Rendering courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill via Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office

Facebook is looking to expand its New York City footprint once again. The social media company is in talks to lease about 700,000 square feet at the former James A. Farley Post Office, a city landmark in Midtown currently being converted into a mixed-use building. If the deal is inked, Facebook would become one of the largest corporate tenants in the city with 3 million square feet of office space leased, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor

After closing its iconic Fifth Avenue flagship at the start of 2019, department store Lord & Taylor will be popping up again as a Manhattan shopping address, sources told Bloomberg. The department store brand, which was sold by former owner Hudson’s Bay to clothing rental company Le Tote for $100 million in cash in August, is reportedly opening a 2,400-square-foot shop for just two weeks in mid-December. The pop-up shop will be located on Wooster Street in Soho–a neighborhood whose current streetscape boasts as many empty storefronts and seasonal pop-ups as high-end designer fashion shops.

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Image: Steven Pisano via Flickr.

The Department of City Planning (DCP), along with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Member Margaret Chin, released on Wednesday the Envision Soho/Noho report, a comprehensive summary of findings and recommendations that address issues and guide future plans for downtown Manhattan’s Soho and Noho neighborhoods. The report represents the result of a six-month-long community engagement series on the two historic neighborhoods, aimed at addressing their unique challenges in the 21st century. Contained in the report is a detailed summary of the engagement process that presents the perspectives of participants, as well as recommendations for guiding future plans for improving quality of life, addressing housing concerns, and supporting the unique mixed-use character of these neighborhoods.

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Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr

A number of small businesses on Coney Island’s landmarked boardwalk are facing major rent hikes, possibly threatening their ability to remain open. According to the Brooklyn Paper, six shops, including long-standing hangouts Ruby’s Bar and Grill and Tom’s Restaurant, could see a 500 percent increase in rent from Zamperla, the company that operates the amusement park. The potential increase has revived the group “Save Coney Island,” which advocates for the preservation of the neighborhood’s mom-and-pop shops.

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Image by Timothy Schenck; courtesy of Related-Oxford

Facebook this week has signed a lease for 1.5 million square feet of office space across three buildings at Hudson Yards. Starting next year, the tech company will expand to 30 Hudson Yards, 55 Hudson Yards, and 50 Hudson Yards, the latter which will not be open until 2022 and will consist of the bulk of the lease at 1.2 million square feet.

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Photo by Jason Tester on Flickr

With rents on the rise and the e-commerce industry showing no signs of slowing, the livelihood of small businesses in New York City remains under threat. Council Member Stephen Levin, who represents parts of Brooklyn, hopes to address the high rate of retail vacancies across the city with legislation to regulate commercial rents, as Gothamist first reported. “It’s a complex problem,” Levin, who will introduce a bill to the City Council next week, told the website. “We think it’s time to introduce this into the conversation.”

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Photo by Jim.henderson on Wikimedia

Barneys New York was officially sold for roughly $270 million on Friday after filing for bankruptcy just three months prior. The new owners of the luxury retailer, Authentic Brands Group and B. Riley Financial Inc., will license the Barneys name to other companies and likely close most of its locations across the country. But the store’s beloved flagship location at 660 Madison Avenue will stay open for at least the next year, according to the Real Deal.

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Photo by Krystal T via Flickr

Living under the shadow of having President Trump as an occasional neighbor–and as a sign on the front of your building–doesn’t do much for condo property values in midtown Manhattan, if commercial leasing and residential sales at Trump Tower are any indication. CityRealty reports that vacancies persist in the commercial podium of 721 Fifth Avenue, and residential condo sales in the mixed-use tower have yet to recover from recent stagnation: Almost one half of the units up for sale have cut their initial asking prices, and all but two of the 11 condos whose sales closed this year have sold at an often-considerable–more than 10 percent–discount.

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Driving from point A to point B in New York City is actually getting slower despite brand new bridges, tolls, congestion pricing, and public transportation options, and it has a lot to do with all the stuff we’re ordering online. A recent story in the New York Times outlines how massive growth in online ordering from companies like Amazon has added a whole new layer to the delivery truck traffic and parked vehicles that clog city streets each day. But the real news may be the new layer of infrastructure that’s being added to the city’s economy in the form of “last mile” fulfillment centers to get it all to consumers overnight.

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