Real estate to de Blasio: stay friendly to business — or else

What can mayor-elect Bill de Blasio do to placate the real estate industry? Bigwigs from the city’s top development firms and brokerages agree on one thing: keeping taxes down is paramount.

The Durst Organization’s chairman Douglas Durst told the New York Post that the incoming mayor would need to make the city’s property tax system “more rational and fair.” Donald Trump and Anthony Malkin, went as far as to threaten that if New York City developers find the climate in New York City inhospitable, they will go elsewhere.

“If New York’s developers aren’t treated properly, we won’t be in New York,” Trump told the Post. “I’m a prime example. I’m doing jobs all over the world and not so much in Manhattan.”

Barry Gosin, the CEO of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, said that de Blasio should reintroduce the 421a tax abatement program to help expand the city’s affordable housing stock.

De Blasio’s campaign rhetoric focused on taking the real estate community to task, but in reality, the mayor-elect’s policies are more pro-development than they appear on first blush, as The Real Deal reported. [NYP] – Hiten Samtani