09:05:25 | 2012-07-09
Good Morning New York! Here’s the news:
Signs of Recovery in Real Estate Give a Lift to Funds
THERE was much for investors to worry about in the second quarter, but at least real estate was far down the list. Several reports hinted at a recovery in this long-suffering category, and that helped real estate investment trusts — portfolios of various types of property, and traded on stock exchanges — to outperform, along with funds that focus on them.
You’re Never Going to Live in a Rent-Stabilized Apartment
In a city where people are, by necessity, obsessed with the price of real estate, getting ahold of a rent-stabilized apartment is among the many dreams of most New Yorkers. Unfortunately, like a lot of big-city goals, it’sincreasingly hard for newcomers to make it happen.
South Bronx real estate developer turning notorious illegal garbage dump into fresh food hub
Steven Smith looked past 10 million pounds of garbage in the South Bronx, and saw a gem in the making. Ten years ago, when Smith took over Oak Point Property – a 28-acre parcel in Hunts Point sandwiched between the Oak Point railroad yard and the East River – it was a notorious, massive illegal garbage dump and a hangout for criminals.
As Brooklyn Gentrifies, Some Neighborhoods Are Being Left Behind
For much of the past century, Brooklyn was the Rodney Dangerfield of boroughs, known for its blue-collar style, for its funny accent and, of course, for getting no respect.
NYC’s Savoy Park Apartments $210 Million Loan Modified
A real estate fund created by Citigroup Inc. (C) and L&M Development Partners modified the $210 million loan on New York’s Savoy Park apartments after they took over the property. The senior mortgage on the rent-stabilized Harlem complex was split into two, including a $50 million portion on which payments may be deferred until the property is sold, according to a note by LNR Partners LLC, the loan’s servicer.
Stringer Supports SPURA Plan if Permanent Affordable Housing is Protected
Borough President Scott Stringer announced Thursday his conditional support for the massive and controversial plan to develop several underused blocks along Delancey Street near the Williamsburg Bridge — saying he wants the current plan to set aside half of the units as permanent affordable housing added to the application materials.
Inside Look: Paris in New York (VIDEO)
What’s not to love about the French? They’ve bestowed upon the world Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, Louis Vuitton, croissants — oh, and this: an almost overwhelmingly Gallic apartment that’ll make you feel like you’re basking in the idylls of Paris (when you’re really surrounded by the noisy, bustling streets of Manhattan).
St. Patrick’s Cathedral to Get $177M Restoration
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the New York City landmark and seat of the Archdiocese of New York, is about to undergo a huge restoration — the kind of facelift that only three years and $177 million can provide.
It’s a house of horrors for Minarda Pimental and other Bronx residents
Pimental, 57, has rats chewing away at her refrigerator, cockroaches everywhere and dust from peeling paint making her asthma worse. No surprise, since landlord Eli Abbott is ranked the worst in the city
Changing Midstream
DURING the financial crisis, many residential developments planned as condominiums became rental apartments when financing for condos became almost nonexistent. Now, some property developers are making the same decision for a different reason: a rental market that could be described as torrid.
MLS interested in building stadium in Flushing
Major League Soccer representatives have begun discussions with Queens officials to build a soccer stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The proposed venue would hold between 20,000-25,000 on eight acres in the northern section of the park.
Uncertainty Keeps Lid on Manhattan Leasing
Although Manhattan office leasing has rebounded from the doldrums of the year’s first quarter, the uptick in volume wasn’t enough to fend off an uptick in the availability rate during Q2,Studley and Avison Young said in reports this week. Uncertainty over the outcome of the presidential election, and the ongoing European debt crisis, may be staying tenants’ hands for the moment, according to Avison Young.
He Takes the Village
BEN SHAOUL doesn’t understand why people hate him. But hate him they do. It gets under his skin. “I’m a regular guy, I have feelings,” the young real estate developer complained over lunch in late April. “Is it hurtful when people write things that are bad? Yeah, it’s hurtful.”
