50-05 Queens Blvd (Photo: Google Earth)
Jan. 24, 2014 By Christian Murray
A large Woodside apartment complex is about to open at 52-05 Queens Boulevard—with rents starting at $1,500 for a studio and $2,350 for a two bedroom.
The 9-story complex, called The Icon52, is being pitched as providing “affordable luxury in a quiet neighborhood with considerable proximity to the city.”
The complex, which is across the street from Calvary Cemetery, is about a block from the 52nd Street train station.
Modern Spaces, a Long Island City-headquarter real estate firm, is in charge of leasing the properties.
Eric Benaim, the chief executive of Modern Spaces, said the firm will start showing them on February 9 and that tenants can move in on March 1.
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It’s not “affordable” but it is below market rate. Most two bedrooms go for ~$2500 and they’re usually old. The advantage of building new construction like this is that is pressures landlords to reduce their rates on older equivalent units they have.
You’re not really going to get actual affordable units unless the city allows very tall structures and has some sort of rent control system in place.
Nice post and great comments. It is always nice to see this much interaction. I just want to suggest, if you have been looking for Sunnyside, Queens apartments for rent, visit the Kings Queens Apts site. There you’ll find several properties in a range of prices, with different apartment configurations, in various neighborhoods making it possible to find something you really like. Give it a shot.
M$ to make $$ in W’side and Sunnyside without regards to the poor tenants. bling bling luxury
What’s up with that huge apartment building near the Big 6, The Terrace Woodside?
How many years now? 2? 3?
The only tenant is a Deals, not a great sign….
What’s up with that huge apartment building near the Big 6, The Terrace Woodside?
How many years now? 2? 3?
The only tenant is a Deals, not a great sign….
52nd street and Queens Boulevard? Lol
Anyway, what you will get as an extra FREE is lots of fumes in the summer and/or a high air conditioning bill in the warmer months.
Who want to live on QB with all of that traffic.
This is a middle income neighborhood, always was and I can’t believe the rents people are being asked to pay ….
@Sunnysidesux
Are you serious right now? READ THE POST AGAIN.
There is nothing about rent being $94K. Not a thing.
The accepted formula for figuring out how much rent one can/should be able to afford is whether his household INCOME is 40x the rent. So, if someone’s INCOME is $94K, then the $2350/month rent is reasonable for him.
You lose at reading comprehension.
@sunnysideSux: I did not write a rent of 94k, I said an annual INCOME of 94k could afford the rents the article listed. Perhaps if you could comprehend simple math you’d have a higher income?
I would say the closest comparison to a building like this would be the Elm on Queens Boulevard. I just looked up comparables and 570-650sf 1 bedrooms range in the $1600-$2,000 price point. This is rented units, not units currently on market. 2bd units rented in the $2300-$2600 price point. So this building is in line with what’s currently out there.
I personally wouldn’t pay that much to live on a highway though. But if these “lux” units were in more prime neighborhoods, they’d be a lot pricier I’m sure.
The fact of the matter is I think a lot of people on this site who are commenting don’t really understand that incomes and therefore pricing is not what it used to be. A 1st grade teacher who is right out of college ($45k starting salary) who is married to a first year cop ($41k starting salary) make enough to afford a 2bd in this building. It’s not that unaffordable. Comparably, they can afford a small studio or 1 bed in a walk up building in “not particularly prime” are in Manhattan (ie Yorkville or Harlem) at the similar price point.
OldSchoolSunnyider
At least I use my real name on this page unlike you. I’ve never worked on a building in Queens so opinions I give are always honest, based upon my 10+ years experience working on Manhattan buildings. And while there are disagreements on this page, I don’t insult people. Why don’t you try the same?
Or are you too ashamed? You wouldn’t say these things to my face?
@sunnysidesux – While yes the 94k annual rent is expensive for us, it isn’t for the multi millionaires.
Back to the discussion at hand, it is all about perception. You may think it is expensive, but if you are used to paying 3500 for a 2 bdrm in Manhattan, this is a bargain.
A teacher of 5 years+ in LI will make 90k. These salaries are posted publicly. Forget what the bankers are making. How are the prices not affordable?
Use the 40 rule to see if this icon52 is out of their minds. (Monthly rent)x(40) and that should be the annual income. People making +95K in Woodside… not THAT much. In lic… yes.
This place will have ton’s of vacancy and will become a dump. Give it 2 years.
