Amazon's Split HQ Will Spark Apartment Boom in NY Queens and VA Crystal City

Rent Cafe comments on an Amazon-Related Apartment Boom in two cities.

Key Findings

• With a high occupancy rate of 98.2% in Long Island City, future Amazon employees may have a hard time finding an apartment for rent near work. A total of approximately 15,400 units are under construction, planned or in a prospective phase in LIC but that will not be enough.
• LIC is New York City’s hottest neighborhood and also in the US with the most new apartments delivered after the recession, 12,500 units.
• In Crystal City there were no major developments in the last couple of years. However, besides the 3,100 units under construction, planned or prospective, future Amazon employees would have access to more than 205,000 units currently in the entire metro.
• As of 2016, Crystal City boasts a 52% share of Millennials. Long Island City has a Millennial population of 43%.
• The percentage of people holding a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Crystal City is a whopping 85%, while in LIC it’s about half that, 45%.
• Both neighborhoods have witnessed above-average increases in the monthly rent over the past year. The average rent in Crystal City is currently $2,387, up 5% y-o-y. Meanwhile, Long Island City apartments are already seeing steep prices, $3,458 as of October 2018, up 5.1% y-o-y.

Amazon HQ Average Rent Prices

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Millennial Hot Spot

LIC ZIP code 11109 made the Top 20 Millennial Hot-Spots in the Nation with a 63% share of Millennials.

Expect to pay $41,496 annually to rent an average apartment in Long Island City.

Income and College Degrees

The median household income in Crystal City is almost double than in Long Island City: $107,478 vs. $54,109.

The percentage of people holding a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Crystal City is a whopping 85%, while in LIC it’s about half that, 45%.

Median vs average is a bad comparison but it's all I have, so here are the numbers.

The median household income in LIC is $54,109 while the average rent is over $41,496.

Yikes. That's hot.