to sell or rent. Now, they are difficult to come by as more families are attracted to the area’s increasing kid-friendly features, such as parks and schools, he said.
Also, couples that have already been living in Long Island City are starting to expand their families and want larger apartments, added Benaim.
With no apartments larger than three bedrooms and so few of those available, people are even combining units.
Initially, though, TF Cornerstone, the leading residential developer of Long Island City’s waterfront, put very few three bedrooms in its six buildings. “Historically, we haven’t had demand for three bedrooms,” said Sofia Estevez, an executive vice president at TF Cornerstone. “When we were planning we thought we were doing too many.”
But now, the demand for three bedrooms is so high that the developer is even letting renters combine units as long as it’s easy to take down a wall and put it back up when they leave.
Just completed 45-40 Center Boulevard, as well as 46-15 Center Boulevard, have no three bedrooms. But TF Cornerstone’s three other rental buildings and condo development, The View, do have them.
At four percent, 45-45 Center Boulevard, which was just topped and opens in April, has the largest percentage of three bedrooms of any of TF Cornerstone’s residential buildings in Long Island City.
Most of the inquiries this building’s leasing office receives are about when three-bedroom floor plans will be available, said Estevez.
It is also the first of TF Cornerstone’s LIC buildings to feature an outdoor area specifically for children. It will also have an indoor children’s playroom.
At 47-20 Center Boulevard, a retail space that already had a tenant is being converted into a children’s playroom.
Estevez, who has been noticing more strollers and pregnant women around the neighborhood, expects to see even more of them by next summer when TF Cornerstone completes its final residential building in the area, 46-10 Center Boulevard.
