By Devin Gannon, Mon, March 25, 2019 Photo by Zachary Tyler Newton
Governors Island is gettings its first permanent home for artists this year as the effort to turn the 172-acre former military base into a year-round cultural hub continues. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) announced on Monday plans to transform a 1870s warehouse into a 40,000-square-foot center for arts and educational programming. In 2009, LMCC became one of the first tenants on Governors Island, which opened to the public in 2005 after serving as a base for the Army and then the Coast Guard for more than two centuries.
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By Michelle Cohen, Thu, March 21, 2019 Image: Flickr cc
Developer Related Companies’ high-profile condominium at 520 West 28th Street, designed by the late Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid, launched sales in 2015 to a flurry of hype and hubris. The highly-anticipated West Side residence was Hadid’s first ground-up structure in New York City, offering homes that ranged from $4,950,000 to a $50 million penthouse. Crains reports that since that glittering launch, though, only 16 of the building’s 39 units have sold, calling the offering “a rare bust.” The sales figures reflect about a 40 percent sell-through that looks even lower when square footage is considered: The building’s biggest units remain unclaimed, including its three penthouses. Of the 16 apartments that have sold, 14 were bought in 2017. Only two units sold in 2018, and none so far this year.
Will Hudson Yards bring more buyers?
By Devin Gannon, Wed, March 20, 2019 Via The Collective
London-based communal living company The Collective has purchased a hotel in Long Island City with plans to convert the building into a space for co-living. The Paper Factory Hotel, located at 37-06 36th Street near the Astoria border, will be transformed into a space for “short-stay” co-living, which the company says will give members more flexibility in the length of their stay. The first phase of the conversion adds cultural and educational space to the building’s ground floor; the second phase adds 100 more bedrooms to the hotel’s existing 125 rooms. More this way
By Devin Gannon, Thu, March 14, 2019 Via Creative Commons
Update 3/14/19: A few days after Aby Rosen bought the Chrysler Building for the bargain price of $150 million, the real estate mogul told Bloomberg this week that he would consider converting the tower into a hotel.
Real estate mogul Aby Rosen has picked up another New York City landmark. Rosen’s RFR Holding LLC, which controls the Seagram Building and Lever House, bought the Chrysler Building for $151 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The sale represents a major loss for majority owner Abu Dhabi Investment Council, who paid $800 million in 2008 for a 90 percent stake in the 77-story Art Deco tower.
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By Devin Gannon, Tue, March 12, 2019 Asbury Park, NJ; via Wikimedia
A surcharge on short-term rentals took effect last October in New Jersey, making it one of the first big states to implement such a tax. An 11.6 percent tax, dubbed the “Airbnb tax,” applies to properties rented for fewer than 90 days made on home-sharing sites or directly between a renter and homeowner, excluding deals arranged through a broker. But as homeowners gear up for the summer season in the coming months, owners of Jersey Shore rental homes say the tax has made it harder to fully book their properties ahead of beach season, the New York Times reported.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Thu, March 7, 2019 Via Flickr
Calls for a pied-à-terre tax have increased since billionaire Ken Griffin closed on a penthouse at 220 Central Park South for over $239 million. The sale shattered the existing record of the most expensive home sold in the US by $100 million but Griffin will only be using the residence as “a place to stay when he’s in town.” City Council Members Mark Levine and Margaret Chin recently announced support for a bill that was first drafted by Sen. Brad Hoylman five years ago, which would place a yearly surcharge of 0.5% to 4% on secondary residences worth more than $5 million. In a statement released on Wednesday, State Budget Director Robert Mujica added his support, stating that a pied-à-terre tax could be combined with other revenue solutions to help fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $40 billion in capital needs.
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By Cait Etherington, Wed, March 6, 2019 Photo via Flickr cc
No one ever said that the New York City real estate market was easy to understand or even entirely logical. Still, you might not expect numerology to be among the knowledge sets required to fully navigate the market. But from good luck and bad luck floors to lucky number combinations, numerology plays a surprisingly significant role in how some units are priced, how quickly they sell, and most importantly, to which buyers.
It’s a numbers game
By Michelle Cohen, Fri, March 1, 2019 View from the Grand Concourse; photo courtesy of Dan DeLuca via Flickr.
According to an analysis by Property Shark, the area surrounding the thoroughfare once known as the “Park Avenue of the Middle Class” has seen an elevated housing demand that has brought median home sales prices along with it, showing an increase in just 5 years that ranges from 56.2 percent in Bedford Park to a whopping 124.5 percent in Mott Haven.
Bronx rising, this way
By Devin Gannon, Tue, February 26, 2019 Via Vornado Realty Trust and Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Update 2/26/19: Council Members Mark Levine and Margaret Chin announced on Monday that they plan on introducing a resolution in support of the pied-à-terre tax, as amNY reported. The tax would be modeled after the measure sponsored by State Sen. Brad Hoylman and apply an annual surcharge on non-primary homes worth more than $5 million.
Last month, billionaire Ken Griffin closed on a penthouse at 220 Central Park South for over $239 million, making it the most expensive home ever sold in the United States. Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund Citadel, said he will not use the pricey pad as a primary residence, but instead as “a place to stay when he’s in town.” The staggering sale has renewed support from public officials for a pied-à-terre tax, which would place a yearly surcharge on homes worth $5 million and up, and apply to non-primary residences, as reported by the New York Times.
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By Cait Etherington, Tue, February 19, 2019 Photo via Pixabay
Over the past decade, there has been no shortage of headlines about the impact of foreign buyers on the New York City real estate market. At one time, the headlines about Russian oligarchs and Chinese business tycoons buying up luxury properties in New York City were true, but as of 2019, the real estate market in New York City and across the country is shifting. New restrictions on foreign buyers combined with a perception that the United States is no longer a friendly market for foreign buyers has slowed foreign sales. In fact, over the past twelve months, the highest closes in New York City have all been to U.S. buyers.
What’s the deal?
