How warehouses are taking over the U.S.
For every Cyber Monday purchase, there is a warehouse employee packing up those soon-to-be presents. The big online shopping holiday comes amid a warehouse shortage across the United States as distribution center vacancy rates are at all-time lows. Nearly 96% of existing industrial space is in use, according to commercial real estate services company JLL…. Read more »
Five Commercial Real Estate Trends to Watch in the Wake of COVID-19
It’s been a whirlwind 20 months for commercial real estate (CRE), which, like so many other areas, was hit particularly hard by COVID-19. According to a recent report, the pandemic created the worst recession the office sector has ever faced — leaving property owners to seek out new ways to entice tenants, navigate changing lease… Read more »
NYC Commercial Real Estate Brokers Say They’ve Never Been More Confident
Even in light of the slew of existential threats facing the industry, commercial brokers’ confidence is on the rise. The Real Estate Board of New York’s quarterly real estate broker confidence report showed its Current Conditions Index for commercial brokers spiked to hit a record high of 36, up from 20 the quarter before and… Read more »
Challenges for New York City Tenants and Landlords in the Post-Pandemic Environment
By Neil A. Dolgin There has been considerable discussion about how commercial real estate has been transformed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, along with impacts on tenants and landlords. Both have faced challenges that I have covered in my prior post, Factors Shaping the Future of Commercial Real Estate in NYC. Emerging Trends… Read more »
Eric Adams’ Top Challenges as New York Mayor Include Real Estate
Hours after Eric Adams trampled his Republican rival on Nov. 2, the presumptive mayor was already setting his sights on a new target — Mayor Bill de Blasio and the “dysfunctional” bureaucrats who work for him. Adams castigated city officials for failing to provide city services in a timely manner despite collecting billions of dollars… Read more »
Falling in Love, A New Way to Think About Commercial Real Estate
In the wake of COVID-19, many sophisticated commercial real estate advisors and investors are rejecting the old industry adage to “never fall in love with your real estate.” That’s because commercial real estate — like so many investment decisions — is influenced by basic human emotions. And unlike stocks or bonds, office buildings, shopping malls… Read more »
City wants to convert vacant offices into affordable housing
The City Council is zeroing in on how it can convert empty office space to address the city’s affordable housing shortage even as the office market shows signs of a slow recovery. Experts say there could be some challenges including whether there will be enough funding to cover costly conversions, what zoning restrictions would have… Read more »
Forrester: Physical stores to account for 72% of U.S. retail sales in 2024
Physical retail continues to drive the bulk of retail sales — and will for quite some time. Despite all the attention given to e-commerce, 72% of U.S. retail sales will still occur in brick-and-mortar stores in 2024, according to new research from Forrester. Even during pandemic-induced mandatory shutdowns and with additional safety concerns, consumers have… Read more »
Back-to-Work Malady Hurting Manhattan Retail Recovery
The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the City’s leading real estate trade association, today released a special report documenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on storefronts in Midtown Manhattan’s critical retail corridors. These corridors have historically relied on foot traffic from Midtown office workers to power the local economy, and the continued… Read more »
Value of NYC Office Buildings Drops by $29B During Pandemic
The pandemic’s impact on New York City’s office market might be worse than anyone thought. The coronavirus erased years of growth in the city’s office sector, and, along with it, $28.6 billion in market value and more than $850 million in property taxes in the city’s 2022 fiscal year, according to a report from New… Read more »
Mayor Unveils Plan to Prop Up Crumbling BQE Until 2040
It’s been five years since the last fight over New York City’s most controversial development tax break — 421a — and developers are already preparing for the worst when the current version of the tax exemption expires in June 2022. No one in the real estate industry knows what the state legislature will do. Will… Read more »
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 small businesses are facing a pandemic-altered commercial real estate landscape
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 delta variant, certain opportunistic retailers in New York City have been able to take advantage of tenant-favorable market conditions, successfully negotiating free rent, flexibility on term length and percentage-rent deal structures, and other previously unthinkable extras. As the COVID-19 pandemic has turned New York City’s… Read more »
Food & beverage fortifying commercial NYC real estate market
Shrugging off the pandemic’s impact on sales, supply and hiring, food-and-beverage uses continue to lead all retail-leasing categories in the Big Apple – and the lead even grew larger over last year. We had a look at some not-yet-released data which show the extraordinary resilience of edibles and drinkables in today’s historically challenged retail-leasing market…. Read more »
What might development look like with Eric Adams as Mayor?
With Borough President Eric Adams almost certainly becoming New York’s next mayor in January, real estate developers and community advocates alike are rushing to understand the future of land use policies under the city’s self-described “complex” next chief executive. While Gotham deals with a severe housing shortage, and ranks as the most expensive city in… 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 »