The wave of job losses unleashed by the credit crunch has made buying property impossible for many New Yorkers, who are now choosing to rent in greater numbers, as The Real Deal explains in a series of stories. More
Although many sales brokers are seeing their commission percentages increase on each transaction, rental agents have not been quite as lucky. In fact, with rents falling and landlords trying to attract new tenants with any tactic they can dream up, rental brokers have been watching their profits shrink. More
Though the New Year ushered in more grim news for the residential real estate market, a few positive signs appeared as brokers reported a slight uptick in sales activity and saw more action in rental transactions. Still, at the beginning of last month, news surfaced that a slew of real estate companies had shuttered offices in hopes of cutting costs in the economic downturn. More
Redevelopment in Melrose Commons, the Lower Grand Concourse and the Bronx Civic Center -- three adjacent areas of the South Bronx that the Bloomberg administration is looking to rezone -- has taken a turn for the worse in the last few months. While other parts of the South Bronx have seen small-scale investors pull out, these neighborhoods are seeing something slightly different because of both the souring economy and the growing uncertainty about the rezoning there. More
Not so long ago, many New York City developers modeled their sales efforts on stores like Barneys, marketing luxury wares to consumers with nary a half-off sticker in sight. Nowadays, builders seem to be taking cues from businesses like Costco. Faced with a stagnant market and looming loans, more developers are finding the notion of bulk condo sales attractive. More
When so many new buildings draw clamorous attention to their ever more brazen shapes, the team at Flank Architects, which designed 520 West 27th Street for architect-turned-developer Peter Moore, has gone in precisely the opposite direction: They almost embrace dullness with austerely flat, uninflected walls that form a stolid rectangular slab rising over, and set back from, an equally rectangular base. More
Asking rent reductions that accelerated through the fourth quarter of 2008 continued in January, with prices down by as much as 30 percent from the peak last summer, commercial brokers said. The number of blocks of space in Midtown with dramatic price cuts quadrupled between September and December, according to a CB Richard Ellis report released last month. More
Corcoran was the first of the two big brokerages in the city to close up an office. And like real estate companies throughout the city, the 35-year-old company is weathering a steep drop-off in sales due to the credit crisis and Wall Street layoffs. But unlike its chief rival, Prudential Douglas Elliman, it also faces the challenge of being linked to a parent company that's highly leveraged and drowning in debt. More
A roundup of canceled and reconfigured projects around New York City More
Until about 18 months ago, New York City office building owners mostly didn't have to worry about their tenants' ability to pay rent. Now the picture is different. Pillars of the American economy, from AIG to General Motors, have collapsed and it's difficult for landlords to discern which tenants are truly creditworthy. In this economy, there's no guarantee that today's Google won't turn into tomorrow's Lehman Brothers.
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Levine is president and CEO of RAL Companies & Affiliates, a developer of luxury apartment, condominium and resort communities in New York, Colorado, Texas and Maryland. The firm, founded in 1982, also offers architecture, interior design, construction, landscape architecture, staffing, leasing and management services through its affiliate companies. More
Distressed sales, long a burden on housing markets across the country, are increasingly hurting far-flung neighborhoods in New York City's outer boroughs. And, according to experts, the worst is yet to come. So-called teaser rates, or initial rates, on five-year adjustable mortgages have not yet expired, and spreading job losses are pulling more and more city homeowners into the red. More
Condo developments around the city have hit troubled waters as a result of the financial crisis, lawsuits, over-saturation of product and an inability to sell or even begin construction. The Real Deal surveyed 57 of these troubled condos in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens for a project-by-project look at what's been canceled.
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Across Manhattan, companies from nightclubs to hair salons to eateries facing higher rents than they can handle are pulling up stakes and moving to less expensive locations. That's because with the recession, the name of the game now is survival. More
In July 2008, Lev Leviev's Africa Israel Investments entered a deal with Versace to convert the landmark Clock Tower building on Madison Avenue into luxury condominiums, a project that would rival the biggest conversions in U.S. history. However, it now appears as if the only ticking clock is the time bomb ready to destroy Leviev's far-flung empire. After investing billions of dollars in New York real estate at the top of the market, he's now in a race to cash out before his lenders catch up to him. More
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