Can $50 Million Make a Dull Brooklyn Office Park Cool?
New York City’s most populous borough has many crowd-pleasing attractions: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Nets. Now there’s Brooklyn Commons. It’s better known as the MetroTech Center, a dull and insular back-office hub for financial firms and city agencies in Downtown Brooklyn that many New Yorkers have largely ignored — unless… Read more »
A Housing Crisis Has More Politicians Saying Yes to Developers
For years, elected officials from across the political spectrum in New York City have scored points by attacking a common enemy: Real estate developers. Politicians routinely quashed projects. Some officials argued they were protecting a neighborhood’s character and property values. Others said they were fighting corporate greed. On Friday, a left-leaning City Council member, Julie… Read more »
Commercial Real Estate Is Slowing Down in Q3 2022
After the strong rebound for the U.S. economy in 2021, growth in 2022 has slowed in the face of rising inflation, the household income squeeze, and geopolitical events. While the economy continues to deal with elevated inflation, data shows a slowdown in the growth of commercial real estate. Demand for apartments and office spaces is… Read more »
Finding Good News in NYC Commercial Real Estate
by Neil A. Dolgin After a strong economic rebound for commercial real estate in 2021, data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) indicates a slowdown in the growth of commercial real estate in 2022 resulting from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising inflation, higher interest rates, and geopolitical events that have caused a… Read more »
Lenders favor resi projects in big month for outer-borough loans
Kings County reigned in July as lenders pumped billions into outer-borough real estate projects. The month’s 10 biggest loans totaled $1.8 billion, more than five times June’s total, and about twice as much as last July — closely mirroring a similar rebound in Manhattan. Brooklyn captured seven of the month’s 10 largest commercial loans, while… Read more »
Innovation QNS Development Gets Nod From City Planning Commission
The New York City Planning Commission approved plans for a 2.7 million-square-foot mixed-use development in Astoria, Queens, dubbed Innovation QNS, even after the project was shot down by the borough president and local community board. City Planning approved the plan by a vote of 10 to 3 on Wednesday morning, with City Planning Commission chair… Read more »
Affordable grocery chain Lidl to expand into Brooklyn at site of former Park Slope Key Foods
Lidl, a budget-friendly grocery store, is scheduled to arrive in Park Slope in 2024— as the center of a mixed-use development in place of the former Key Food on Fifth Avenue. The German grocer signed a lease with developers William Macklowe Company and Senlac Ridge Partners for its first Brooklyn outpost at 120 Fifth Avenue,… Read more »
New York City’s Empty Offices Reveal a Global Property Dilemma
In the heart of midtown Manhattan lies a multibillion-dollar problem for building owners, the city and thousands of workers. Blocks of decades-old office towers sit partially empty, in an awkward position: too outdated to attract tenants seeking the latest amenities, too new to be demolished or converted for another purpose. It’s a situation playing out… Read more »
The Commercial Real Estate Market: Crash, Train Wreck, Or Apocalypse?
Dire warnings about commercial real estate appear almost daily these days. While office markets are stressed due to increased working from home, some real estate professionals see an increasingly bifurcated market, divided “into haves and have-nots.” Investors, renters, and cities—especially those with older, declining buildings— will need to pay close attention in the coming months… Read more »
REBNY Report Shows New York City Construction Activity Outpacing Year-Over-Year Totals
The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the City’s leading real estate trade association, today released its Quarterly New Building Construction Pipeline Report for Q2 2022. Construction activity in Q2 2022 again outpaced historical averages. Offering good-paying jobs and essential for attracting and retaining investment, employers and residents, this construction activity represents significant progress… Read more »