Major Developments:
Silverstein Properties, BedRock Real Estate Partners and Kaufman Astoria Studios have come to terms with the City Council for approval of a controversial megadevelopment in Queens. The $2 billion Innovation QNS will bring about 3,200 apartments to Astoria, 45% of them affordable. The agreement calls for 1,436 affordable units including 500 for households earning 30% of the area median income and 157 for homeless people.Related Companies and Sterling Equities will develop a 25,000-seat soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club at Citi Field and is expected to arrive by 2027 for the NYCFC squad. The soccer club is paying the stadium’s $780 million development price tag, which includes no tax-exempt bond financing, capital infusions from the city or abatements on mortgage recording and sales taxes. NYCFC will pay up to $4 million annually on a 49-year lease, which includes an option for a 25-year extension but not pay real estate taxes.
Plans for a pair of large affordable 12-story mixed-use developments at 126-43 and 126-55 39th Avenue in Willets were applied for. Plans for a third affordable building have yet to be filed.
There are plans for a 250-key hotel and 2,500 units of affordable housing across a 23-acre stretch. It will be the largest entirely affordable housing development in a half-century.
Related filed plans for a 1.3 million-square-foot office tower at 514 West 36th Street in Hudson Yards.
Hochul won her first full term as governor. She is the first woman to be elected to the position in New York. This could bode well for some real estate-backed policies, such as reforms to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, rent stabilization and the renewal or replacement of 421a, a property tax break for rental development in New York City.
Chetrit plans Upper East Side condo development, a 20-story condominium project at 260 East 72nd Street and 190,000 square feet and includes 53 apartments and 3,400 square feet of commercial space.
JCAL Development is planning to build a 13-story, 218,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 261 Walton Avenue in the Bronx. The development would consist of 195 units, of which at least two-thirds would be affordable, and about 19,000 square feet of retail and replace a self-storage facility.
Urban Commons filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the hotel portion of the Wagner at the Battery. The company declared $22.9 million in claims against the property, $13.7 million is owed to the Battery Park City Authority who is the landlord on a ground lease at the site, 2-10 West Street. The hotel, which forms the base of a 36-story tower, has 298 rooms across 12 floors. Above it are 120 condo units. The hotel closed when the pandemic began in early 2020 and has yet to reopen.
The ballroom and other public spaces at the Jane Hotel at 113 Jane Street in the West Village are being converted into a private club.
JDS Development Group lost an appeal to move forward with merging zoning lots without the consent of an LLC that holds the long-term ground lease on the site at 247 Cherry Street. The agreement approving the merger of Lots 15 and 76 noted that one of the lots may be expanded, but did not give permission to a future zoning lot merger. Leaving next steps for the proposed 80-story, 500,000-square-foot tower unclear.
The nightmare at 20 Times Square is far from over. A $900 million loan on the Maefield Development property was transferred to special servicing earlier this month. The outstanding CMBS debt at the property, also known as 701 Seventh Avenue, is spread across four deals. The borrower defaulted after $26.8 million in liens were filed against the property in connection with hotel construction and foreclosure actions. The loan is set to mature in May.
Macy’s is converting 1 million square feet into fulfillment space as it gears up for holiday orders. The retailer is planning semi-automated distribution centers across 35 of its stores.
iStar plans oceanfront development in Coney Island with 282 apartments to replace a parking lot with a 217,000-square-foot building. The 23-story development would put 282 apartments next to the Coney Island Amphitheater and a block from the Atlantic Ocean.
Izaki Group revealed plans for a new residential building on the corner of West 14th Street and 6th Avenue, comprising of 123,000 square feet. The 13-story residential building with 71 units will replace a four-story, mixed-use structure it bought for $46 million late last year. The purchase works out to about $475 per square foot.
Meta’s expensive plan to shed office space includes declining lease renewals at 30 and 55 Hudson Yards. The two spaces span about 250,000 square feet and the leases run through 2024.
Despite the rebound in tourism, New York hotels have struggled as business travel and events have not fully recovered.
Spitzer Enterprises filed plans for a 26-unit condominium building at 985 Fifth Avenue. The 19-story, SLCE-designed project will replace a 46-unit rental. The 106,000-square-foot building will feature two setbacks and a limestone-colored façade.