Angray! YOU learn to read , My comments are for BOTH points. 94k is too much to pay for ANY apartment and 2000+ is too much for that neighborhood.
@SunnysideSux – Learn to read. NativeNYer is talking about what is affordable rent vs. income. 94k annual rent for an apt is some swanky 3 bdrm luxury building on CPW. We are talking about 2350/mo being afforable in a 94k annual household income (not hard as NativeNYer pointed out).
NativeNYER is proof that people are completely out of touch with reality.
if you think 94k for an apartment is reasonable, a good deal and affordable, you’re either a lying sack of shill or completely delusional. Either way you’re full of it.
The rest of us clear thinkers know full well that even with a double income, considering the rest of the cost of living, 2000+ a month for renting an apartment is sheer lunacy.
“Rich”? The general rule of thumb is monthly rent X 40 should be less than annual income. The two-bedroom is 2350/mo X 40 = 94k annual income. Hardly “rich” by any means in NYC. A married couple of a fireman and schoolteacher make way more than that.
Yesssir, you are a moron if you think bringing in people who have money is somehow going to make a neighborhood ‘better’
its that attitude we..the original sunnysiders loathe.
REDRUM! REDRUM!
All you complainers this site are incredible. You designate people with names like “yuppie” or “hipster” and whine about the neighborhood improving. Seriously it makes no sense. The amount of upgrading and progress that has occured in the last several years is remarkable and all positive.
Don’t begrudge those people who come here and spend hard earned money to improve the area. Progess is a good thing. Let’s embrace Sunnyside’s potential.
We as existing Sunnysiders are the beneficiaries of these people coming here and I for one, welcome it.
Michael Bloomberg asked all the rich people in the world to move here and I guess they did.
Hey, rich folks, please take good care of my Hometown. Try to love it as much as we have. Send postcards to trailer parks, where we will all be living if we are lucky since you’ve decided to upgrade the place for your own benefit, not ours.
This is actually on our block. I happen to love the area. Our 7 train station is 30 feet away, the Rite Aid is 2 blocks away, the Key Foods is maybe a 4 minute walk, and stores on Queens Blvd. and Skillman are less than a 10 minute walk. That being said, we pay $1550 for a one-bedroom, almost $200 less than the starting prices in this apartment building, and I’m sure that street parking is only going to get harder.
@ Rikki
Real jobs? Please explain what you think these high-paying”Fake Jobs” would be – Mermaid, Single-ball Juggler, etc?
Sure, these apartments seem overpriced for the area, but there are tens of thousands of New Yorkers who can readily afford these silly Woodside apartments.
According to Curbed NY, the median rent for a two-bedroom apt. in nearby Greenpoint is 3,150, and Astoria is 2,900. These apartments are just following suit.
Anyone thinking of moving to this neighborhood should read the comments to this article first, so they can get an idea of who their neighbors are.
Where are these people getting all this money from? certainly not from real jobs..
Its a pretty industrial area seems like rite aid is the closest “food store”
But then again we so cat sitting visiting peoples pets while they are away and i notice people to dont have as much stuff as 10 year ago…you almost never see a wall full of records tapes cd’s or books anymore…
Plus lots seem to have futons or beds with underneath storage so no need for the humungous 9 drawer dressers..
LCD computer monitors and big screen on the wall…but i did notice people seems to buy very nice expensive couches/ chairs….guess they seem to sit on them a lot….
Iforgot, go ahead and flush your money down the toilet ,
Truth, sure, why not live in mom’s basement as a 40 year old virgin like yourself. Long live and prosper and may the force be with you.
yOU HAVE TO BE A MORON TO PAY 2350 FOR A 2 BEDROOM. A REAL MORON.
@ Guttersnipe: thanks for proving my point.
How about getting back to the article? This apartment complex is NOT conveniently located; a long walk to anything decent (unless you want to dine at Boston Market and KFC). The apartments are overpriced; you can get better rents in the walkups in Sunnyside, and are not roomy. I think this complex will have a rude awakening. The only plus side is that tenants will be able to actually get on the 7 train in the morning before is it bombarded by the 46th and 40th street stops. However, they miss the express train by 1 stop. The only hope is that with the introduction of this complex, something will be done to vitalize the area (though I think that is unlikely). I pity the fools who think this is a good deal…
To What:
Just read the Wikipedia entry on gentrificaton. BRING IT ON.
