Forest Hills Explained: Tudor Streets, Strong Co-ops, a Quiet Queens Pocket

Forest Hills is one of the few New York neighborhoods where the architecture tells you the entire story at a glance. Forest Hills Gardens, the private covenanted enclave south of Queens Boulevard, was laid out in 1909 by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and Grosvenor Atterbury as one of the country's first planned garden suburbs. The slate-roofed Tudor and Arts-and-Crafts homes Atterbury designed still sit on the same winding streets behind Station Square. If you're trying to decide whether Forest Hills is right for you, start here: it's the closest thing in the five boroughs to suburban privacy without giving up the subway.

About Forest Hills

The neighborhood splits into three tiers architecturally. Forest Hills Gardens is the single-family market, with covenants and a Gardens Corporation relationship buyers need to understand before writing an offer. North of the LIRR, pre-war co-op buildings along Burns Street, Austin Street, and Yellowstone Boulevard fill in the rest of the neighborhood. Mid-century apartment buildings along Queens Boulevard form the more commercial spine. The feel varies sharply block-to-block: the Gardens reads as private and winding, while the co-op blocks read as classic full-service prewar with doormen and gracious lobbies.

The Forest Hills Real Estate Market

Prices in the Gardens commonly range from around $1.5M for a smaller brick Tudor to well over $4M for one of the grand Atterbury homes on Greenway Terrace. Outside the Gardens, the co-op market is deep: pre-war buildings with doormen and full-service amenities sit in the $400K to $900K range for one- and two-bedrooms, and newer condos near Austin Street and along Yellowstone have pushed that ceiling higher. There's also a solid mid-rise rental market for tenants who want proximity to the Austin Street commercial core without the co-op board process. Each tier has its own comp logic — and its own financial due diligence.

Life in Forest Hills

The 71st Avenue-Forest Hills station carries the E, F, M, and R. Express E and F run Manhattan-bound with short headways, landing at Queens Plaza, Lexington-53rd, and 42nd-Bryant Park in around 20 minutes. The LIRR Forest Hills station adds a 15-minute ride to Penn Station. Austin Street is the main commercial spine, with Aigner Chocolates, Cafe Bar on Austin, Dee's Brick Oven, and Nick's Pizza among the regulars. Forest Park gives the neighborhood real green space. The West Side Tennis Club hosted the U.S. Open from 1915 to 1977, and Forest Hills Stadium inside the club grounds has reopened as one of the best mid-size concert venues in the country.

Who's Buying Here

Forest Hills skews family, professional, and long-term. We see clients moving from Manhattan for the square footage, parking, and elementary school options — particularly PS 101, PS 144, and PS 196. Downsizers from Nassau and Suffolk make up another thread, trading single-family homes for full-service co-ops near the subway. Buyers here tend to plan in decades rather than years.

Work with ACLM Group in Forest Hills

The Gardens has specific covenants and a specific board. Each co-op line runs its own pricing. We spend time upfront explaining where the real differences sit so that clients tour the right buildings rather than every building — a distinction that tends to matter more in Forest Hills than in markets with less architectural variation.

Ready to explore Forest Hills real estate? Browse current listings curated by ACLM Group at aclmgroup.com/new-york-NY/forest-hills, or reach out — (917) 540-7174 / info@aclmgroup.com.

ACLM Group is a REBNY-member real estate brokerage headquartered at 99 Wall Street in New York City. We serve all five boroughs.