The City Of Yes always existed, it just needed a brand

 

Years before the City of Yes became a thing and an annoying catch phrase, the city already approved rezoning to build higher and denser in Jamaica. Like this block here on Waltham St between 97th and 95th avenues. One block away from the behemoth tower hyperdevelopment on Suthphin Blvd.

  

This is the little bit of housing NYC Planning, Mayor Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards wants in your neighborhoods and think this make rents trickle down all over the city.

Unfortunately for the rent-burdened and homeless, those trickle down rents will have to wait for this one since it's in a state of suspension. 

Everything about the City Of Yes is a lie that's been told before for the last decade.

 

A little more unaffordable housing in Queens

 

 Queens Post

A total of 1,412 units across six upcoming luxury buildings are expected to transform the Queens Plaza area in Long Island City by creating much-needed housing in the area.

All six projects are expected to be completed as early as this year and no later than 2026. As each project nears completion, the housing units will be put on the market.

One of the projects anticipated to be completed this year is the Noble, at 27-09 40th Ave. This luxury condominium building will consist of 46 units across six floors. Among the amenities for homeowners are indoor parking, bike storage, a residents lounge, a fitness center, rooftop terraces and personal storage lockers. The building is also pet-friendly. This project was developed by Gus Vorillas and Tony Raouf, and the architect is HCN Architect.

The other project expected to be completed in 2024 is the Mason, at 40-46 24th St. Another luxury condominium building, the Mason, will consist of 42 units across six floors. Amenities for each unit include washers and dryers and Latch keyless entry doors. A majority of the homes there will have private outdoor spaces. Jasper Wu is the developer of this project and the architect is My Architect P.C..

You can feel the rent trickle down already.

 

A new building on the city's affordable housing program cheapest rent is nearly 4 grand a month

Queens Post 

Seven affordable housing units—all 2-bedroom apartments—are up for grabs in a Long Island City development with monthly rents starting at $3,835.

The units, located at 37-25 32nd St., are part of a 6-story, 15-unit development. The city has recently opened a lottery for the affordable units.

The affordable units are for residents who earn up to 130% of the area median income (AMI), ranging from $131,486 to $198,250, depending on household size. Each affordable housing unit is meant for between two and five people.

Amenities include a shared laundry room, a dishwasher in each unit, air conditioning, high-speed internet, a rooftop terrace, a virtual doorman, an elevator, security cameras, a parking garage, an accessible entrance and more.

The Billion Dollar District

 

Queens Post 

The Long Island City condo market in 2021 was its strongest on record—with sales volume reaching nearly $1 billion, about three times the previous record set in 2019, according to a new report.

There were 885 units sold in 2021, with a dollar value of $995 million. The number smashed the 2019 sales volume record of $385 million, when 336 condos were sold.

These findings are part of the 2021 Long Island City Condominium Report released by Patrick W. Smith, an independent real estate analyst and Long Island City-based agent affiliated with The Corcoran Group. (This is NOT independent!-JQ LLC) The report is based on closed condo sales within the confines of 37th Avenue to the north, Borden Avenue to the south, the East River to the west and Northern Boulevard to the east.The report is based on closed condo sales within the confines of 37th Avenue to the north, Borden Avenue to the south, the East River to the west and Northern Boulevard to the east. The area is represented in the shaded area

“The Long Island City market did extremely well in 2021 because sellers priced their units competitively and the demand for Long Island City continues to grow,” said Patrick W. Smith, the author of the report. “Long Island City also remains at a significant discount to Manhattan.”

Smith said that the market also benefited from low interest rates and a stock market that has surged over the past two years. He also said that the job market was particularly strong for many of the buyers who work in the tech, finance and legal industries.

He said that Long Island City’s popularity continues to increase as new stores and businesses come to the area—such as Trader Joe’s on Jackson Avenue—and its waterfront parks gain greater recognition.

