From left: 16 Court Street, 75 Livingston Street and 191 Joralemon Street

Despite strong Real Estate Board of New York opposition, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritimes Uses voted today to uphold the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District proposed for Brooklyn, the New York Times reported.

The designation had been the source of controversy for more than a year, and especially after the Landmarks Preservation Commission first moved to protect the five-block, 21-building area along Court Street last September. [more]

The City Council will hold a hearing on the proposal to institute a new landmark district for Downtown Brooklyn tomorrow and could vote to modify or disapprove the designation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The upcoming hearing has prompted New York City’s real-estate industry to intensify its efforts to stop the landmark designation, which, it claims, will result in nearly $5 million in additional costs for property owners over the next few years.

As The Real Deal previously reported, the creation of the district would mean a spate of newly-landmarked buildings, including the Franklin Building at 186 Remsen Street, which was completed in 1887, the 13-story Temple Bar Building at 44 Court Street and a 22-story limestone, granite and brick Colonial Revival style building at 32 Court Street. [more]

The yet-to-be-completed, 19-story, 128-guestroom hotel at 231 Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn was introduced as Hotel 718 today and is set to open in November, Brownstoner reported. The building was constructed by V3 Hotels, which has had a hand in construction at three other hotels along Duffield Street, including the Aloft Brooklyn, which is just across the street at 228 Duffield and is scheduled to open this month. “As Brooklyn continues to become a major travel destination, we have to provide urban adventurers with an opportunity to stay at hotels that fit their lifestyles and desires,” Daniel Reznik, operations director for V3 Hotels said in a statement.

The $25 milllion Hotel 718, designed by Thomas O’Hara and managed by Benchmark Hospitality International, will feature rooms hooked up with the latest technology, spa service, fitness center and 75-seat restaurant and bar. [Brownstoner]
[more]

City Point rendering and Aaron Malinsky

Less than two weeks after being fired from the Brooklyn Navy Yard project, Aaron Malinsky was removed from the City Point project in Downtown Brooklyn that was to include the construction of the tallest building in Brooklyn, according to the New York Post.

Malinsky allegedly directed nearly $500,000 in bribes to Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger in exchange for his official help with real estate ventures throughout the borough. Yesterday, The Real Deal reported that Malinsky would “vigorously contest” the allegations. [more]

From left: a map of the NYU proposal, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and NYU President John Sexton (click image for larger version of the map)

After last night’s open house unveiling of New York University’s 2031 expansion plan, critics are still reeling.
The school’s latest plans, which include building two so-called “superblocks” in the Washington Square Park neighborhood and possibly establishing a remote academic center on Governors Island, drew a glut of opposition from groups including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the East Village Community Coalition and the Washington Square Village Tenants Association, which all attended the open house.
Prior to the event yesterday, the sixth of its kind that the school has hosted, Andrew Berman, executive director for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, held a press conference to speak out against NYU’s plans.
But he’s not stopping there. [more]

After taking cover at One Hanson Place this winter, the Brooklyn Flea will stay in the Downtown Brooklyn location on Sundays starting in April, according to the New York Times. With the news comes word that several eateries, including dumpling shop the Good Fork, pork sandwich maker Porchetta and Brooklyn Soda Works, will be joining the cast of characters. The flea will still operate its Fort Greene location on Saturdays.

From left: the weighted average asking rent and vacancy for office space in Downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City. Click charts for larger version. (source: Newmark Knight Frank)

While commercial real estate struggles to stay afloat in Manhattan and across the country, two of New York City’s up-and-coming neighborhoods saw their office markets improve in the fourth quarter of 2009. In both Long Island City and Downtown Brooklyn, declining vacancy rates and positive net absorption at the end of last year were bright spots for office building owners, according to office market reports from Newmark Knight Frank. Long Island City saw 15,550 square feet of office space removed from the market during the fourth quarter, bringing the total absorbed space during the year to 124,928 square feet. Meanwhile, in Downtown Brooklyn, net absorption for the year was negative with 33,523 square feet coming back on the market, but the fourth quarter saw 165,848 square feet absorbed, indicating a bounce-back. TRD [more]

The year 2009 was a trying time to be a real estate broker, developer or investor, but it never lacked for news. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the industry watched in awe — and sometimes horror — as residential sales ground to a virtual halt, condo projects stopped in their tracks, office rents shrank and retail stores disappeared. Buyers at buildings like 22 Renwick sued to get out of their contracts, and some were granted the opportunity to back out of their contracts. Meanwhile, an amazing cast of characters — from Kent Swig to Harry Macklowe to Lev Leviev — publicly fought for survival. There were also glimmers of hope, from the opening of the High Line in June to the expansion of Halstead Property into Connecticut to the sale of Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld’s sale 16-room co-op apartment at 640 Park Avenue for $25.87 million, almost $5 million more than he bought it for two years ago. Click here to see The Real Deal staff’s picks for the stories that most altered the New York City real estate landscape in 2009. [more]

The New York City Economic Development Corporation is expected to decide today whether to grant $20 million in tax-exempt bonds to stalled project City Point, a Downtown Brooklyn development on the former Albee Square Mall site. If granted the funds, City Point would be one of the first U.S. developments to receive the federal stimulus program bonds. During a public hearing last Thursday, several Fort Greene residents protested the possible funding, arguing that the money would be better used on low-income residential assistance.

The owners of two distressed condominium buildings are negotiating with
the city on a deal that would put vacant apartments on the market as affordable housing, the New York Post reported. City officials would
not reveal the exact locations of the buildings, which are in Harlem
and Downtown Brooklyn, but they are negotiating with the banks that
have foreclosed on the properties. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
has advocated a $20 million program that would put vacant apartments on
the market at a discount as affordable housing, and these two buildings
would be the first to take part in the program. Potential apartment
buyers would have to meet income requirements and be chosen in a
lottery.