Stable, quiet Jackson Heights set for major condo project

One of the largest Queens condo projects submitted this year is planned for a neighborhood known mostly for its lack of new development.

Plans for Stratford Hall at 80-09 35th Avenue in Jackson Heights were submitted in October. The project is slated to have 190 units.

“It is groundbreaking,” said longtime resident and broker Michael Carfagna of MPC Properties. “It is the first conversion in Jackson Heights in last 20 years. The fact that the owner is choosing to convert shows there is real underlying strength in the market.”

Since the building is in a landmarked area, no changes to the façde and lobby are expected. Calls to the owner, Robert Stone, for more details about the project were not returned.

Before plans for Stratford Hall were submitted to the state attorney general’s office in October 2006, applications for new condos in Jackson Heights had only totaled 205 units going back to January 2004. The one project submitted in all of Queens bigger than the 190-unit Stratford Hall was the 237-unit Arris Lofts condo in Long Island City.

New development may come as a surprise to longtime residents and newcomers who like the stable prices in this area, part of which is a historic district.

“Jackson Heights is an undiscovered market. It’s mostly through word of mouth and referrals,” said Carfagna. Buyers are mostly drawn to the neighborhood for its prewar housing stock, not sheetrocked $800,000 apartments with bamboo floors like those in Manhattan, he said.

After a small surge at the height of the real estate market two years ago, prices in Jackson Heights remain relatively stable, with properties selling for about the same price — around $300 to $400 a square foot — as in 2005, said Carfagna. The buyers that are coming now are keen on the neighborhood, and Carfagna said he sold more properties this year than last.

Prices in the neighborhood have been stable because Jackson Heights’ pioneering co-ops were set up as a planned community and there are very few lots to buy and develop, said Carfagna. Until now, no new condo development created buzz to bring investors to the area.

Carfagna advertises for prospective buyers throughout the boroughs, and says most people have never heard of Jackson Heights. One of his advertisements, hung near Prospect Park in Brooklyn, said “More Park, Less Slope.”

“Most of our new residents moving to the neighborhood are disgruntled Brooklynites, some from Manhattan,” he said. “They can’t believe what you can buy for the money.”

Many brokers said people still haven’t yet caught on to the relatively untouched and affordable neighborhood, which emerged somewhat unscathed by the recent sales slump.

“I like this market,” said Michelle Beaudoin, a Jackson Heights native and broker in the area for over a decade. “We have fewer lookers, and sellers have a less inflated sense of what their property is worth.” Since properties are still relatively fairly priced, said Beaudoin, both buyer and seller feel like they are being valued.

“It’s a really good location, and the apartments are built for living with plenty of light and air,” she said.

“You can buy a classic seven co-op with fireplaces, three exposures and a private garden,” added Carfagna.

Known as one of the most diverse communities in New York, Jackson Heights has a mixture of people from all over the world. While the neighborhood — particularly the historic district of full-block co-ops with lovely interior gardens that date from the 1920s — has garnered buzz as a new hot spot for young families with children exiled from Park Slope, brokers say the hype exceeds reality a bit.

“We are still waiting for our Starbucks,” said Carfagna, who said that gentrification has been slow to come to Jackson Heights, a fact that contributes to housing prices remaining relatively low. Although there is a farmer’s market on Sunday in Travers Park and a Jackson Heights Yahoo group to connect new families, newcomers still gripe about the Chinese restaurant not serving brown rice, and retail stores are mostly mom-and-pop establishments.

“The Manhattan lifestyle is moving in slowly, but it will take time,” said Coldwell Banker broker M. Nahid Mollah, who said that he mostly sold to immigrants over the past year and a half.

“We are in the crossroads of gentrification, even though the old-timers think that it already is [gentrified],” Carfagna said.

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Still, Beaudoin said, the neighborhood is full of artistic types and has a large gay population with a strong upper-middle-class flavor.

Proximity and access to Manhattan, along with beautiful architecture and bargain prices, drew Marion Robertson, 56, a management consultant, to the neighborhood after renting in Manhattan and Hoboken.

“I’ve lived all over the world — in Hong Kong, Sydney, but this is home,” said Robertson, a native of Scotland.

Edward MacDougall conceived of the area as a “garden community,” and in the 1920s whole blocks were built facing interior courtyards.

Historic Jackson Heights is characterized by leafy trees lining wide boulevards. The housing is a mix of ornate apartment buildings and large brick houses with mansard roofs.

Outside the historic area, a mix of postwar single-family row houses and co-op apartments fills in a neighborhood anchored by a bustling commercial district along Roosevelt Avenue, 37th Avenue and the rapidly expanding Northern Boulevard. The main shopping thoroughfare is often called Little India, but it’s easy to find signs and cuisines from Korea, Argentina, and other areas of Latin America and Asia.

Apartment prices range from $150,000 and up for a one-bedroom to over $500,000 for a classic seven-room flat, though prices fluctuate widely depending on location.

Prices tend to be higher in the Historic District, where one-bedrooms start between $200,000 and $250,000. Beaudoin just sold a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath for $479,000 in the Chateau, one of Historic Jackson Heights’ most desired buildings.

Carfagna said that apartments are rarely priced out of the mid-$500,000 range, although some of the older co-ops ask for as much as 30 percent down.

The E, V, R, 7, G and F subway lines all stop in Jackson Heights, and the average commute takes about 20 minutes to Midtown Manhattan.

Historic area seems untouched

In a quiet moment it is easy to forget Midtown Manhattan is just 20 minutes away from Historic Jackson Heights. Set within a 36-block radius that was designated a historic district by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the buildings stand unchanged from the 1920s and ’30s.

Mary Reddy, 59, lives in Hampton Court, built in 1921 by George Wells, who designed the neo-Georgian units in the style of Harvard University dormitory buildings.

“We still have the original doorknobs, a working fireplace and the elevator opens up into our living room.”

The Jackson Heights Beautification Group is an all-volunteer neighborhood community organization with more than 400 members who contribute dues every year, said board member Josh Weiss.

Planned as a “garden in the city,” interior gardens and courtyards distinguish the original historic buildings, says Daniel Karatzas, a real estate broker and author of “Jackson Heights: A Garden in the City.” An annual tour of the gardens given by the Beautification Group is a popular event for history and gardening buffs alike. The organization also has a clean streets committee, and it promotes neighborhood concerts and gardening.

Housing stock comes onto the market consistently, and one-family houses are sold most infrequently. Apartments are prewar with large rooms and many exposures. Some have formal dining rooms.

Some of the most desired buildings are the Chateau on 80th Street, Hampton Court on 78th Street, The Towers on 80th and 81st streets and Georgian Court on 83rd Street. There are many examples of one-family English Garden Homes.

Some of the older co-ops require 25 to 30 percent down and have fairly strict boards. Prices range from $200,000 and up for a one-bedroom, and classic sevens run in the mid-$500,000 range, with some hitting the $600,000 mark. Single-family houses start around $750,000.

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