Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Jackson Heights Gets Taste of Manhattan Market With $4,100 Penthouse Rental

By Katie Honan | June 17, 2014 5:08pm | Updated on June 20, 2014 4:25pm
 The Roosevelt, on 73rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, rented its $4,100 penthouse last week.
The Roosevelt, on 73rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, rented its $4,100 penthouse last week.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Katie Honan

JACKSON HEIGHTS — The neighborhood has reached new heights — in rent.

A two-bedroom apartment in the luxury development The Roosevelt, complete with two large outdoor spaces, rented last week for an eye-popping $4,100 a month, a price on par with the average Manhattan two-bedroom and the top end of the Long Island City market.

The sixth-floor penthouse unit at the building on Roosevelt Avenue and 73rd Street features more than 750 square feet of outdoor space, floor-to-ceiling windows, a modern kitchen and two full bathrooms, broker Mike Schulte said.

It also sits right next to the 7 train tracks, but triple-pane windows shield tenants from the sound of the subway.

"When we listed it we knew it was by far the most expensive apartment," he said, noting that it's much more than other two-bedrooms rented in Jackson Heights and neighboring Woodside and Elmhurst.

Real estate site Trulia lists two-bedroom apartments in the 11372 ZIP code starting at around $2,300, but none are as high as the one in The Roosevelt.

The New York Times had several listings for more than $3,000 a month as of Tuesday, but they were all at the Roosevelt.

The price puts the apartment on par with all but the most expensive Long Island City apartments, where prices stretched up to $5,000 a month as of Tuesday, according to realtor Douglas Elliman.

It is higher than the average rent in Brooklyn — $3,362 — and on par with the average in Manhattan — $4,272 for a non-doorman building, according to May 2014 reports from the real estate firm MNS.

The demand for luxury spaces that stand out from Jackson Heights' pre-war co-ops is high, Schulte said, and he's noticed demand in the neighborhood spike over the last year.

"I see the gentrification going on by the hour," he said, and noted that renters are finding Jackson Heights to be an authentic alternative to Long Island City, where there are more apartments similar to The Roosevelt.

"In Long Island City you get a taste of Queens, in Jackson Heights you actually get the flavor of Queens," he said. "There's more culture, more infrastructure."

The building's location near the 74th Street transit hub, which has five subway lines and several bus stops, was also a draw, he said.

"Having five different trains right here makes it real easy for getting around. If you're at Vernon [Boulevard] and the 7 is out for weekly maintenance, you're walking 15 minutes to Court Square," he said.

The building is roughly 87 percent rented, with only four vacant apartments, he added. The ground floor space is being developed into an urgent care facility and the garage inside now offers Zip Car rentals. Six affordable units inside the building were offered through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in February, but the application deadline has passed.

"The market's really moving, and it's ultimately driven by sheer availability," Schulte said.