Major Developments:
The NYC Economic Development Corporation and Council member Kamillah Hanks unveiled a central vision to transform Staten Island's Empire Outlets and the former New York Wheel site into a mixed-use district featuring up to 2,500 new homes. This plan marks a significant shift from focusing on tourism to serving locals with housing, parkland, cultural programming, and retail. The formal land-use process is scheduled to begin after environmental review in early 2026.A lawsuit by the Small Property Owners of New York and landlords challenges the state's rent cap on vacant apartments, alleging it violates the Fifth Amendment's takings clause by diminishing the property's leasehold value. Attorneys believe this focus on vacant units, which avoids disturbing current tenants, increases the case's chance of success compared to past failures against the rent law.
The $515 million commercial mortgage-backed securities mortgage on the upper half (floors 29-51) of the New York Times Building (620 Eighth Avenue) is in special servicing ahead of its maturity next month. Owner Brookfield initiated the transfer to open a structured, good-faith dialogue.
Sapir Corp filed for Chapter 11 protection for its Nomo Soho hotel as part of the liquidation of Alex Sapir's Israeli-backed real estate company. The firm filed a petition in Manhattan bankruptcy court for a court-supervised auction of the 26-story hotel at 9 Crosby Street. This move aims to finalize a sale and pay off Sapir Corp's $155 million in Israeli bond debt. The filing follows Sapir Corp's entering insolvency proceedings.
A State Supreme Court judge has temporarily blocked the city from finalizing a lease with Steve Cohen for his $8 billion Metropolitan Park casino complex on Citi Field's parking lots. The judge's order requires the city first to guarantee that the U.S. Tennis Association's (USTA) existing lease rights, including a "superiority clause" protecting the U.S. Open (no competing events, 2,920 parking spots), take precedence over the new agreement. This ruling follows a USTA lawsuit claiming the city refused to guarantee these rights.
TF Cornerstone has filed permits for two Greenpoint waterfront buildings totaling 1,060 units, joining other developments in the area. The first, at 45 West Street, is a 38-story, 792-apartment building (808,000 sq ft). The second, at 15 Oak Street, is a 13-story building with 268 units (249,000 sq ft). Both projects are on the same lot and include 82 enclosed parking spaces.
SL Green, RXR, and New York REIT Liquidating will lose Worldwide Plaza (825 Eighth Avenue), a 1.8-million-square-foot office, in a UCC foreclosure auction on Jan. 15th. Mezzanine lenders scheduled the sale after the controlling entity defaulted on senior and $190 million in mezzanine debt, first noticed last September.
Rudin seeks $350 million recapitalization for 845 Third Avenue to pursue a 411-unit Midtown East conversion.
Vornado Realty Trust, Rudin Management, and Citadel filed a construction permit for a 62-story, over 2 million square foot office tower at 350 Park Avenue (East 50th-51st streets). Citadel, a project partner, agreed to lease 850,000 square feet of space.
Multifamily construction starts hit a post-2011 low in Q3 2025, with only 890 units begun. The Real Estate Board of New York indicates a surge in proposals, with developers filing permits for 11,746 multifamily units, a 69% increase from the previous quarter. This is the highest number since Q1 2022 and nears the pace required to meet the city and state’s goal of 500,000 new homes.
BLDG plans a record 90-story, 1,300-unit residential project, potentially one of the country's tallest, at 100 Bay Street in Jersey City. The 1.6-million-square-foot complex would replace a lot.
Three new housing ballot measures, passed this week, change New York City's land-use power dynamics by creating new ways to approve housing projects, sometimes bypassing or challenging the City Council. The impact of these changes on housing construction will depend on factors such as agency staffing, available capital, and the relationship between the mayor and the City Council. Developers, attorneys, and officials are already considering the implications.
Timber Equities plans two 14-story residential buildings at 335 and 345 West 25th Street in Chelsea, on the former St. Columba campus, which was purchased for $48.25 million. The 197-unit development will use the city's 485x tax abatement and universal affordability preference density bonus. Hill West Architects filed plans for the site, which the Catholic Archdiocese of New York marketed for its residential zoning and potential 485x tax break.
Abramson Brothers is utilizing the $467 million tax incentive program, which offers property tax breaks for converting office space into apartments. They are converting their 90,000-square-foot office at 333 West 52nd Street into 108 residential units.
The Council approved rezoning 54 blocks in Long Island City, a plan expected to generate 14,700 new homes, including 4,300 affordable units, over the next decade.
Despite Innovation QNS's failure, Hakimian Organization and CW Realty are pursuing housing projects in Astoria. They plan a 13-story, 99-unit building at 35-17 42nd Street and a 16-story, 67-unit property at 42-08 35th Avenue, likely avoiding 485x wage requirements. Demolition plans have been filed, with a potential third building totaling 234 units.
City officials selected Kalel Companies and Settlement Housing Fund to redevelop the Grand Concourse Library in the South Bronx into "The Heartwood," a project featuring 113 affordable, rent-stabilized units (some for formerly homeless individuals) above the renovated library.
Property owners fear the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), a proposed law that gives city-approved nonprofits the first right to buy residential buildings with three or more units. First introduced in 2021, the bill was recently on a Council vote list but was removed, and is now being negotiated between its sponsor, Council member Sandy Nurse, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Peter Hungerford and Arthur Haruvi face foreclosure suits on 31 multi-family Manhattan buildings after failing to repay $173.4 million in loans by their maturity dates.