Real estate buyers ‘freaking out’ about Amazon NYC exit

Karlheinz Irlmeier | Getty Images

Historic Pepsi-Cola neon sign on the  Long Island City waterfront in Queens, New York City.

New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Democrat whose district includes Long Island City, defended his opposition in a separate CNBC interview on Friday, saying, “when they [Amazon] come in and take over a community like that, the community dies.”

Gianaris, along with other New York politicians including liberal firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, opposed the $3 billion in incentives the city promised to pay Amazon to seal the deal in November over the dozens and dozens of other localities which were in the running for the project.

“The Amazon ‘boom,’ as we can call it, happened too quickly. And no one was really able to understand the benefits that that many jobs to the area would have brought to the locals,” said Serhant, who started his career in Long Island City.

“I remember doing deals at $600 a square foot in Long Island City in 2009. And everyone was so angry about it. They’re never going to get their money back,” he said. “I just resold an apartment that I sold for $900,000 in 2009 in October, so before the Amazon announcement, for $1.8 million.”

Serhant thinks Long Island City can still prosper without Amazon. “I’ve always loved Long Island City. I think it’s a great place for real estate investment.” He said apartments there go for about $200 per square foot less than in Manhattan.

Amazon, which does not plan to search for a replacement location, said it plans to move forward with its planned second half of its East Coast headquarters in Northern Virginia. Meanwhile, Nashville, Tennessee, which had won a smaller investment in the monthslong HQ2 search, will also remain on track.