Major Developments
A New York state bill would change disclosure rules for limited liability companies, requiring them to disclose “beneficial owners,” defined as those who have a membership interest in the LLC on the LLC’s annual tax returns, and that the Department of State assign each beneficial owner an identification number that would appear in a database along with the LLCs tied to that person.City Council Committee revealed an influx of filings for eviction and the moratorium was lifted, threatening to overwhelm legal aid providers. The flood of eviction cases could swamp the court system. Courts have turned to scheduling cases for tenants who have yet to secure a lawyer, rather than prioritizing those in which both parties have counsel.
Data from the state’s court system show about 18,000 cases have been filed since the start of the year, far below the over 43,000 filed in the first two months of 2020, before the moratorium began. The new filings are adding to a backlog of more than 200,000 cases throughout the pandemic.
Lawmakers signed a bill on the EB-5 regional center program that will likely be put forward in a larger spending bill. Under the amended rules, the minimum investment amount will increase to $800,000 from $500,000 in high unemployment regions. Other areas will require a minimum investment of $1.05 million. The new plan will also include added integrity measures to prevent fraud, including sanctions if a regional center files misstatements.
Eric Adams calls bankers back to offices as the city faces mixed recovery.
IWG is investing about $350 million into the venture with office listing service Instant Group to create the world’s largest online marketplace for flexible office space.
161 Maiden Lane's future is uncertain as the developer and its lender fight over who is to blame for the project’s cash flow problems.
Bank OZK provided the senior mortgage on the planned 70-story mixed-use tower, scheduled to be completed in 2026. The developer closed on $540 million in construction financing for its planned 1,000-foot-tall mixed-use tower at 520 Fifth Avenue. Work has already begun on the building, which is slated to become the avenue’s second-tallest, trailing only the Empire State Building.
Lender at 1400 Fifth Ave in Harlem seeks $17M in damages, claiming Ashkenazy defaulted in a foreclosure suit. They allege that Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. defaulted on its $12.3 million mortgage for the retail portion of 1400 Fifth Avenue, an eight-story condo building in Harlem. A trustee for the loan’s bondholders alleges that Ashkenazy stopped making monthly mortgage payments in April 2020.
Resistance has popped up as it always does for sizable projects in Queens against the $2 billion Innovation QNS development. Local community members have cited gentrification and community character as reasons to deny the project the political approval it needs.
RFR plans 375-unit at 175 3rd Street. The development site that was bought from Kushner. RFR plans to build a 265-foot, 20-story, mixed-use building that is 647,000 square feet, including 509,000 SF for residential use and 138,000 SF for commercial.
NYC officials signed off on an 82-block rezoning of Gowanus; they also created a path for developers to swiftly obtain approval for foundation work to qualify for a 421a tax break . the developers must have foundation footings in place. Without the 421a tax break, thousands of affordable housing units won’t get built. Developers would instead opt to go commercial or simply wait until a new incentive is put in place.
