Council overhauls commercial waste collection, IBM on the hunt for massive office space

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Video produced by Sabrina He

 

A City Council bill passed Wednesday will likely increase the cost of commercial waste collection. The measure, which is supported by the de Blasio administration, will end the open-market system that has kept carting rates low for decades but triggered what critics called a “race to the bottom” resulting in low wages, long routes and unsafe working conditions. Instead, the city will be divided into 20 zones in which businesses and commercial buildings will choose from up to three carters selected by the city’s Department of Sanitation through competitive bidding. More than a dozen of the Council’s 51 members voted against the bill, an unusual amount of opposition in the overwhelmingly Democratic body.

Short sellers are targeting a Brooklyn landlord in Israel. Pinnacle Group has sold $500 million in bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. But as uncertainty about the effects of New York’s new rent laws ramp up, two firms are betting the landlord’s stock will tank. [WSJ]

 

IBM is looking for a massive New York office space. The computer giant has multiple locations across the city, including a WeWork, that it plans to consolidate into one location. It tapped Cushman & Wakefield to find a space up to 500,000 square feet. Its lease at WeWork’s 88 University runs through 2024. [Crain’s]

 

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and Jersey City (Credit: Wikipedia)

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and Jersey City (Credit: Wikipedia)

It’s Airbnb v. the hotel industry. The two parties are trading barbs in Jersey City by distributing fliers and taking out TV ads as residents prepare for a vote on a city law that would impose stringent regulations on short-term rentals. [NYT]

 

85 4th Avenue in Brooklyn (Credit: Google Maps)

85 4th Avenue in Brooklyn (Credit: Google Maps)

Boerum Hill will receive another big residential development. Developer Harry Einhorn is planning a 193-unit project for 85 4th Avenue, according to an application filed Tuesday with the city’s Buildings Department. [TRD]

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Lawsuit claims hotels turned a blind eye to sex trafficking. A woman alleges Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Choice Hotels Corporation were complicit in her abuse for operating franchises in Queens and the Bronx where she says she was raped and tortured between the ages of 10 and 13. She is seeking $10 million. [NYP]

 

15 Plaza Street West in Brooklyn (Credit: Google Maps)

15 Plaza Street West in Brooklyn (Credit: Google Maps)

 

This is the story behind Park Slope’s last vacant lot. Once a paddle tennis court for the stately Montauk Club, the lot at 15 Plaza West has remained empty for decades. Real estate experts weigh in on why the developer, who bought the site in 1998, has let two of its plans fall through. [TRD]

 

Here are the numbers on Manhattan’s condo inventory for August. Developers filed six plans with a total of 130 units, while the state approved one plan with 10 units valued at $4.8 million. Buyers purchased 107 units valued at $426 million. [TRD]

 

A swath of Staten Island wetlands will be destroyed for a parking lot and store. Over objections of residents and officials, New York state will issue a permit for a BJ’s Wholesale, a gas station and an 835 -car parking lot on the island’s north shore. More than 18 acres of forest will be cleared. [Gothamist]

 

An Essex Crossing resi tower is getting a $215 million loan. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are providing the debt to refinance a mixed-use residential building in the Essex Crossing development, a 1.9 million-square-foot project on the Lower East Side. [CO]

 

Deutsche Bank is providing $265 million loan to FiDi developer. Metro Loft Management secured the financing for its 180 Water Street development earlier this month. [PincusCo]

 

50 Rockefeller Plaza has a new tenant. Accounting firm Citrin Cooperman is taking 110,742 square feet on the building’s second, third and fourth floors. It will move from its current 90,000-square-foot location at 529 Fifth Avenue. [NYP]