2017 Year in Review: Elizabeth Lusskin, Long Island City Partnership

Name & Title: Elizabeth Lusskin, president 

Company Name: Long Island City Partnership 

Address: 27-01 Queens Plaza N., LIC, NY 11101

What was your most notable project, deal, transaction or professional achievement in 2017?

There were two — expanding the LIC BID boundaries and issuing our retail survey results. The expansion nearly doubles the current area of the BID and enhances services, increases business opportunities and will help draw more foot traffic from the surrounding transit hubs. With hundreds of thousands of retail square feet coming online, we surveyed the community about their needs. Restaurants, pharmacies and grocery stores were identified as the top retail needs. Despite the 133 dining establishments in the area, there is an appetite for more.

What trends will impact your business in 2018?

By next year, more than 10,000 new units of housing will have opened in LIC, which will nearly double the area’s existing inventory. This will bring the total number of residential units built here since 2006 to over 20,000. Complementing that, a creative commercial real estate wave is rising, major new tenants are arriving at Court Sq. and to buildings in our industrial zones. Meanwhile, we are making street level upgrades and the retail corridors are coming alive.