I believe that there would be a tremendous impact on real estate values in the Penn Plaza area if LeBron James were to play for the New York Knicks. According to this recent article on ESPN.com it seems like this dream is inching closer to becoming a reality. Each of the 55 home games (assuming the Knicks make it to the post season) will be a frenzy for New York fans. I imagine that the area’s retail, which was once dominated with low-end stores, will be filled with exciting new restaurants and bars and will bring a thriving new economy to the area. MSG will probably get a long overdue facelift as well.
On March 23, 2010 Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Time Equities, Inc. held a luncheon to discuss the financing markets for Manhattan office condominiums. The esteemed economist Allen Greer from Greer Advisors was the feature speaker. The lunch was held at Stout, the retail tenant of Time Equities’ most recent office condominium conversion at 131 West 33rd Street.
For more information on the lunch please see the blurb at the bottom:
http://www.bisnow.com/new_york_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=7722
The NY Times profiled Curbed.com founder Lockhart Steele. He has definitely had a profound effect on the New York real estate market. His blog posts have the potential to greatly alter the value of a real estate development. He is feared and respected, yet has maintained a grassroots feel by being an advocate of the people rather than being an advertisement for developers.
Read the article here.
Since I am in the business of promoting real estate it might not be appropriate for me to be blogging about a guy, Dr. Mike Burry, who made billions betting against the housing market. However, I believe that there are valuable lessons to be learned from his success; particularly how periodically in the U.S. economy there are big disconnects in value that create tremendous opportunities.
To read the Vanity Fair article on the amazing story of Dr. Mike Burry, which is an excerpt from Michael Lewis’ new book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” visit: http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/wall-street-excerpt-201004?printable=true¤tPage=1
Warren Buffett’s comments on the U.S. housing market in his recently released 2009 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report, Chairman’s Letter is the best commentary on this topic. I believe that he describes a classic under-supply and over-supply cycle. These cycles occur frequently in the U.S. It is important to train yourself to recognize them.
“The (housing) industry is in shambles for two reasons, the first of which must be lived with if the U.S. economy is to recover. This reason concerns U.S. housing starts (including apartment units). In 2009, starts were 554,000, by far the lowest number in the 50 years for which we have data. Paradoxically, this is good news.
People thought it was good news a few years back when housing starts – the supply side of the picture – were running about two million annually. But household formations – the demand side – only amounted to about 1.2 million. After a few years of such imbalances, the country unsurprisingly ended up with far too many houses.
There were three ways to cure this overhang: (1) blow up a lot of houses, a tactic similar to the destruction of autos that occurred with the “cash-for-clunkers” program; (2) speed up household formations by, say, encouraging teenagers to cohabitate, a program not likely to suffer from a lack of volunteers or; (3) reduce new housing starts to a number far below the rate of household formations.
Our country has wisely selected the third option, which means that within a year or so residential housing problems should largely be behind us, the exceptions being only high-value houses and those in certain localities where overbuilding was particularly egregious. Prices will remain far below “bubble” levels, of course, but for every seller (or lender) hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits. Indeed, many families that couldn’t afford to buy an appropriate home a few years ago now find it well within their means because the bubble burst.”
To view the entire Chairman’s Letter please view: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2009ltr.pdf
I was recently introduced to a five-part series of books on the development of New York City by famed architect Robert A.M. Stern. I deem these books a must read for anyone in the real estate business in New York.
“Simply put, Robert A. M. Stern’s “New York 2000,” together with its four preceding volumes, represents the fullest and finest historical account of any city ever attempted. In all, these volumes constitute more than 5,000 full-sized pages and more than 10 million words, consecrated to the architectural and urban development of New York from the aftermath of the Civil War to the present day.” – James Gardner, The New York Sun, November 8, 2006
Great photos from the Gothamist and photographer David Vega showing Greenwich Village in the mid 1980’s. I recall taking the PATH train every weekend and walking around 8th Street…I’d hope that some day I could live and work in the Village…and now I do!
The Lone Star (pictured above) on 13th Street and Fifth Avenue was next to Time Equities’ offices at 55 Fifth Avenue. A new retail/apartment building is being constructed on the site.
Gammon Ragonesi Associates (GRA), one of New York City’s leading design and packaging firms purchased the 16th floor (6,333 RSF) of 131 West 33rd Street for $3 million.
Mort Zuckerman, the billionaire owner of real estate firm Boston Properties, is reportedly considering a run for U.S. Senate to replace Kirsten Gillibrand. The New York Times’ description of Michael Bloomberg perfectly articulated my opinion of Zuckerman…”a self-financed nonpolitician whose independence from special interest groups would let him apply strong medicine to the city’s fiscal ills, and damn the political consequences.”
Vornado is in the planning stages to build a $3 billion office building on the Hotel Pennsylvania site. They are ready for the perfect tenant to come along to occupy the Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed tower which will “soar to a few hairs short of the Empire State Building’s peak.”
