Brooklyn Boro

Brooklyn and Queens to see the highest numbers of new housing units opening by 2020

October 30, 2018 By Sara Bosworth Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Graph courtesy of Localize.city
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Construction crews have set up camp on blocks across all five boroughs, but over the coming year, nowhere will the hardhats and cranes be more prominent than in Brooklyn and Queens.

A new report released by Localize.city, a real estate knowledge platform, shows that of the 31,000 new units set to open by 2020, more than 60 percent are clustered in 10 neighborhoods — six in Brooklyn, three in Queens and one in Manhattan.

More than a quarter of those new units — over 12,000 — are clustered in Long Island City, Williamsburg and Bushwick.

These areas now face the challenge of making room for the upcoming development. Long Island City, for example, expects to see three new schools created to meet the demand. The influx of housing in North Brooklyn, set to coincide with the L-train shutdown, could bring as many as 20,000 new residents to the area.

These numbers are following a trend over the past couple of years. Localize.city estimates that in the period between 2016 and 2020, more than 90,000 units will be built. “That is almost double what New York saw during the previous four years, when roughly 50,800 units where completed,” data scientist Israel Schwartz said.

So where is this development boom coming from?

According to the report, it can be traced back to 2015, when developers rushed to file permits before the state’s 421-a tax abatement expired at the beginning of 2016. After the rush, the number of units under construction hit an all-time high early that year with 94,000 units.

That number is now waning, leading to an upswing in units hitting the market as construction wraps up.

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