Time’s Up, What an adorable comment you make cupcake. Neverforget and Pete are most probably your cousins! Spawn out of the same hipster gene pool.
As homeowner I bought home here in 2001 hoping the new temporary MOMA branch would bring cafes artists and stylish hipsters and man I was right!!!! my place is worth 3x what I paid thanks to my bearded hipster friends!!!!
back in motherland Russia i need to work 5 lifetimes at brothers casket making company to make this kiind of cash this fast.
Thanks you hipsters and THANK YOU AMERICA!!!!!
GOD ble$$ you all!!!
KRISSI!!! “The Queen of Overdevelopment and First Lady of Landlords is speaking ill about a new property in the nabe? I am shocked! Shocked I say! But then, since she has NOTHING to do with this property and will make NOTHING in commissions, its not unexpected that she would have something negative to say about it. How very Republican and Reptillian! LOL!!!
“Hipsters” don’t know a damn thing about having any class.
They do as they are told, they buy what they are told to buy, they eat where they are told to eat. They are sheep. And sheep make mighty fine eating.
another one of these is going up in 43rd and skillman.
@ Really don’t get it–please read the wikipedia entry on “gentrification.” Then you will get it.
@Jane Grissom
Good one.
Perfect spot for the Addams Family house though. Not so much for “affordable luxury” apartments, as per your description.
What a dump! Those built-in AC units will be totally rusted in a couple of years. The whole place will be falling apart in 10 years. Crappy, depressing location, too.
I love how people on this site refer to anyone new living in the neighborhood as “hipsters” and demonize them for trying to improve the general quality of life for themselves and those around them.
Can someone please explain to me how someone can view new restaurants and cafes, improved parks and increased property values as a bad thing?
Seriously- this is a genuine question- how is it possible that improvements which would be welcomed by 99.99% are viewed by certain Sunnysiders as a bad thing?
Please enlighten me……..
Let Scott Cooper, Esq., Real Estate Broker for 26 years, located in Woodside, Queens know about this breakthrough. 718-729-6767. He has many people looking for apts. He does not co-broke on rentals. Cooper Real Estate & Law also manages buildings and does all the work easy, at no cost to the owner, i.e. credit and business checks on any potential tenants are necessary.
My definition of “hipster” is anyone who would wait in line for a Cronut
– or wait in line in front of Shake Shack
– or wait in line to buy the latest iPhone
– or wait in line to get into whatever night club Gothamist tells them is cool.
Basically, a bunch of 20 somethings from the suburbs who are willing to wait in line for silly nonsense that no sensible, hard-boiled New Yorker ever would.
I agree with @Pete, that in Sunnyside Post comments, “hipsters” has its own meaning slightly different from the commonly accepted definition.
It is basically a category of people who is not like “us”.
“Hipsters” are younger, liberal, educated and open-minded and have more disposable income than the original residents.
Hence the visceral fear of being priced out of the neighborhood.
It is also well known that “hipsters” are plotting to invade good old Sunnyside and turn it into an expensive trendy neighborhood with mixology bars, bike shops, organic restaurants and actual clothing stores. Scary!
Hipsters are not here yet, so we can feel safe for the time being surrounded by 99c stores, fast food joints, pizza places, derelict empty storefronts and shops that look straight out of the 80s. Hopefully this won’t change.
According to the Merrium Webster online dictionary:
hip·ster noun ˈhip-stər
: a person who follows the latest styles, fashions, etc. : a hip person
We are all riding the Gentrification Wave Bloomberg promised us. I read all about the phenomenon in Wikipedia today because I was tired of living through it without adequate information.
Check it out yourselves. Its happening all over the world, according the Wiki., and it ends up pitting neighbor against neighbor, neither of whom really profits, while developers and new business people make out like the bandits they really are.
Just another example of the more powerful manipulating the less powerful for self-serving reasons.
I wish I’d been born a 1%er so this dreary business didn’t affect me. But it does. In the end the natives–me–lose.
“Affordable” is a relative term.
What’s affordable to some Wall Street hot shot is exorbitant to bank teller.
“Luxury” is relative too. To a homeless person, a cot in a crowded boarding house with running water is luxury. To spoiled rich people, flying commercial would be “deprivation.”
These real estate people give politicians a run for the money when it comes to the Orwellian bullshit.
It’s not as ugly and glassy as most of the new developments I’ve seen but that’s not saying much.
