Yonkers, NY Martinelli Manor, a 45-unit senior housing complex, is the latest to benefit from renovations as part of a three-year plan by The Municipal Housing Authority and the city to upgrade more than 1,700 units of affordable housing in the city. City, state and MHACY officials and members of the Martinelli family unveiled the newly renovated building with a tribute to the late mayor Angelo Martinelli, who the complex is named after.
Brooklyn, NY The Stanwix is one of the first apartment buildings in the borough to offer smart home technology in every apartment. Every tenant will receive a free Amazon Alexa when they sign their lease. Nooklyn, the real estate startup that makes finding apartments and roommates easy, will manage leasing at The Stanwix.
Yonkers, NY RMS Companies, a Connecticut-based real estate development company, has launched its first development in the city. Stratus on Hudson, a new 74-unit rental high rise is located at 1077 Warburton Ave., close to the Greystone Metro North Train Station and downtown Yonkers and Hastings-on-the-Hudson. The architect was Kenneth Boronson, and the interior designer was Julia Walters, JL Design Associates.
Brooklyn, NY 1 Brooklyn Bay Condominiums, Muss Development’s newest residential project, in conjunction with Avalon Bay’s 17 floors of market-rate rentals, has ended 2018 with a sales flourish. After six recent closings, only 17 units remain for sale at the market-rate property.
New York, NY David Zussman has been named CFO of Related Companies. In this role, Zussman will oversee Related’s finance, accounting and treasury groups as well as continue his active engagement in the company’s financial planning and capital markets initiatives. He will join the Related investment committee and the investment committees for several of the funds managed by Related Fund Management.
Real estate investors continue to devour development sites in Queens, with their sights set on above-average returns. As land in some neighborhoods in NYC look pricey, builders will seek land in regions that are best positioned to appreciate, such as Jamaica, with an expansive rezoning and attractive land values destined to make it a developer’s dream. As the U.S. economy strengthened this year, so did the development market in the “world’s borough.” During the first three quarters, Queens saw 86 development transactions totaling $831.7 million in gross consideration, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ investment research division. Transaction and dollar volume were 30% and 110% higher, respectively, than the same period in 2017.
As I wrote and predicted in my article, “Four More Years, Four More Years,” published in Real Estate Weekly in August 2014, the $10 million and above condominium and housing market in New York City and other major cities have declined sharply and will continue to do so due to the substantial oversupply that will continue to come on line in 2019 and 2020. As I pointed out at the New York City Real Estate Expo in April 2018 and later in, “A Time For Pause & Urgency,” published in REFI Magazine in September 2018, if you are in construction— hurry, finish, and cut prices early before the next guy. If you have dirt, sit on it, and think about redesigning your project for the realities of the next cycle.
The Benchmarking season is about to start. However, a heads up is needed because of additional requirements for this year – which follow:
• First, the Benchmarking Platform has expanded. It now includes smaller buildings.
A recent report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees above preindustrial levels by 2040. Fortunately, many companies that generate huge amounts of electricity, including data centers, have pledged to switch to renewable energy. This is great news, since it is estimated that by 2030, data center demand will increase up to 10 times its current levels, equaling 13% of global electricity consumption. More good news: Solar power electricity generation pricing is the cheapest electricity you can get every single day at noon in many places across the U.S. Much of that price drop is driven by more efficient solar modules, cheaper and smarter inverters, as well increased levels of productivity.
In 2009, mayor Bloomberg’s administration launched the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program with the ambitious and noble aim of encouraging new grocery stores to open in underserved communities (primarily Jamaica Queens, Central Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan) and long-time grocers in these neighborhoods to renovate existing stores and include a healthier food selection by providing zoning and financial incentives to eligible grocery store operators and developers.
