I was going to write this morning about all of the recent regulatory shifts in the rental market, our predictions (which have been consistent and spot on!), and how we see opportunity in this market as everyone runs for the hills.
Instead, I woke up and nestled into my favorite blogging spot, opened my blinds and was greeted with this majestic view.
I thought about how every day, every sunrise, we are greeted with a new set of opportunities and a bit of a clean slate. I decided to save the heavier material for later in the week, today let’s talk about the amazing opportunities in real estate right here on Staten Island, shall we?
Staten Island, the forgotten borough, Staten Island never misses the opportunity to miss an opportunity.... remember those self-imposed self-loathing tag lines? Well those days are over. Staten Island’s Real Estate has finally been placed in the spotlight, and it turns out, she was always ready for the big stage!
While our brother and sister Borough’s - Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, and, of course, Brooklyn have seen unprecedented growth in their respective Real Estate markets over the past several decades - Staten Island Real Estate has been more of the little train that could.
We have seen change more so than growth, but that has isolated us for the massive price drops we have seen when the music stops. Folks - don’t kid yourselves- the music is going to stop again...it always does...
This time around, however, investors see a shift, an opening, opportunity.
Transformative projects have paved the way for that Real Estate speculator seeking a safer bet. Almost every market segment has seen significant investment in major developments, opening the door for the smaller spec investor to consider Staten Island as a viable option for Real Estate investing.
The Matrix Global Logistics Park broke the mold, launching a massive 200-acre initiative - signing deals with tenants like IKEA and Amazon (yes Amazon... Staten Island unlike other Boroughs is very much open for business!) Warehouse space is absolutely exploding (Yep...yours truly also predicted this and spoke with the Commercial Observer about it 7 month ago)
If mixed use development is your thing, take a look at Urby. We proudly sold this site on behalf of the NYCEDC to Ironstate Developers. This transformative project represented the first investment of its type and scale in Stapleton EVER. Today we have a building hovering over 95% occupied with Restaurants and retail space with majestic views on the waterfront enjoying tremendous success. Today, good luck finding spec build product in Brooklyn 300-400 per square foot. Ironstate Developers in conjunction with Casandra Properties has opened the flood gates in the north shore mixed use housing market. We still have plenty of opportunities around 100 per foot, good luck finding that in similar locations in the other Boroughs.
Perhaps retail real estate is your thing. Enter Empire Outlets. Talk about being ahead of the game... This fist of its kind development has shown the world that Staten Island can, and will support the right type of retail projects opening the eyes of opportunity and investment funds the like. From Old Navy to Nordstrom Rack there’s something for everyone here at Empire. We are now seeing for the first time ever - retailers seeking Staten Island as not just a viable, but powerful market opportunity...
Here is why..
While digesting some recent ESRI reports we updated the following data subsets;
We’re pushing 500k residents. Now in the context of other New York City Boroughs, that’s not exactly eye popping. However, consider this. That type of density puts us on par with, or greater than, cities like Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans and Cleveland...Not too shabby! We boast an amazing Average Household Income of $105,220 with an Average Household Disposable income of $73,5878... that’s more than most TOTAL Household incomes in competing markets!!
Staten Island as of 2017 generated a market demand just under SEVEN BILLION dollars in Retail Trade with an additional $775 MILLION in Food and Beverage Demand.
Couple those stats with annual retail sales just over $4 billion and Food and Beverage sales just over $400 million.
So, what does this mean? Well, in essence we have an ANNUAL retail leakage or unmet demand of Retail Trade and Food and Beverage of just over FOUR BILLION DOLLARS combined.
That spells HUGE opportunity in the retail marketplace...
So, if your considering making an investment in the Staten Island NYC market, give us a call. Staten Island Real Estate has made it to the big stage...and it’s here to stay...
By: James Prendamano
If you want to ask questions, hit me on Twitter @prendamano, Instagram j_prendamano, Facebook James Prendamano, LinkedIn, email James@CasandraProperties.com or call 718.816.7799.
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