Can Long Island City, perceived by many real estate leaders as a gritty, undesirable place in need of infrastructure, become one of the city’s central business districts? For years, it has been designated by planners as a potential fourth central business district, after Midtown Manhattan, downtown Manhattan, and Downtown Brooklyn. The CEO and co-principal at Silvercup Studios, Alan Suna, said that “Times Square and the Lower East Side were gritty and dirty, and no one ever thought of these places as places to live, work, or, better yet, as a 24/7 environment where people thrived. Well, those naysayers were proven wrong, and I believe that tradition will continue with Long Island City.”

Last December, Mayor Bloomberg signed legislation establishing a business improvement district in the vicinity of Queens Plaza and Court Square. The BID covers 85 properties in Long Island City from 21st Street to Jackson Avenue, in addition to all properties along both sides of Jackson Avenue between Court Square and Queens Plaza.

BIDs have been successful in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The goal of the BID is to attract new businesses for the area while also retaining those already there. City Council Member Eric Gioia said, “When you create a business improvement district, you are putting up a sign that says, ‘Welcome, we are open for business,’ and you become a magnet for attracting other businesses.”

The senior real estate lender at Amalgamated Bank, Tom Graf, said, “Even though the BID was formulated, as a result of New York City rediscovering this barren wasteland after 40 years, the area remains undesirable and unsafe, particularly at night, as evidenced by the abundance of crack-addicted prostitutes. The city exacerbates the social problem in Long Island City by continuing to bus and discharge Rikers Island former inmates in front of the Queens Plaza local 24-hour Twin Donut store,” he said.

The president of Shalom Zuckerbrot, Frank Zuckerbrot, said, “If you build it, it does not mean people will come to LIC. Markets dictate what happens, and you have to have the right people packaging the product.” A partner at Tishman Speyer Properties, Jerry Cohen, said, “We have to create a product that the market wants and which is comparable to Midtown Manhattan. The cost of construction is identical in Long Island City and Manhattan, and, therefore, we need governmental incentives for construction and incentives for employers to relocate.”

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On December 13, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall announced the terms for the redevelopment of the site of the Queens Plaza parking garage. The 99-year lease calls for the 3-acre site to be developed after demolition of the existing municipal garage. In 2003, the New York City Economic Development Corporation designated the site for mixed-use commercial development with office space, a garage, and retail tenants. Mr. Cohen said, “We expect to construct 3 million square feet of state-of-the-art, efficient office space with large footprints, which will attract many corporate users. We believe that the time is ready now. There is a demand for new office space.” According to industry insiders, Tishman Speyer plans to construct a building on Jackson Avenue with the Department of Transportation as the major tenant.

A vice president at Brause Realty, David Brause, said, “For a rent 75% less than in Midtown Manhattan, a tenant can have a brand-new class A office space, one stop away from Bloomingdale’s on 59th Street.”

Mr. Zuckerbrot and Mr. Suna said that Long Island City continues to lack critical mass. “Critical mass means lots of people in an area, which is a 24/7 community, people who want to live, work, and have fun in the area.”

Both Mr. Zuckerbrot and Mr. Suna added that, over the next five to 10 years, we are going to have critical mass.

Michael Boxer, who is a managing partner of RCG Longview and Ramius Capital Group – which together with Jeffrey Fiel and Lloyd Goldman of BLDG Management, owns 30-30 and 30-20 Thompson Ave., which have about 1.1 million square feet in space – said he is encouraged by the prospects of Long Island City as a viable office market. He believes the growth of the residential market expected along the waterfront in Williamsburg and Greenpoint will push north into Long Island City. He predicts this will take five to seven years.

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Commercial development in Long Island City has limped through the past two decades. In 1984, Citibank acquired a 2-acre, 82,000-square-foot trapezoidal site in Queens for about $3.5 million. According to industry insiders, the price was at least 75% cheaper than land in Manhattan. In February 1989, the 48-story, 1.4 million square-foot One Court Square, and a four-story service wing, welcomed its first employees. The site includes a fitness center, a small store, dining rooms, a half-acre public plaza, and direct access to the E, F, and G subway lines. Even today, the area lacks enough foot traffic and many of the local restaurants are empty after 7 in the evening.

Mr. Suna said, “In 1989, Citibank built the building that did not work. Their original intention was not to take the entire building for occupancy. At that time, Long Island City lacked zoning, and there was an absence of political willpower.”

Later this year, Tishman Speyer will begin development of the $200 million, 14-story, 475,000-square-foot Court Square Two. Also, plans have been announced that the United Nations Credit Union is planning to begin construction of a 250,000-square-foot office building near Citicorp’s office campus.

The executive vice president of valuation services in the capital markets group at Cushman & Wakefield, Brian Corcoran, said, “Major Manhattan developers are becoming active in looking at large sites for new office construction for the first time in over a decade.”

In May 2001, MetLife announced that it entered into a lease with Brause Realty for the former Brewster building at 27-01 Bridge Plaza North. The city provided MetLife with $26 million in real estate tax abatements and other incentives for the move. Two years later, Brause Realty completed construction of an adjacent 12-story, 282,000-square-foot building, which was then connected to 1 MetLife Plaza.

David Brause said, “MetLife is very happy in the 690,000-square-foot building. All 1,500 employees are learning about the larger variety of amenities the neighborhood has to offer. Great restaurants are constantly opening. The vibe is very much like what you witnessed in SoHo or TriBeCa 20 years ago.”

A partner at the real estate financing firm Haves Pine Seligman, Marc Haves, said, “In order for the office market to truly develop in Long Island City, a bulk area similar to Metro Tech development in Brooklyn would have to first be assembled. One obvious area where this type of development could take place is the Sunnyside train yards where a platform would have to be built over the yards. The complex should have a mixed-use purpose to include much-needed market-rate rental and affordable housing, coupled with retail and office.”

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In July 2001, the City Council approved the rezoning of 37 centrally located blocks in Long Island City. The zoning will facilitate commercial development and allow new residences to mix with commercial and light-industry business. The goal of the zoning was to foster reinvestment and redevelopment taking advantage of Long Island City’s excellent mass transit access and its supply of large, underdeveloped properties.

One major project scheduled for completion in 2009 on the East River is One Silvercup West. According to Mr. Suna, “The project includes over 2 million square feet, including a 400,000-square-foot building to serve as film production facilities,1,000 apartments, a 100,000-square-foot cultural facility, a 650,0000-square-foot office building, a 1,200-seat catering facility, which is sorely needed in Western Queens, and a variety of waterfront restaurants and pubs, gym, and retail.”

Development in the city at large is booming and motivating changes in Long Island City. Still, transportation needs improvement, and the neighborhood lacks retail options and other amenities, such as a supermarkets and cultural activities. The rezoning and planned commercial office buildings, along with residential conversions of industrial properties, new construction, and the possibility of the 2012 Olympics, will help the neighborhood one day reach the critical mass needed to make it the fourth central business district.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@nysun.com.