The sales volume in both the new development and resale market was extremely strong in 2021, according to the report. There were 728 condos sold in the new development market, up from 270 in 2020. Meanwhile, 157 condos sold in the resale market—a record—significantly higher than the 65 sold in 2020, 85 in 2019 and 95 in 2018.

Prices across the Long Island City market were up. For instance, the average price paid for a condo in 2021 was $1,124,000, up from $1,074,000 in 2020. The average price for a one-bedroom last year was $912,000, up from $900,000 in 2020. Meanwhile, the average sales price for a two-bedroom condo was $1,382,000, up from $1,328,000.

The new development market across Long Island City outperformed, with the average sales price on the 728 units sold coming in at $1,134,000 in 2021, up from $1,048,000 in 2020 when 270 units changed hands.

The average increase can be attributed, in part, to the Skyline Tower development, a 67-story luxury condo building with 802 units at 3 Court Square. Closings in the building began in 2021—and 332 sales were recorded, accounting for $415 million in sales volume. The average price paid for a condo in the Skyline Tower—based on closed data– was $1,251,000 million, pushing up the numbers for the overall market.

Rockaway's long belated and selective resiliency concern

Impunity City 

 Climate change was somewhat kind to New York City this year compared to the devastation that continues to happen in other states and nations with tropical storms, hurricanes and tornadoes and the apocalyptic hell fires that are happening frequently in California;  although with the exception of the remnants of Hurricanes Henri and Ida causing record amounts of water vomiting from the sky which led to destruction and sad deaths of the city’s lower income citizens here. Mostly because of the record heat NYC has received this year, with the hottest July on record, this mild weather has also led to what will sure to be the warmest October in this city in 2021, which comes to mind the last time summer stuck around for another month in 2012 when the pleasant weather gave way to the kraken that was Hurricane Sandy a few days before Halloween.

 Sandy laid destruction and death of her own in a 24 hours across the coastal towns and areas and updated flood zones of the five boroughs, notably in Rockaway Beach where she destroyed the entire boardwalk 9 years ago. But with funding from FEMA,  it took a few years to build another boardwalk, this time with rebar and concrete to replace all the wood that was reduced to kindle and also billions of pounds of sand for dunes. This led to longer treks to find some real estate to lay your towels and coolers down on the beach, but at least it provided protection from the hostile waters of the Atlantic that has been rising and eroding the shores of the peninsula for years before that bitch Sandy arrived.

 And nigh a decade later, Rockaway Beach’s shore is in dire straits again. Most evident on the most conveniently accessed and popular beach area at Beach 98 st., the boardwalk entrance ramp to the sand is more fit for kayaking than a path for sunbathing.

 

There's a #ClimateCrisis issue going on at Rockaway Beach, where a boardwalk entrance to the sands is daily submerged by the ocean

And the dunes protecting the boardwalk and the streets have been totally destroyed

This isn't a beach, this is a pier pic.twitter.com/AioJqwuaxZ

— This is JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) July 26, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wealthiest New Yorkers are bluffing

 

Curbed

After ten months of breathless panic over the state of Manhattan’s luxury real-estate market, the industry is sighing with relief as a surge in leases and rental prices suggests that the wealthy New Yorkers who left town at the onset of the pandemic are beginning to return. While Fran Lebowitz and other curmudgeons have cheered on the exodus of the rich, whether or not they return has big implications for the city’s budget and thus vital public services.

According to Douglas Elliman’s December rental report, rents for the biggest and most expensive apartments in Manhattan rose by double-digit percentages compared to the previous month. Rents on smaller apartments and in lower price tiers remained flat or declined slightly, remaining about 20 percent lower than a year ago. This pattern appears to be driven by demand, which is stronger at the high end and weaker below, with discounts of 20 percent compared to a year ago.

Manhattan’s vacancy rate dropped for the first time since the pandemic began, falling from 6.14 percent in November to 5.52 percent (it’s typically between 2 and 3 percent), which is as blunt a signal as you can get that people are returning to the city. The number of new December leases signed in Manhattan was up 36 percent compared to November and a whopping 93.6 percent from a year ago. The basic principles of supply and demand are at work here too; at some point, rents fall so much the deals are just too good to pass up, particularly in desirable Manhattan.

