Harry Macklowe’s Drake Hotel site at 440 Park Avenue may be the most valuable development site in New York City, according to a recent list compiled by the New York Observer. It is closely followed by David Levinson’s 425 Park Avenue and the World Trade Center site, in positions two and three respectively. 

The Observer’s list, made in honor of a slew of recent development following a slow start to the year, was compiled using data from Cassidy Turley, Co-Star and its own reporting. 

Bringing up the rear of the list in positions nine and 10 are Boston Properties and Related project 740 Eighth Avenue and a 100,000-square-foor glass tower at 450 West 14th Street, atop the High Line. … [more]

Two years ago, demand for air rights was, well, through the roof. “For residential use at the peak of the market, [air rights] were between $400 and $500 a square foot,” said Stuart Siegel, executive managing director at commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis.

The rights, often called development rights by those in the industry, were being traded by everyone from real estate giants like the Related Companies to small-time developers. The goal: to erect ever-taller buildings, with which to pull in more income.

Stephen Lefkowitz, a partner at Fried Frank, which handled the transfer of several hundred thousand square feet of air rights from the St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue to the MoMa Tower to be built at 53 West 53rd Street, noted that at the time sales for air rights were “very active.” more