EisnerAmper Real Estate Group Presents “Long Island State of the Market” Event

EisnerAmper recently presented Bisnow’s 2nd Annual Long Island State of the Market event at the Garden City Hotel. This real estate forum discussed ‘all things Long Island’ from Nassau County to the east end, sharing perspectives on development from major market players.

For years, Long Island’s proximity to New York City and other surrounding tri-state areas has been its main selling point. But millennials are not attracted to Long Island just for the location. The millennial generation is looking to drive less and walk more, favoring large new developments close to Long Island Railroad stations. New developments capitalizing on this trend are being built across the Island in locations such as in Huntington Station, Hempstead, Glen Cove and many other areas. While these new properties are being built up on Long island, competition is growing stronger in other tri-state areas too for the same dollars.

On a panel led by EisnerAmper Partner Lisa Knee, speakers shared their experiences trying to get municipal approvals from communities who can be skeptical of the new development and sometimes push back against it. While panelists bemoaned the difficulties they can experience in planning, it was also expressed that community push back also adds “scarcity value” in the market. 

While millennials are impacting the Long Island community, baby boomers are too. On the commercial side, more health care centers and walk-in clinics are opening all over Long Island to meet their needs. These centers and clinics are taking over many vacant retail spaces and are also helping the Long Island economy.

Among the panelists on the panel led by Lisa Knee were Don Monti, CEO, Renaissance Downtowns; Adam Altman, Managing Member, The KABR Group; Mark Kaplan, Principal and COO, Ripco and Brian Lee, Executive Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank.

The push and pull of development will continue as Long Island communities reckon with changing demographics and the balancing act of attracting new residents while keeping longtime residents happy.