Taken together, these data offer a clear signal that the rich are coming back to New York. The idea that wealthy households would never return to the city was always a little suspect — mostly the fever dream of anti-urban conservatives who grabbed on to temporary post-pandemic migration trends in support of their biases against city life. But with the vaccine rollout underway, the rich are returning in time for what stands to be a memorably jubilant period: the reopening of New York City.

Public housing condos and affordable luxury studios now available for lottery applications

 

YIMBY

 The affordable housing lottery is now open for 45-57 Davis Street, a nine-story mixed-use development in Long Island City, Queens. Designed by J Frankl/Charles Mallea and developed by Solomon Feder of Velocity Framers USA, the 145,000-square-foot will yield a total 158 units in a mix of studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 48 apartments for residents at 130 percent of the area median income, ranging in eligible income from $73,920 to $183,300.

 At 130 percent of the AMI, there are 12 affordable studios with a $2,156 monthly rent for incomes ranging from $73,920 to $118,300; 23 one-bedrooms with a $2,245 monthly rent for incomes ranging from $76,972 to $133,120; 12 two-bedrooms with a $2,710 monthly rent for incomes ranging from $92,915 to $159,640, and one three-bedrooms with a $3,122 monthly rent for income ranging from $107,040 to $183,300.

 The YIMBY stenographer forgot to mention that the lucky gentrifier, I mean tenant is responsible for paying the electric bill to go along with the "affordable" rent.

The Boulevard Of Zombie Condo Development

Impunity City

Remember when Queens Boulevard was called the boulevard of death? Well, it has got comparably safer to commute than in the past, but it has been replaced by a new form of existential threat, and that is over-development. With this post, I bring forth three technically new buildings that have been built but have remained strangely unfinished and to this day still yet to be occupied. Yet strangely are already on the market.

Welcome to the christening of Queens Boulevard as the Boulevard Of Zombie Development
 
Lets begin at this mesh covered monstrosity at 64th St.

 This sign has aged quite a bit, but upon closer inspection, this building was supposed to be completed a few days from now in the year 2018

Next we cross the BQE and find this budding condo building by 70 St.

 Looks like it already is garnering interest..,

 Too bad they are going to have to wait a little longer, this was supposed to be done in Winter 2018.

But the one down the block after 70 St. is more undead than both of them.

 This zombie building is behind schedule for 4 years now.

 This zombie condo building gives off quite an aura of mystery. For who knows when construction actually started for this development and when it actually stopped. And of course why it stopped, for there is no D.O.B. certificate on it like the others and a stop work order was clearly and vainly ripped off the building placard

These photos were taken around late August/early September. I went back around Thanksgiving to see if any progress was made...

25% of condos in recently built luxury towers remain vacant

New York Times

Picture an empty apartment — there are thousands in Manhattan’s new towers — and fill it with the city’s chattiest real estate developers. How do you quiet the room?

Ask about their sales.

Among the more than 16,200 condo units across 682 new buildings completed in New York City since 2013, one in four remain unsold, or roughly 4,100 apartments — most of them in luxury buildings, according to a new analysis by the listing website StreetEasy.

“I think we’re being really conservative,” said Grant Long, the website’s senior economist, noting that the study looked specifically at ground-up new construction that has begun to close contracts. 

Sales in buildings converted to condos, a relatively small segment, were not counted, because they are harder to reliably track. And there are thousands more units in under-construction buildings that have not begun closings but suffer from the same market dynamics.

Projects have not stalled as they did in the post-recession market of 2008, and new buildings are still on the rise, but there are signs that some developers are nearing a turning point. Already the prices at several new towers have been reduced, either directly or through concessions like waived common charges and transfer taxes, and some may soon be forced to cut deeper. Tactics from past cycles could also be making a comeback: bulk sales of unsold units to investors, condos converting to rentals en masse, and multimillion-dollar “rent-to-own” options for sprawling apartments — a four-bedroom, yours for just $22,500 a month.

