Dutch Kills - Real Estate in Long Island City

Dutch Kills in Long Island City has a great location, minutes from midtown with good bridge and subway access, and an even better name. (Kills is Dutch for creek.) But it's been a down-at-the-heels neighborhood for years. Dutch Kills is currently zoned for mixed-use -- industrial, commercial, and residential. It's a neighborhood of two- and three-story homes and squat factories and warehouses. A recent NY Sun article describes it pretty well:

Every urban use seems to flourish here side by side - manufacturing plants nudged in between tiny houses, movie production facilities beside grocery stores, nightclubs on industrial blocks, auto repair shops on residential blocks...It feels both energetic and sleepy.

The Sun reports a new study from the Manhattan Institute proposing a rezoning of Dutch Kills (and other neighborhoods) to allow more residential units. It makes sense to me. As Astoria flourishes, the cheaper rents and property values are continually moving south of Broadway. Some brokers advertise "Astoria apartments" for Ravenswood and Dutch Kills addresses, but Dutch Kills lacks the vitality of Astoria (and Hunters Point). It shouldn't, especially with housing across the borough at such a premium. Industry in Long Island City just doesn't have the priority it had a hundred years ago.

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