July 2020 New York New Developments

New York New Developments

WeWork is considering ditching its co-living business and is working with an adviser on options to hand over operations of its two communal living locations in New York City and outside Washington, D.C.

Topshop shuttered its 608 Fifth Avenue store and Vornado Realty Trust has turned over control of the property at 608 Fifth Avenue to the Korein family, which owns the ground under the building.

City Council members are fighting Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed cuts to the city’s capital budget, saying it will mean a loss of 21,000 affordable apartments over the next few years. Officials estimate that the mayor’s proposed $2.3 billion reduction in the City’s capital budget will delay financing for 5,000 new affordable units and 15,000 affordable and supportive housing units that would have been preserved.

Two new bills in the City Council would allow New Yorkers to defer their property taxes and tenants to put off their rent. The first bill would allow property owners whose buildings are assessed at more than $250,000 to put off paying the full amount of their property taxes. The deferral program option would allow property owners to pay their taxes on a later date, but the city would collect more overall because of the interest payment.

The $272 million CMBS loan on the ground under the Lipstick Building at 885 Third Avenue has been transferred to special servicing. The reason is listed as “Imminent Monetary Default.” The borrower, Ceruzzi Properties, missed June’s payment; the loan had been paid through May 1.

Amazon has leased a 200,000-square-foot warehouse in the Bronx that was previously used by its rival Jet.com at 1055 Bronx River Avenue in Soundview. It plans to use the space as a new delivery station.

Largest Projects filed in NYC in June:

1. 55-15 Grand Avenue, Queens. RXR Realty and LBA Logistic’s 736,867-square-foot warehouse in Maspeth, the largest project filed in New York last month. The property, which Amazon has been in talks to lease, will be five stories and 74 feet tall. RXR and LBA bought the parcels at 54-12. 698 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn.
2. Greenland USA filed plans for this 587,200-square-foot building, which is part of its Pacific Park megaproject. The 41-story building will have 682 residential units with a small amount of space on the ground floor set aside for retail. It is located just east of the Barclays Center at 5, 55-15 and 56-19 Grand Avenue
3. 17-21 Redfern Avenue, Queens. Phipps is bringing a 12-story, 354-unit building to Far Rockaway. Rockaway Village complex, which will bring a total of eight buildings with 1,700 affordable housing units, community space and retail space to the neighborhood.
4. 4. 475 Bay Street, Staten Island. BFC Partners, is bringing a 12-story, 208,000-square-foot mixed-use project to Stapleton Heights neighborhood. There will be 274 residential units across 198,000 square feet, along with 10,000 square feet of commercial space.
5. 21-02 Mott Avenue, Queens. This is part of Phipps’ Rockaway Village complex. It will span about 155,000 square feet across 15 stories, with 129 residential units and community space.
6. 10 West 55th Street, Manhattan. Leonard Wilf, who is planning a 153,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Midtown. The 24-story project, split between residential and commercial space, will have 96 apartments.
7. 35-15 19th Avenue, Queens. This warehouse project in Astoria Wildflower Ltd. will span 144,000 square feet and be four stories and 110 feet tall. . Wildflower closed on a 5.25-acre waterfront parcel in the borough in February for around $71.6 million.
8. 59-19 Maurice Avenue, Queens. Home Depot filed plans for a new store in Maspeth, spanning about 134,000 square feet. It will be six stories and 64 feet tall. Home Depot purchased the site from Coca-Cola in 2017 for $63 million.
9. 581 Austin Place, The Bronx. SNL Storage filed plans for a roughly 110,000-square-foot storage facility in Longwood. The project will be seven stories and 89 feet tall.
10. 1940 Turnbull Avenue, The Bronx. Joshua Siegel is planning a roughly 101,000-square-foot residential development in Unionport. The project will be 14 stories and 145 feet tall, and it will include 154 residential units.

Hotels:

The occupancy rate at hotels across New York City dropped from 45.7% to 43.6% overall this week. This is the third week this number has fallen. Revenue per available room has fallen from $57.86 to $55.37 this week. With tourism essentially on pause, 25,000 rooms, nearly 20% of New York's overall supply may never recover or open their doors to guests again.

Times Square Edition at 20 Times Square, which had 452 rooms, recently said that it would not reopen after only a year of business.

The Mark is set for a UCC foreclosure auction after the hotel’s owner, Alexico Group, failed to make mortgage payments.