The slowdown is uneven and some projects are faring better than others, but for well-heeled buyers there is no shortage of discounts and sweeteners to be had.

The analysis, a compilation of both public and proprietary listing and building data, is one of the most sobering looks yet at the city’s flagging condo market, which peaked about three years ago amid a glut of inventory. Now the market could face new obstacles, from growing fears of a recession, to changes in tax law and political instability heading into an election year.

For an industry accustomed to selling apartments years ahead of completion and skilled at concealing the pace of sales when the market falters, further headwinds could force more drastic measures.

Moreover, a growing share of condos sold in recent years have been quietly re-listed as rentals by investors who bought them and are reluctant to put them back on the market. Of the 12,133 new condos sold between January 2013 and August 2019, 38 percent have appeared on StreetEasy as rentals.

And Billionaire's row, Hudson Yards and Pacific Park are not even done yet.

Apologies for my miscalculation readers. 

Living on top of a Historic Elmhurst Cemetery

The Elmhurst History and Cemeteries Preservation Society, Inc. has been working with the St. Mark’s American Methodist Episcopal Church (AMES) to save and landmark a historically significant burial site in Elmhurst. The site has been studied and documented by multiple organizations that it has at least 290  human interments and remains.
 

The site is under evaluation by NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for landmarking. The burial ground represents the history of post slavery African Americans, specifically those who lived and worshipped in Elmhurst.   There was also a recent PBS documentary about the famous Iron Lady Coffin which was excavated from this site.

 So why is this property on the market for real estate development (condo?).

Hard to imagine someone wanting to live atop 290 graves!!!

Signed Anonymous

From James Ng Elmhurst History & Cemeteries Preservation Society, Inc. & Elmhurst resident.

Condos raided over AirBnB rentals

From the Wall Street Journal:

A team of New York City law-enforcement officers swarmed a Manhattan condominium last month, issuing 27 notices of violations for illegal hotel use in one of the largest crackdowns on short-term rentals such as those listed on Airbnb.

The raid at the Atelier, a 46-story Midtown luxury tower, may be a sign of what’s to come. New York and other cities are seeking to limit short-term rentals that can run afoul of local laws designed to limit hotel-style stays in residential buildings.

The violations went to 20 different apartment owners who allegedly rented to guests from at least 15 countries including Argentina and Spain. Some guests paid $400 a night, and one group of six from Switzerland paid a total bill of $3,823 for a short-term stay, according to city records.

Two members of the Atelier condo board were among those cited for making illegal short-term rentals. They also were accused of putting up illegal partitions in their units to create extra rooms.

Foreclosure looms for Acropolis Gardens

From The Real Deal:

A Wells Fargo-managed trust is looking to foreclose on a 618-unit co-op development in Astoria after its owners failed to make a loan payment.

French bank Natixis issued a $45 million mortgage in April 2017 on Acropolis Gardens, the 16-building complex bordered by Ditmars Boulevard, and 33rd and 34th streets. The debt was pooled into a securitized trust managed by Wells Fargo, according to court documents, with monthly repayments of $13,596.

But the Wells Fargo-managed trust filed a foreclosure action on Monday, after the property’s condominium board, Acropolis Gardens Realty Corp., missed a July payment.

The failed payment followed the trust’s discovery of multiple legal actions against the condo board.

Vallone vs. Graziano on 2% property tax cap

City Council District 19 candidates Paul Vallone and Paul Graziano debated whether or not there should be a 2% tax cap on 1-2 family homes, condos and co-ops.

Everyone in this district should watch this video very carefully and listen intently. You can draw your own conclusions.

Residents protest taxes on co-ops and condos

From the Queens Tribune:

Residents of Bellerose’s Parkwood Estates condominium complex and members of the organization Politics Reborn turned out on Friday to protest city property taxes on condos and co-ops in front of Assemblyman David Weprin’s (D-Fresh Meadows) office.

