Visions for a Future NYC | Income Inequality in NYC | Transit, Open Space in Midtown Rezoning

Homeownership Rates by Race, According to Census Bureau

1. Visions for “Next NYC” are sublime to strange. Dan Doctoroff is not running for mayor-even if it sounded like he was on Tuesday night at a dinner hosted by the Forum for Urban Design. Mr. Doctoroff and John Zucotti, both former deputy mayors, had come to the 20th floor ballroom of the Yale Club in midtown to discuss Next New York, a slim pamphlet packing 40 proposals intended to provide the next mayor plans to “tackle the most critical issues facing the city,” as the introduction put it. [Crain’s New York Business – 07/31/13]
2. Tax break gives millions to builders, little to renters. A few tens of millions here, a few tens of millions there – pretty soon we’re talking real money. The tax giveaways that the state legislature handed a select few developers earlier this year as part of a housing bill weren’t exactly small potatoes. But this boondoggle is just the tip of the iceberg of poorly targeted housing subsidies that escape proper public scrutiny because they take the form of tax breaks. [City Limits – 07/30/13]
3. New York City, income inequality capital of America, now also facing soaring rents. Inhabitants of the City That Never Sleeps may find themselves spending quite a few more evenings tossing and turning after reading a new report detailing the grim realities of soaring rents in a city plagued by income inequality. Released on Monday by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, the “State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods 2012” report concludes that between 2007 and 2011 citywide median income decreased while rent prices rose. [Huffington Post – 07/31/13]
4. The steady decline of homeownership everywhere. America’s homeownership rate has been declining for several years, and for multiple reasons, some tied directly to the housing collapse. For one class of would-be homeowners, it’s simply harder today to qualify for a mortgage than it was at the height of the housing boom. For another, the allure of homeowThenership itself has declined. And then of course there are people who were homeowners until the crash nudged them off of their property. [Atlantic Cities – 07/31/13]
5. Blackstone, Deutsche Bank in talks to sell bond backed by home rentals. Two major Wall Street firms are in detailed discussions to create and sell the world’s first bond backed by home-rental payments, people familiar with the matter say. Blackstone Group LP is in negotiations to bundle monthly rental payments on about 1,500 to 1,700 of its homes. The private-equity giant is among the firms that have spent billions buying homes out of foreclosure, an investment strategy that has helped to bolster demand and strengthen the U.S. housing market. [Wall Street Journal – 08/30/13]
6. City sweetens midtown plan. New York City will pay for transit and open-space improvements as part of a rezoning of Midtown East, officials said on Wednesday, making a concession to community groups that nonetheless raises questions whether the city could be on the hook for millions of dollars. [Wall Street Journal – 08/01/13]
7. All cash investors beating buyers of townhouses in Brooklyn. Investors are buying houses in Brooklyn to rent out - not flip - and doing the deals in cash, further adding to the lack of inventory and raising prices for would-be buyers who are looking for a place to live. “They come to all the open houses, they see every property,” a tipster told us. They are most active in Bed Stuy but are also purchasing in other emerging neighborhoods such as Crown Heights and Bushwick, as well as Clinton Hill, with occasional forays into more expensive areas such as Fort Greene and Carroll Gardens. They go after everything: foreclosures, houses that would normally sit on the market such as SROs and wrecks, and regular properties that qualify for a mortgage. [Brownstoner – 07/30/13]
8. Bloomberg gets serious about Seaport City. Seaport City is serious business after all. Despite concerns about the feasibility of building a new community on the East River to protect lower Manhattan from future storms and rising sea levels, the Bloomberg administration is forging ahead with the idea. Wednesday the mayor announced a request for proposals from architects, planners and developers to come up with schemes to shield 1.5 miles of downtown’s waterfront, which remains vulnerable to future disasters. [Crain’s New York Business – 07/31/13]
9. Lift for Brooklyn park. A 12-story residential building, pedestrian bridges and a saltwater marsh will soon sprout up on an abandoned lot on the northern edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park, a step toward making the waterfront park financially sustainable long term. [Wall Street Journal – 07/31/13]
10. Tenants PAC endorses De Blasio, never considered Weiner. Public advocate Bill de Blasio has won the endorsement of the Tenants Political Action Committee in the city’s Democratic primary. The PAC says it was impressed by Sal Albanese, Bill Thompson, John Liu and Christine Quinn but decided to go with De Blasio. [Gotham Gazette – 07/29/13]