Monday, July 9, 2018

Developers love flood zones

From the NY Times:

Rather than retreating from flood-prone neighborhoods after Hurricane Sandy, some developers are wading deeper into waterfront markets, especially in Queens and Brooklyn, where they are finding large parcels of land close to mass transit. These are calculated risks, bolstered by years of flood-zone price growth and unwavering demand.

Whether these new apartment buildings can endure another major storm does not seem to be a concern for most residents, who are glad to have new options in inventory-starved markets. Critics, though, ask whether the neighborhoods can withstand the surge of new development and the stress it will add to an already strained infrastructure. These new buildings might remain unscathed in a flood, they say, but what about the damage caused by the torrent around them?

Waterfront building has continued apace since Hurricane Sandy, and it could soon accelerate. As of January, there were roughly 12,350 new apartments under construction or planned in the city’s worst flood zones, according to Localize.city, a real-estate data website. That means 12.4 percent — or roughly one in eight new apartments — will be built in a high-risk flood zone, up from 10.7 percent in 2014, said Tal Rubin, the company’s vice president of research. And last year, 2,362 flood-zone units were completed — nearly double the number delivered in 2014, she said.

The largest share of these buildings is on the southern tip of Brooklyn, in areas like Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Gravesend, where a total of 45 projects — about a third of all flood-zone buildings — are rising. They represent a combined 1,571 units. Pricier precincts near Manhattan, like Long Island City in Queens, and Greenpoint and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, had the most units overall, with a total of 5,561 apartments in 20 buildings, accounting for 45 percent of new flood-zone units.

11 comments:

JQ LLC said...

These mentally ill predatory developers would build on the beaches of a missile testing site in North Korea is they had the chance.

This latest report of 1000 previous ones concerning real estate in NYC, shows that this real estate market is full of shit.

Anonymous said...

Just you wait until the next Sandy hits NYC. LIC will be ravaged beyond repair.

Anonymous said...

Mentally ill are the renters and buyers in these. new developments. Gotta live in NYC!
Why? Jobs are moving overseas replaced by robotics or become obsolete. Yet like a moth to the flame they are attracted by the glow of the big apple. The odds are most don't make it and pack their bags for a return to Nebraska. SMART young folks stake out new parts of the country where job growth possibilities are more promising. Some go overseas. When you have to spend the lions share of your income to live here, are you really living? Where is your disposable income for having fun? In your landlords pocket or paying off your condo mortgage.
The term "house poor" applies here. No money left after it goes mainly to dwelling place. Good luck you fools!

Anonymous said...

People want to live near the water. Nothing is going to change that. Not even a Sandy every 5 years. Now, if a Sandy happens every year, that may change minds.

Anonymous said...

How do they insure these flood prone properties? The premiums would have to be through the stratosphere. Anybody have a guess?

ron said...

How stupid. Why do we build in flood plains, near volcanoes and on ocean shores? Figures we would have learned by now.....

Anonymous said...

Just you wait until the next Sandy hits NYC. LIC will be ravaged beyond repair.

It will be what the Depression of 1905 did to Upper Middle Class Harlem: ghettoize it.

Stuff the apartments with any one and any number to pay off the construction costs. The storm surge should also rip off the flimsy cover 'encasing' the toxic soil.

Anonymous said...

"How do they insure these flood prone properties? The premiums would have to be through the stratosphere. Anybody have a guess?"

They don't....you cant get an insurance company to write a policy for these waterfront properties. Just ask the folks in Nassau and Suffolk.

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to the next hurricane. Not looking forward to the looting, thieving and scamming but it will shake out the low lives placed in my area since Sandy.

Anonymous said...

The joke is the Chinese build below the water level so they can grow rice in the basement

Anonymous said...

Hurricane? A nuclear war would be cool. Contrary to the left, most nukes will fall on cities. They fall on top of each other, so aren't likely to spread. And you have to adjust for the fact that there are fewer casualties in the upward direction. Pipes and Huntington showed nuclear war was winnable under Brzezinski.