Queens’ investment sales rose to $2.6 billion in 1H 2026, up by 49% from 1H 2025, while transactions increased 6% to 315, marking the borough’s strongest half since 1H 2022, according to GREA’s Queens 2026 Mid-Year Commercial Real Estate Trends report.
“The development sector and a single retail transaction, together accounted for over half the dollar volume recorded in Queens in 1H 2026, a decisive shift from the multifamily-anchored market of prior cycles,” said GREA Partner Sean Kelly.
Director Alexander Taic added, “Notably, development activity in Queens is being driven by government incentives, while pricing for rent stabilized multifamily is resetting under the burden of government regulations.”
Development Highlights
- Development sales rose to $821.6 million across 55 transactions, a 161% surge in dollar volume and 25% increase in transactions compared to 1H 2025. The average price for standard sites was $203/BSF in 1H 2026, essentially flat with 2025, while MIH/UAP sites priced at $159/BSF, up from $152/BSF.
- The 485x tax incentive represented 81% of all development sales in Queens in 1H 2026, affordable housing comprised 16%, and 421a accounted for 3%. Additional policies are expected to serve as key development catalysts including the City of Yes, the state’s new SEQRA infill exemption, rezonings, Charter Reforms and the Willets Point public-private redevelopment, all of which are pulling capital into the borough’s development pipeline.
- Driven by Downtown Jamaica’s rezoning, a parking garage at 92-30 165th Street sold for $46.1 million. About 700 new homes are planned for the site.
Multifamily Highlights
- The multifamily sector saw $461.9 million in dollar volume in the first half of 2026, up 3% year-over-year, across 142 transactions.
- The average price-per-square-foot slipped to $231 from $254 a year earlier, the lowest mark in the past eight years. Cap rates edged up to 6.83%, as buyers kept pricing in higher-for-longer rates and capped regulated upside. The price-per-unit, by contrast, rose to roughly $230,000 from $190,000, as the trades skewed toward larger-unit, lower-density products even as per-foot values reset.
- The defining trade in the first half was Pinnacle Group’s rent stabilized portfolio with 5,151 units citywide, which was acquired out of bankruptcy by Summit Properties for $451.3 million. The Queens portion of the portfolio included 901 units valued at $98.1 million, or roughly $109,000.
Retail Highlights
- The retail asset class posted dollar volume of $669.5 million, a 192% jump from 1H 2025 across 49 transactions.
- The half saw average pricing of $670/SF down from $698/SF in 2025.
- The largest retail closing was Acadia Realty Trust’s purchase of the Shops at Skyview, a 550,000-square-foot retail complex in Flushing for $424.4 million. The purchase is in a strategic location, as it is less than a mile from Citi Field and the planned $8.1 billion Cohen-Hard Rock Metropolitan Park casino.
GREA’s Queens 2026 Mid-Year Commercial Real Estate Trends report is available here.