Major Developments:
- Closer Properties is selling a 49% interest in Park Avenue Plaza, at 55 East 52nd Street, to Vornado Realty Trust. The deal had a $1.1 billion valuation. The sale is expected to close by the end of the quarter.
- The Durst Organization and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are closer to full occupancy of the 104-story 1 World Trade Center in the Financial District. Investment firm Energy Capital Partners is adding roughly 44,000 square feet to their existing space.
- RXR filed plans for the 175 Park supertall next to Grand Central Terminal, revealing a 95-story structure. The project is nearly 3 million square feet and is expected to begin construction in the next few months. For the RXR and partner TF Cornerstone project, the development will cost $6.5 billion. They have not yet been awarded the $4.8 billion in federal loans they applied for and still need to secure an anchor tenant.
- A trio of developers acquired an assemblage at 962 Pacific Street and the adjacent property at 863 Dean Street that was once at the center of a contentious rezoning battle. The joint venture plans to build a mixed-use project consistent with the city's newly-approved Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan (AAMUP). Avery Hall and Brodsky will lead the development, while Monadnock will serve as the general contractor, with Maxim Capital Group providing the acquisition loan.
- The Moinian Group filed a rezoning application for a 17,500-square-foot site at 1097 First Avenue to allow for a 39-story development. The proposed 316,000-square-foot project near the Queensboro Bridge would include 354 residential units and 4,400 square feet of retail space.
- Multifamily development filings in New York City are at a 12-year high with applications for 11,984 apartment units. This was driven by new construction applications. Megaprojects skewed the overall number, including The Moinian Group's 1,458-unit proposal in Hudson Yards and Vornado Realty Trust's 481-unit plan in the Garment District.
- Local Laws 152, 11, 429, and 925 have increased the amount of pain individuals can tolerate, but their collective effect is detrimental. Local Law 152 requires hundreds of thousands of buildings to have a licensed master plumber inspect their gas piping every four years (for $600 to $1,100 per building), and it exempts one- and two-family homes.
- Thakkar Developers plan to convert much of the 23-story building at 135 West 50th Street into residential apartments, which early architectural studies indicate could accommodate between 550 and 700 units.
- NYC Economic Development Corporation is preparing a request for proposals for a developer to build a 140-unit mixed-use project at a city-owned parking lot at 2453 Second Avenue in East Harlem. They must include at least 35 affordable housing units. Developers must utilize the state's 485x tax abatement program and use savings on land acquisition costs to fund the affordable units.
- Landlords view HPD violations as part of a weaponized system that punishes them disproportionately for minor issues like cracked paint or loose floorboards. Violations plague landlords by prolonging nonpayment cases in housing court, triggering rent abatements, blocking major capital improvements, increasing insurance premiums, and jeopardizing mortgages. The process is riddled with bureaucratic nightmares, such as inspectors adding new violations after fixing others, cured violations remaining on the books for decades, and tenants abusing the system to freeze their rents or stave off eviction.
