NoLita was one thing, but between SoHa, ProCro and BoCoCa, it’s all gotten to be too much for Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries. For that reason, Jeffries plans to introduce a bill next week that would require new neighborhood names to go through a serious vetting process, garnering approvals from the local community board, the City Council and the mayor. Real estate brokers who market their properties with fake micro-neighborhood monikers would be fined or potentially suspended from the profession. “It’s the Wild West in New York City right now,” Jeffries told the New York Times. “Brokers are allowed to essentially pull names out of thin air in order to rebrand a neighborhood and have the effect of raising rents or home prices.” [more]

A planned Upper East Side Shake Shack outpost is raising hopes in the community that the popular burger chain could help revitalize a currently-dilapidated and abandoned plaza at 182 East 86th Street between Lexington and Third avenues. The empty plaza, which sits next to the 440-unit Park Lane Tower, has been a drag on the neighborhood, according to residents, who hope that the burger joint could do for it what it did for Madison Square Park. The chain has signed a 15-year lease for the abandoned space and plans to open the location before the year is over. The chain has launched an extensive expansion effort in recent months, with a planned Nolita location in the works and a rumored Financial District spot in the pipeline.

Burger chain phenom Shake Shack has grand plans for its pending Nolita location at 47 Prince Street on the corner of Mulberry Street. The spot will feature a 30-person rooftop terrace for diners, according to papers recently filed with the Department of Buildings. The Nolita storefront will be the fourth New York City outpost for the chain, whose current locations include 366 Columbus Avenue at West 77th Street, Madison Square Park at the corner of Madison Avenue and East 23rd Street, and Citi Field. The burger chain has made wave this year, with the announcement of its Miami expansion, and the recent rumors of a possible Financial District outpost in the future.

The buyer for Nolita’s Candle Building at 11 Spring Street, which went into contract earlier this month, has been revealed, along with its bargain basement closing price. The building — which include three luxury condominium units that can be converted into one residence — went for a jaw-dropping $19.5 million, marking a 50 percent drop from the property’s peak asking price of $39.8 million. The building had been purchased by Lachlan Murdoch, the oldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, just three years ago for $12 million, before undergoing a massive renovation that divvied up the space into three units.

Retailers previously priced out of Soho and the Upper East Side are taking advantage of falling rents and opening shops. Rents in the city fell an average of 11 percent between fall 2008 and spring 2009, Crain’s New York Business reported. Soho and Nolita are expected to see the biggest drop in rent this year — about 20 percent. Shoe store Camper recently signed a one-year lease on Madison Avenue at 59th Street for about $500 a foot, and thrift shop Housing Works just opened its ninth location in the city on Crosby Street in Soho. In addition, sneaker store Flight Club just leased its third Manhattan location on Lafayette Street for just $70 a foot. Brokers said the space could have fetched $200 a foot last year.