I love the way they say affordable, 2300 for a two bedroom and 1500 for a studio yeah sure real affordable. That’s it keep pushing the wirking class out so the rich could move in
“affordable luxury” seriously ????? oxymoron material, or marketing doubletalk.
Neverforget and Pete – I think we’re cousins.
Thanks to the former for raising the question and the latter for his perfect definition. Well played.
As I always implore: please, please tell me exactly who this “hipster” person is so I know who to fear and hate. After all, considering these “hipsters” are purportedly responsible for 95% of the city’s problems, they need to be identified and punished appropriately.
And the funny thing is, despite your brilliant take-down, subsequent comments continue with this nonsense in earnest. As in drrrrrrr…hipsters are rich, drrrrrr…hipsters are all poor…..drrrr hipsters are all from the midewest…drrrrr hipsters are like hippies or something…..drrrr hipsters are like poor dirty yuppies or something…..drrrr hipsters are too lazy to work…..drrrrrr hipsters are stealing all our jobs…..And they don’t get the irony.
Anyway, $2350 for a brand new 2-BR two blocks away from a decent train stop sounds perfectly reasonable to me. If it were in Bushwick it’d be closer to $3350. And I’d take Woodside over many BK neighborhoods any day.
Never Forget I was the one that exposed the truth about Sunnyside regarding Hipsters and Yuppies.
You’re welcome.
Right on the Boulevard of Death and facing the cemetery! Perfect!
Ummm No. Hipsters are the nouveau version of Hippies. Which were named after hypocrites for hating war yet indulging in the freedoms of random drug use. Although typical hippies were considered burn outs, hipsters are primarily liberal in thought and egotistical.
It’s got a beautiful view of … the cemetery. Wake up everyday and get reminded of your final destination.
Here’s the funniest thing of all from Modern Spaces: A 2 bedroom is 815 square feet!! They need to add “cozy” to apartment descriptions.
“Cozy luxury!”
From Modern Spaces website (with some explanations):
Welcome a new Icon to Woodside. Nestled (Nestled!! The building is nestled!!!) between Astoria and Sunnyside, it is also (2,000) steps from Long Island City and just (15-20) minutes away from (Grand Central) Manhattan.
Bathrooms with Kohler deep soaking tubs provide a world of comfort with none of the cost (except for the very high rent you pay).
The Icon 52 provides affordable (if you’re rich) luxury in (more like near) a quiet neighborhood with considerable proximity to the city. (The din of traffic will be lessened as you soak in your tub…with the door closed and window shut.)
Feel good about living in a certified GREEN building (you sanctimonious twits) with a live-in superintendent (I prefer he live in his own overpriced apartment) and virtual (Max Headroom?) doorman.
Common rooftop terrace with relaxation pods (relaxation pods!!!) and BBQ areas is available to all residents.
in this case it’s the “yuppies”, i.e. midtown-working business folk/young families getting priced out of LIC that MAYBE would consider this. You all can quit all the hipster-bashing because they wouldn’t be caught dead at this location, still plenty of edgy neighborhoods in brooklyn to gentrify. For now.
“Hipsters” are todays version of “Yuppie Scum”
What’s the matter Icon 52 owners? You can’t afford to advertise on Yahoo?
That is a not the best location, at least right now.
For “luxury”, this is affordable. But not cheap.
That being said I wouldn’t pay these rents on Queens Boulevard in Woodside. It’s a serious highway there, not a walkable area.
Thanks for the commercial, now back to real news.
F$$k you and your luxury Modern Spaces!
@neverforget–good question. In New York culture, the “hipster” is always somebody other than oneself. It’s usually a nebulous, vaguely menacing figure that brings some unspecified sense of change and therefore threat to the person who’s deploying the term. It can be used as a more specific demographic term, but I find that more commonly it’s a catch all term that sums up and embodies the various socio-economic-cultural anxieties of the speaker.
There have been a lot of comments referring to hipsters- who are they?
I’m sorry….I think I’m reading the wrong article! Either that or I’m guessing the paper was in a funny, sarcastic mood when it stated ‘affordable luxury’!
It’s Woodside, not a house Sunnyside gardens! You could get cheaper mortgages than renting a 2 bedroom here!
affordable housing???? O RIGHT!! for the hipsters that couldnt afford Manhattan then Williamsburg so now they will have a beautiful view of the cemetary across the street – also they were built
so quickly they’ll be falling apart in less than 10 years!