Rent Guidelines Board to hold preliminary vote, NYC construction spending falls … and more

1. Rent Guidelines Board to hold preliminary vote tonight for rent hikes [NY1]
2. NYC construction spending fell to $27.4B in 2011, a 4 percent decline [Crain’s]
3. Today marks the opening of Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel: photos [Brownstoner]
4. Fannie Mae concludes pilot programs for debt forgiveness difficult to operate, have unclear benefits [WSJ]
5. Suburbanites moving into NYC, creating competitive housing market[NY1]
6. New York City sees 23 percent year-over-year increase in homeless population [DNAinfo]
7. Starchitect Frank Gehry designs $25,000 chess set [Curbed]
8. Upcoming exhibit uses photographs to tell story of U.S. housing market crash [DNAinfo]
9. SoulCycle moving into former Barbizon Hotel [DNAinfo]
10. Brooklyn Grown turns underutilized spaces — some vacant lots — into flower beds [NYT]
11. Commercial financier Milberg Factors adds 4,500 square feet of office space [Crain’s]