Here’s How CRE Sales Can Truly Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels
by Neil A. Dolgin The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently reported on investors who are diving back into commercial real estate and driving this year’s sales volume to pre-pandemic levels. Combined with lower interest rates, they are reporting a renewed optimism that the worst of the pandemic may be behind us. Driving that conclusion is… Read more »
New York City’s Building Sales Volume Up Almost 40% From Q1
New York City’s volume of buildings sold reached $4.8 billion in the second quarter, up 38.9 percent from the first quarter, according to a report shared exclusively with Commercial Observer. The second quarter brought offices back as the reigning asset class in the city, recording $1.6 billion in deal volume, about 23 times higher than… Read more »
Better Infrastructure Could Goose Return To Downtowns
The Federal Aviation Administration Tuesday approved the $2.1B LaGuardia AirTrain proposal, which is set to bring 3,000 construction jobs and add over $50M in local infrastructure improvements to the Queens airport’s surrounding neighborhoods, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s proposal. The project, first proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015,… Read more »
Cannabis Retailers In A ‘Feeding Frenzy’ To Lock Up Space Before Applications Open
Although the regulations for New York’s now-legal recreational cannabis market are still months from being announced, the race for cannabis retail real estate has already begun. Even though the rules around operating a recreational dispensary have yet to be set, would-be cannabis retailers are already securing deals for space, in some cases paying cash upfront,… Read more »
The City is Coming Back
by Neil A. Dolgin Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak eighteen months ago, New Yorkers have become all too familiar with empty office buildings and store fronts on practically every block. It’s also true that the economic fallout has heightened some already-existing trends as companies and retailers continue to grapple with how to best… Read more »
Industry gets behind city’s cultural reawakening
New York’s Real Estate and Construction Council is throwing its weight behind the rebuilding of the city’s cultural landscape. The group hosted the first in-person, live performance celebration at Lincoln Center since it was forced to cancel its programs and close its doors to the public last March. Jonathan L. Mechanic, chairman of Fried Frank’s… Read more »
LeFrak City to Host 150-Station Electric Vehicle Charging Hub
LeFrak City, that sprawling example of workforce high-rise housing in the Corona section of Queens, is to become the scene of an experiment to convert the electric car from curiosity to as common as your basic gas-powered Chevy. The 4,605-unit, 20-building complex off the Long Island Expressway is to house one of the the largest,… Read more »
Construction Begins on Amazon Warehouse in Red Hook
Construction has started at the future Red Hook warehouse that will soon be home to an Amazon distribution center. Located at the former site of the Revere Sugar Factory at 280 Richards St., on a pier sandwiched between IKEA and the former location of Fairway, it was long planned to be the home of a… Read more »
Economic Experts Predict Uptick In Commercial Real Estate Activity In 2021
As states and cities across the U.S. ease pandemic-induced restrictions, economists believe much of the pent-up demand and consumer savings during the pandemic will be pumped into the economy in 2021. As a result, a commercial economic boom may also be on the horizon, according to reports from speakers at the Commercial Economic Issues and… Read more »
Legal Marijuana May Not Be NYC’s Retail Real Estate Savior
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill in late March to legalize recreational marijuana in New York state, many in the cannabis and real estate industries thought dispensaries and on-site consumption lounges might save New York City retail. But the reality will be much more complicated. New York’s adult-use marijuana program will be one of… Read more »
De Blasio to End Remote Working for NYC’s 80,000 Municipal Workers
The nation’s biggest municipal workforce is being called back from remote working a year after the coronavirus pandemic shut office doors. According to The New York Times, Mayor Bill de Blasio has decided that the 80,000 municipal office employees who have been working from home since last March will have to report back to the… Read more »
With Federal Help On The Way, Commercial Rent Relief Is Real Estate’s Next Big Focus
Check out BisNow’s Podcast, “Make Yourself at Home,” which examines the effects of the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law last week, on New York City commercial real estate. New Yorkers are hoping the funds will go a long way to easing the city’s woes and those of the real… Read more »
Amazon Opening 20K SF Delivery Station in Long Island City
Amazon is moving into the former Green Apple Supermarket. (photo: Google Maps) Amazon can’t quit Long Island City, Queens. The e-commerce giant signed a lease to open up a 20,000-square-foot delivery station at 38-50 21st Street in the neighborhood where it almost built its second headquarters, Crain’s New York Business first reported. It plans to… Read more »
New REBNY Report Shows Broker Confidence in Real Estate Market Experiences an Uptick After Record Lows
The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the City’s leading real estate trade association, today reported that broker confidence rebounded in the last quarter of 2020, after three consecutive record lows, as the COVID-19 vaccine continues to roll out throughout the City and State. According to REBNY’s Q4 2020 Quarterly Real Estate Broker Confidence… Read more »
Foreign Investors Target US Core Assets
Since the Federal Reserve reduced rates at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hedging costs have come down for foreign investors. Leading the way were investors from South Korea, Singapore, Germany (through open-ended funds) and the Middle East. GLOBE St. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Women getting it done in commercial real estate
Is real estate still a man’s world? From architecture to brokerage to property management and everything in between, women continue to make strides in CRE, occupying top roles throughout the field. That’s not to say, however, that the experiences of women in commercial real estate are fully equitable or that we don’t still have some… Read more »