Housing Starts: Historic District Impact | Brooklyn Leads Housing Strategy | New Starts Down in Aug

September 19th 2014

Public housing buildings (Courtesy NYCHA)

  1. Manhattan Historic Districts See Meager Relative Value Appreciation, Report Finds In New York, in this age of EB-5 shortages and stash pads, kindergarten condo owners and over-the-top single family restorations, appreciation—that is, resale value—is at or near the fore of many a home shopper’s mind. And an NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy report released this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that for all the quaint charm and promises of neighborhood preservation they provide, historic districts are not necessarily a boon to homeowners, particularly those concerned chiefly with the bottom line. [New York Observer – 09/17/14]
  2. Brooklyn Front and Center in NYC’s Housing Strategy Brooklyn is certainly front and center of our strategy,’ said deputy mayor Alicia Glen Tuesday morning during a keynote interview. The residential market is strong, and the city intends to capitalize on that momentum, rezoning several areas to require affordable housing in every residential development. ‘I want to be clear, where we are rezoning a site for private development use, developers will be required to provide affordable housing to build a building,’ Glen said. [The Epoch Times – 09/16/14]
  3. Many Homes Rebuilt After Hurricane Sandy Are Likely Headed Back Underwater While many New Yorkers have recovered post-Sandy and others have moved away, some residents affected by the storm are still struggling, living on the upper floors of their damaged homes and seeking funding to rebuild — often in areas that could be permanently underwater in just a few decades as sea levels continue to rise due to climate change. [Vice News – 09/17/14]
  4. Disabled Bronx Tenants Claim Landlord is Trying to Force Them Out of Rent-Stabilized Apartments Parents of a baby undergoing chemotherapy and a woman with a genetic muscle disorder claim their landlord is trying to push them out of their rent-stabilized Bronx apartments to make way for tenants willing to shell out more money, a lawsuit alleges. The claim is contained in a lawsuit filed Sept. 12 in Manhattan Federal Court by four disabled Pelham Parkway building tenants and Public Advocate Letitia James alleging Goldfarb Properties violated anti-discrimination laws when it failed to accommodate them during elevator repairs. [New York Daily News – 09/17/14]
  5. Multifamily Declines Drive Down August Housing Starts Housing starts for August dropped more than what economists had been expecting, according to the Commerce Department report released Thursday morning. However, the agency also revised upward the previous month’s starts, leaving the industry with the sense that the housing market recovery continues to plod along. Still, though, the drop was disconcerting, especially considering that multifamily led the dive. Beginning home construction fell 14.4%, the most since April 2013, to a 956,000 annualized rate. [Globe St – 09/18/14]
  6. Anti-Homeless Shelter Group to Sue the City The residents of Glendale and Middle Village have stepped up their efforts to prevent the planned Cooper Avenue homeless shelter from coming to fruition. A group called the Glendale/Middle Village Coalition has formed this month, with the goal of taking legal action against the Department of Homeless Services and the City of New York in mind. [Queens Chronicle – 09/18/14]
  7. What’s Up (Or Headed That Way) on Downtown Brooklyn’s Skyline? Rezoning done in 2004 is the gift that keeps on giving for residential developers who want to maximize profits by building B.I.G. in the neighborhood, which was heavily business-oriented until recently. During the recession that began in 2008, there was a looong period when Downtown Brooklyn apartment construction slowed tremendously. But the bad times are in the rear-view mirror now, as development momentum picks up speed. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle – 09/17/14]
  8. $85M Air Rights Purchase Pushes Stalled MoMa Tower Ahead With the purchase of some $85 million worth of air rights from its neighbors and a large construction loan in place, the developer of the long-stalled MoMa supertall tower said it is finally ready to put shovels in the ground. [New York Real Estate News – 09/18/14]
  9. De Blasio Administration Touts Reduced Crime in Public Housing The de Blasio administration yesterday rolled out statistics it claimed showed that its $210.5 million investment in anti-crime measures in New York City Housing Authority buildings was already paying off. At a City Council hearing at Brooklyn’s Breukelen Houses, city officials announced a 14.4 percent reduction in crime in public housing between July 1 and Sept. 14, which they attributed to a massive improvement package passed earlier this year. The package included funding for police training, extended hours at community centers, security cameras, lighting and other security upgrades. [New York Observer – 09/17/14]
  10. Broken Homes: Ridgites Fight to Stop Illegal Conversions Ridgites and politicians are scrambling to stop greedy property owners from illegally dicing up one-family homes into multi-family flophouses, but holes in legislation and enforcement mean there is no silver bullet. ‘We have to chip away at this piece by piece,’ said Community Board 10 district manager Josephine Beckmann. [The Brooklyn Paper – 09/18/14]
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