The first wave of condo projects since the original Citylights nearly 10 years ago are on the block and selling. None are finished yet, but the marketing arms are working harder than the construction crews.

The physically biggest and more expensively marketed is Arris Lofts, the converted electrical plant overlooking the LIRR at Court Square, right at the foot of the Citibank building. It's the project with full page New York Times ads on Sunday, and a truly sniffy ice queen attitude among its sales staff. Hey, that hasn't stopped buyers though - lots of LIC folks are talking up their recent contracts breathlessly.
Estimated sold to date: 40%
Average price: $720 per sq ft
Main appeal: Large spaces, industrial
Main minus: LIRR
The site

The poor cousin to this project is around the corner on 44-27 Purves Street. A pretty small lot (certainly by comparison, but also objectively), they do have the good fortune of being 1) on a dead end street which will be a bit quieter than busy old Jackson or Thompson when the cars back up on the Queensboro bridge every morning, and 2) next to SculptureCenter, that plucky indie museum that is totally cool yet obscure and adds a bit of elegance to Purves. The building is new and tall -- 12 stories -- and will have a pretty suprising 50ish units overall. Narrow but tall, one supposes. Hauntingly, the elevated onramp to the QBB cruises by - strange but worse things obtain in places like LES, Dumbo, and East Williamsburg (where the holy BQE roars by - "it's like the ocean"). Judging from how much has sold so fast, they were probably underpriced by $100 per sq ft.
Estimated sales to date: 60%
Average price: $625
Main appeal: unique little corner off Court Square
Main minus: highway, balcony orientation away from NYC
Corcoran's site

Up the road, and near where the Riker's Island bus lets off its haul, is the most daring project to arrive in LIC (or just north of it) -- The Queens Plaza. The name is fair enough, and the location is right across from the immaculately post-industrial Metlife backoffice center on Queens Plaza. But there are some dubious elements to the "locale" -- US armed forces recruiting center, Scandals and Private Eyes, lots of fried chicken, the now-finally-empty municipal parking garage, and more. But you see, things are changing. And the price - well you can't beat it with it a stick. Kind of a boring design, from the look of it, but the writeups keep promising cool cladding so let's see what they offer.
Sales to date: just opened. Zero?
Price: $500-550
Main appeal: value, convenience, newness
Minuses: scary 'hood
The Developers Group site

Down Jackson just a hair past PS1 is a project from Prudential Douglas Elliman (they don't just sell apartments, they build them) with the strange name Echelon and the stranger tagline "start getting your hopes up". Putting aside expectations of disappointment, LICNYC has been waiting for marketing on this one to start. Why hasn't it? Purves is selling a hole in the ground, while Echelon has got the thing nearly built. It's going to have great views out the back - full sweeps of midtown, notwithstanding the pesky Queens West 3 that has capped out on the waterfront. It's a mystery why they aren't marketing yet. Is it a bet that prices will keep rising in LIC? On location: it's kind of a sweet spot, outside the hothouse of Vernon, away from the waterfront monoliths, yet close to it all and also near the mega-trains of Court Square. C'est logique.
Sales and prices: TBD.
Main appeal: views
Main minuses: looks like a pretty boring architectural effort
The site