Vornado Buys 5th Ave. Space, Sells Washington, L.A. Sites
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) (VNO) said it agreed to buy retail space on New York’s Fifth Avenue, the world’s priciest shopping corridor, for about $707 million, and plans to sell $428 million of properties across the U.S. and Canada.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon’s Rental in the Hamptons
While singer Mariah Carey owns several homes, she’s still a long-time renter in the Hamptons, according to Realstalker. Carey reportedly paid $125,000 for the month of July the real state blog reported. (Zillow)
The Shifting Meanings of ‘Confidential’
IN the world of high-end New York real estate, keeping the identity of buyers a secret can often be an exercise in futility. Brokers talk, developers talk, lawyers talk, and certainly you can’t always trust envious acquaintances. And sometimes, it turns out, word getting out about who is buying in a building is not such a bad marketing strategy.
Long-Stay Hotels Settle In
New York hotel developers increasingly are targeting visitors like Huda Al Dosari, an internal auditor for the Qatar Foundation who has been in the city on a two-month stay studying English.
New Frontier for Tourists: Your Home
Every time I see a tourist in New York City in July, I am taken with an urge to hand them a travel brochure for somewhere else. “Summer in Helsinki is supposed to be just great,” I might say, to anyone who does not appear to be from Finland. As I write this, it is 94 degrees in New York; it is 63 degrees in Helsinki.
Burglar at Diddy’s Hamptons Home Sprung from Jail
A New York man who broke into Sean “Diddy” Combs East Hampton mansion said at his sentencing he drank the rap mogul’s liquor, smoked his cigars and slept in his bed.
Long Island City’s Rapid Growth Documented in Photo Exhibit
When rapid growth started transforming the neighborhood about a decade ago, Frank Carrado, 82, a lifelong resident who knows “every rock here,” realized a lot of the old buildings of the industrialized area would soon be gone.
Judge orders proceeds from New York apartment sale be handed over to Adam Clayton
Rock star Adam Clayton is to receive $235,000 from the sale of a New York apartment bought with money stolen from his bank accounts.
Albany Renews Co-op / Condo Tax Abatement That Had Expired
After leaving for the year then being called back to session by Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York State lawmakers announced an agreement late yesterday (July 5) that renews the co-op and condo property-tax abatement that had expired on June 30.
Tenants of Bronx building displaced by fire escape fiasco see light at end of tunnel; half can return
The tenants of the fire escape fiasco building got two reasons last week to be hopeful that the end of their nightmare is in sight. Two new lines of fire escapes were installed at 2400 Webb Ave., allowing 24 units on the second through seventh floors to be occupied, according to Buildings Department spokesman Tony Sclafani.
Tenant sued in ‘no rent’ extort
An Upper West Side man who decided to stop shelling out for his West 93rd Street pad allegedly forced his landlord to sign a contract letting him stay in the apartment for free as long as he wanted. Apartment owner John Fiore says tenant Steven Harrison presented him with a new lease that specified Harrison “would not pay [the] Landlord any rent directly,” and could renew any time he wanted.
Office Space for the Wandering Worker
I wrote this column from the office of CleanEdison, a green energy consultancy on Fifth Avenue. The company has a spare room that it uses to store old office supplies, collect cardboard boxes and host members of a mobile work force. On Monday, when I visited, I worked quietly as three women had a meeting about their event-planning business and a Labrador retriever wandered in and out.
Brace Yourself, Real Estate Prices Are Going Back Up
House prices, after falling for more than five years, are rising again. All the major sales-price indexes show that there have been modest national increases in recent months, even after adjusting for seasonal patterns.
Why Investors Are Suddenly Bullish on Office Real Estate
It should come as no surprise that the commercial real estate sector most sensitive to unemployment is office; that’s where people work. Slow job growth has helped a little, but really only in the trophy, coastal markets, so it may come as a surprise that investors are suddenly bullish on the sector.
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