321 West 116th Street (credit Harlem + Bespoke)Landlords of some East Harlem walkups are stifling a revival of population and development otherwise taking hold in the neighborhood. According to the New York Times, the area is overrun with vacant four- and five-story apartment buildings, whose owners are purposefully keeping the units off the market.

Some landlords are waiting for rents to increase to the point where it justifies rehabilitating dilapidated units and renting them out. Others are holding them in bulk in hopes of packaging them to a developer willing to pay millions for the land. [more]

Alan Potamkin and the former GM dealership

The Potamkin family is planning the sale of entire East Harlem block at 2485 Second Avenue between East 127th and 128th Streets with the potential for 765,000 square feet of housing, the New York Post reported.

Potamkin operates a Hyundai and Mitsubishi dealership in one building on the block and leases out another former General Motors dealership to Chevrolet and Cadillac.

Alan Potamkin, co-chair of Potamkin, told the Post that he thinks the city will allow a rezoning of the 103,000 square foot block. He’s also open to offers for leasing and adaptive reuse of the 200,000 square foot building and 60,000 square feet of currently unused floor area. Sources said that brokers have advised Potamkin not to list the site until September. [Post, 1st item] [more]

Renderings of the East Harlem development

Construction has begun on the first phase of a $700 million multi-use development in East Harlem, according to the mayor’s office, on the corner of 125th Street and Third Avenue. The project, spearheaded by developer 125 MEC Center LLC in conjunction with city and state officials, will include 800 housing units, 600 of which will be for low- and middle-income families, 50,000 square feet of retail space, a 98,000-square-foot hotel and 250,000 square feet of office space. [more]

Nancy Packes, president of her own new development marketing firm, at 316 11th Avenue, where she is the leasing consultant. The building is slated to begin renting units this winter.

From the December issue:
Once the province of a few niche players, the new development rental
sector is becoming a hotly contested battleground as brokerages look to
replace once-lucrative condo deals.
In the booming economy of the mid-2000s, many new development
marketing firms focused most of their attention on sales, while a few
firms had the rental field to themselves. But now, as marketers migrate over from the stagnant condo market,
newly built rentals are emerging as an increasingly important source of
revenue. And the sector is only expected to grow more competitive in
2010. “During the condo boom, they only focused on condos — that’s where
the money was,” Citi Habitats President Gary Malin said of new
development marketing firms. “Their condo stuff has slowed down, so
they’re trying to get in [to the rental market]. They’re looking to
find other revenue streams,” he added. While the pipeline of condos coming to market is slowing, brokers anticipate a healthy number of new rental buildings in 2010, largely because they have proved easier for developers to finance in the current climate. Some 2,935 rental units have come online in Manhattan so far this year, compared to 1,482 in 2008, according to a market report by Nancy Packes, the president of Brown Harris Stevens Project Marketing and founder of her own new development marketing firm, Nancy Packes, Inc., which does both new development sales and rentals.  More

[more]

Futterman is the founder, chairman and CEO of Robert K. Futterman & Associates. He is a 25-year retail leasing veteran, having personally completed more than $3 billion in transactions. He has been a big player in revitalizing major retail areas including Union Square South, Times Square, 34th Street and Soho.


In what part of the city are you seeing the most retail store closings and why do you think that is?

Upper Madison [Avenue]. Luxury brands and international retailers at one time felt a Madison Avenue showcase was critical, however, the desire to be profitable in tough economic times has proven more important. For many, occupancy costs became an obstacle to being profitable.

Costco is going to be the first retailer in the East River Plaza in Harlem. How long do you think it will take to lease the remaining 485,000 square feet?

If they haven’t leased the space yet, then probably six months after Costco opens. Costco should be a magnet for other big-box retailers and create an environment where they will flourish.

Compiled by Lauren Elkies [more]

On Nov. 12, East River Plaza, the new big-box shopping center on FDR Drive in East Harlem, will see its first store opening. The 110,000-square-foot Costco wholesale warehouse club will be the first of several big name tenants, including Target, Best Buy and Marshall’s, to welcome customers at the new shopping center. Only 30,000 square feet out of an available 485,000 square feet is left unclaimed. The six-acre shopping site, which stretches from 116th to 119th streets, was developed by David Blumenfeld, a principal with the Blumenfeld Development Group.

Four New York City affordable housing projects will be among the first
to begin construction after receiving federal stimulus funding. About
$60 million of the $85 million the city has received for affordable
housing from the stimulus package will go toward the construction of
739 units at three developments in East Harlem and one in East New
York, Brooklyn. Construction is set to begin immediately, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson said. The projects are expected
to create about 2,800 jobs, most in construction work. The units will
be available to households with incomes of up to $46,080. [more]

Developer General Growth Properties, which filed for bankruptcy in
April, has backed out of the East Harlem Media Entertainment and
Cultural Center, a 1.7 million-square-foot retail and residential
complex proposed for East 125th Street. The other partners plan to
continue with the project and will find a different retail partner or
do the retail development on their own, said Stephen Hayes of project
manager the Carey Group. A group of local property owners filed suit in
state Appellate Court this month against the project, which will
include 600 apartments for moderate and middle-income families. The
property owners argued that the project has limited public benefits
because it is being built by a private developer. [more]

Left to right: Bushwick, Vito Lopez, East Harlem

The state Affordable
Housing Corp. and State of New York Mortgage Agency has approved $35.8
million in financing to build and renovate 669 housing units across the
state. “The grants announced today are an important investment in
communities throughout New York. From Brooklyn to Rochester,
renovations and construction of new units will assist thousands of New
Yorkers in need of affordable housing,” said Assemblyman Vito Lopez, chairman of the Assembly Housing Committee. Projects in New York City to get
funding include a 71-unit co-op at East 156th Street at Brook Avenue in
the Bronx, which will get $1.78 million; $3.02 million will go towards
acquiring and rehabilitating six buildings in Bushwick, Flatbush,
Harlem and Washington Heights; $3.2 million will help acquire and rehab
five buildings in Highbridge, Morris Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brownsville and East Harlem; and $2.15 million will go to help build 66
condo units along Ely and Bartow Avenues in the Baychester section of
the Bronx. TRD [more]

Two French eateries have opened recently on Lexington Avenue in East
Harlem, both owned by Europeans who live in the neighborhood. Yo in Yo Out opened last week at 1569 Lexington Avenue, between 100th
and 101st streets, with crepes, salads and sandwiches on the menu. Head
chef and owner Yoanne Magris, originally from France, signed a 10-year
lease for the space. A few blocks north, the SpaHa Cafe quietly opened in late December at
1872 Lexington Avenue, at 116th Street, and owner Tika Fotoglidi is
planning the cafe’s grand opening for next month. Fotoglidi, who was
born in Greece, signed a five-year lease for the space, and sells
French pastries, breads from Balthazar and sandwiches. [more]