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Outer Boroughs’ Projected Growth Has Developers Turning Away From Manhattan


January 22, 2015 | Rhett Jones

Although rents and square footage prices in Manhattan increase seemingly everyday, forward-thinking developers are saying the future of growth in NYC lies in the outer boroughs. Brooklyn has the real estate industry seeing the largest dollar signs, with Queens not far behind, followed by the Bronx. As usual, no one seems to care about Staten Island.

A survey of 40 top executives at development firms found that 70% of those polled responded that Brooklyn has the most potential for growth. According to Crains:

Queens came out just a few percentage points behind Brooklyn, with nearly 66% of executives placing the borough among their top picks. Meanwhile, the Bronx tied with the area in Manhattan above 96th Street for third place, with 38% of survey respondents seeing both as growth areas.

Robert Gilman, a partner at Anchin, cites to major waterfront developments in Astoria as examples of the high expectations for Queens.

As for the Bronx, it tied for third place along with the area above 96th street in Manhattan. That region of upper Manhattan narrowly beat out the High Line and Hudson Yards for the boroughs most promising areas.

An overwhelming majority of those surveyed said commercial office space will increase through the technology sector. Only 4% believed that financial services will be a front-runner in significant expansion.

(Photo: Wikipedia)