Hudson Yards opened up for bidding
Calling it a project the city and region “desperately needs,” Governor Eliot Spitzer last month officially released the request for proposals for the development of the Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s far West Side. The announcement formally opens up the bidding process for the 26-acre site, which is expected to bring in more than $1 billion for the Yards’ owner, the MTA. The RFP allows a developer to either purchase or obtain a long-term lease for both the eastern and western sections of the Yards, which are handled by separate requests. The request covers both real property and air rights on the Yards, which run on the east and west sides of 11th Avenue from 30th to 33rd streets. Some potential developers have criticized the plan for potentially clustering office towers in one location and not guaranteeing that the MTA will complete the construction of the No. 7 subway line extension to 34th Street and 11th Avenue.
NYC foreclosures increase
Foreclosures in New York City are on the rise, according to second quarter reports from PropertyShark.com and RealtyTrac, but increasing at a far slower rate than most of the rest of the country. RealtyTrac’s data found that foreclosure filings in the city were up 42 percent over this time last year, but national rates were up an average of 87 percent, the New York Times reported.
Atlantic Yards oversight lacking
The Empire State Development Corporation, which announced it would put certain oversight measures into place with respect to the Atlantic Yards project, has failed to implement most of the measures it said it would, the New York Daily News reported. The ESDC has not appointed an Atlantic Yards ombudsman, created a group to oversee transportation issues, or held regular meetings with elected officials as it said it would following a partial building collapse at the Prospect Heights site in April.
Mitchell-Lama loophole closed
Governor Eliot Spitzer and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer announced a regulatory decision last month that closes a loophole affecting Mitchell-Lama rental buildings constructed before 1974. The loophole allowed landlords who were taking properties out of Mitchell-Lama to claim that leaving the affordable housing program qualified as a “unique and peculiar circumstance” that allowed them to hike rents to market rate. Because of the decision, thousands of units that may have been subject to market-rate rents will be protected by the rent-stabilization program.
Fort Greene/Clinton Hill get rezoned
At the end of last month, City Council voted to rezone 99 blocks in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. The rezoning places stricter height limits on buildings constructed on residential blocks while allowing for higher buildings on Fulton Street and Myrtle Avenue, the neighborhoods’ main commercial drags.
Lawsuit against Pinnacle announced
A lawsuit was filed in federal court last month against mega-landlord Pinnacle Group and its principal, Joel Weiner, for allegedly fraudulently inflating rents, failing to make needed repairs, and groundlessly harassing tenants as “part of a coordinated business strategy to boost profits and drive middle-income tenants from their apartments,” according to statements. The lawsuit was announced in a press conference held by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. “I have never seen the mere mention of a landlord create so much fear,” said Stringer.
CU: No eminent domain for residents
Columbia University announced it would not ask the state to use eminent domain to evict West Harlem residents in the area where the school plans to expand. Columbia may still ask the state to use eminent domain in order to evict some commercial businesses in its expansion footprint, the Times reported.