From left: Stephen Ross and Steve Roth

No one heeded his advice last year, but Steve Roth still wants the city
to upzone Park Avenue.
The Vornado Realty Trust chairman, who traded lighthearted jabs
at the Real Estate Board of New York’s quarterly luncheon this
afternoon with his decidedly more staid development rival, Related
Companies boss Stephen Ross, paused mid-sentence, momentarily
holding his tongue so as not to offend what was likely a room full of
Park Avenue landlords, brokers and investors.
“Oh, I don’t give a shit,” he ultimately decided, to roars of laughter.
Most Park Avenue office buildings are currently “hanging on by
their fingernails to being technologically obsolete,” Roth continued,
proposing that the city council rezone the thoroughfare so that older,
existing buildings could be torn down and replaced with larger, newer
ones. [more]

Promoting the construction of the No. 7 subway line and curbing “unnecessary designation of landmark districts” are among the goals the Real Estate Board of New York has laid out for 2011, the trade organization said today. Among the other items on the REBNY docket are closer monitoring of rent regulation programs and establishing industry protocol for dealing with Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act lawsuits. Steven Spinola, president of REBNY, said that the group would also be promoting more conservative government involvement in the real estate industry. TRD [more]

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who last month cancelled construction on the Hudson River commuter rail tunnel to New York City because of potential cost overruns, said yesterday that he would consider putting state funds toward Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed alternative: a No. 7 subway line extension to Secaucus. According to the Associated Press, Christie said Bloomberg’s plan was “a much better idea” than the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) tunnel because it would be cheaper and would have access to New York State and New York City financing. [more]

The No. 7 subway expansion may be close to realty — according to Steven Spinola, head of trade group the Real Estate Board of New York. Spinola told the Wall Street Journal that city officials are “seriously looking” at different options for the train extension construction. But Spinola might have spoken too soon on the $500 million project — according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, plans are still up in the air. “If a plan can be worked out that preserves the possibility of a station getting built in the future without delaying or adding cost to the project, we’re open to it,” the spokesperson said. “That remains a big if.” Spinola has emerged as a central figure in the fight for the proposed No. 7 station at the corner of 41st Street and 10th Avenue, claiming that “the ability to attract substantial investment, substantial jobs and substantial tax dollars over the next decade or two is tied to… a [new] station.” [WSJ]

[more]

The No. 7 subway expansion may be close to realty — according to Steven Spinola, head of trade group the Real Estate Board of New York. Spinola told the Wall Street Journal that city officials are “seriously looking” at different options for the train extension construction. But Spinola might have spoken too soon on the $500 million project — according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, plans are still up in the air. “If a plan can be worked out that preserves the possibility of a station getting built in the future without delaying or adding cost to the project, we’re open to it,” the spokesperson said. “That remains a big if.” Spinola has emerged as a central figure in the fight for the proposed No. 7 station at the corner of 41st Street and 10th Avenue, claiming that “the ability to attract substantial investment, substantial jobs and substantial tax dollars over the next decade or two is tied to… a [new] station.” [WSJ]

[more]

The No. 7 subway expansion may be close to realty — according to Steven Spinola, head of trade group the Real Estate Board of New York. Spinola told the Wall Street Journal that city officials are “seriously looking” at different options for the train extension construction. But Spinola might have spoken too soon on the $500 million project — according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, plans are still up in the air. “If a plan can be worked out that preserves the possibility of a station getting built in the future without delaying or adding cost to the project, we’re open to it,” the spokesperson said. “That remains a big if.” Spinola has emerged as a central figure in the fight for the proposed No. 7 station at the corner of 41st Street and 10th Avenue, claiming that “the ability to attract substantial investment, substantial jobs and substantial tax dollars over the next decade or two is tied to… a [new] station.” [WSJ]

[more]

From the February issue: As New York City construction firms get slammed by the downturn, they are turning to more modest projects, in some cases taking on multimillion-dollar renovations rather than the multibillion-dollar skyscrapers. While it’s clear that the collapse of the New York development market has taken a toll on builders and brokers, there may be nobody in the industry hit as hard as construction firms. As banks have largely cut off financing for new projects and cranes have been mothballed, thousands of contractors have lost their jobs. “It’s having a devastating impact on the construction market,” said Lou Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, which represents 1,700 construction management and contractor firms. “There are very few, if any, new projects moving forward.” To combat that lack of work, major New York construction firms are bidding for much smaller projects and diversifying into public-sector work, while other firms have been forced into bankruptcy protection.[more] [more]

The city’s real estate industry is lobbying for federal stimulus money for the cash-strapped No. 7 subway extension, calling it a shovel-ready project that will improve the quality of life for future residents of Hudson Yards. The planned extension is currently slated to create just one new subway station at West 34th Street and 11th Avenue by 2013, allowing the train to zip by another proposed stop at West 41st Street and 10th Avenue, the Post’s Lois Weiss reported. It would cost an estimated $500 million to create the 41st Street stop — right above a planned Related Companies apartment tower — and another $300 million to make sure the station is up to snuff in terms of safety. Since funding isn’t available, the feds “could bid it right out” as a stimulus project, said Mary Anne Tighe, chair of the Real Estate Board of New York. Ann Weisbrod, president of the Hudson Yards Development Corp., said that if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority delays construction of a 41st Street station until after Related builds its tower, it will ultimately cost significantly more. [Post]