The protesters accused the assemblyman and city of lagging on a bill aimed at capping co-op and condo assessments.

“He’s the one dragging his feet,” Alice Christy, a Parkwood Estates resident and member of Politics Reborn, said of Weprin.

Christy noted that Weprin is one of the sponsors of bill A00354A, which would cap co-op and condo assessments at 8 percent in any one year and 30 percent in any five years. The bill’s author is Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside). It is identical to a bill in the state Senate sponsored by state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing).

“[The bill] just languishes there,” said Christy.

She added that 30 percent is still a big increase, “but it’s better than what we would have. Our community is middle-middle class. We can’t afford homes in the area, yet we have too much money for affordable housing. We need this to pass. The city commissioner of finance is just kicking this down the road. I’m not giving up. I’m a tiger.”

The condominium has a large senior population. Christy, who is a senior, said that with property taxes rising, her fees have risen as well. She added that the funds seniors receive from the city’s STAR program have not increased.

Christy and fellow organizers at Friday’s protest went door to door, persuading residents of the condominium to sign more than 250 letters urging Weprin to push the legislation.

Strange goings on at Sunnyside condo

From PIX11:

Elevator surveillance video allegedly shows Neil Milano, wearing a mask of the president, plastering the door with Trump stickers in a would be attempt to “menace” his neighbors in Sunnyside at a building on 39th Place.

“This is not the type of neighborhood for him,” said a neighbor, Renee, who does not want to disclose her last name.

She says Milano has been menacing neighbors who get on his bad side.

“Every time he does something like this, he escalates his behavior,” she said.

Milano is the condo board president of a building around the corner, where he’s put up other references to President Trump, and a lot more.

From provocative Jim Crow-era images, to banners of Adolf Hitler, all framed around what Milano’s lawyer calls a historical display.

Queens City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer could not disagree more.

“We are asking the NYPD to investigate this as a hate crime, and for the human rights commission to investigate what can be done here,” Van Bramer said.

New 421a plan will flood Queens with condos

From The Real Deal:

A budget proposal from the New York State Senate would greatly increase the number of tax exempt condominium projects in the outer boroughs, confirming the fears of Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials that such developments could creep back into a renewed 421a developer tax break.

In the Senate Republicans’ latest version of the bill, condo projects outside Manhattan with as many as 80 units could qualify for 421a tax exemptions, up from 35 units in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal released in January. A cap on the average tax assessment value for benefitting condo units is also raised in the new proposal from $65,000 to $85,000, a change that was first reported by Politico.

Since the 421a program’s expiration in January of 2016, developers have filed offering plans for 15 new outerborough projects consisting of between 35 and 80 condo units, a TRD analysis of data from the New York State Attorney General shows. If 421a became available to developers of this section of the market, there could be many more of these condo projects on the horizon.

Two key Senators in the 421a negotiations have previously expressed an interest in increasing outer-borough condo benefits, prior to Cuomo releasing his own plan. Republican-caucusing Democrat Simcha Felder and Republican Marty Golden, both of Brooklyn, told reporters in December they were looking to expand the tax break for more property owners, but haven’t provided further details.

Calls and emails directed to Golden and Felder were not immediately returned on Wednesday.

421a didn't do what it was supposed to do

From the Daily News:

The city lost out on as much as $2.8 billion in wasted tax breaks for condos under a program meant to spur housing development, according to a new study by a budget watchdog group.

The Independent Budget Office estimates that $2.5 to $2.8 billion of the property tax breaks given out over a decade as part of the 421-a program were wasted because they benefited homeowners rather than advancing the program’s stated goal of encouraging housing development.

New plan for new Bay Terrace units

From the Times Ledger:

The Bell Apartments’ board of directors and Cord Meyer Development presented preliminary plans to construct a 186-unit condominium on vacant green space adjacent to the residential complex to the co-op’s shareholders Monday.

According to property records, the deed for the Bell Apartments is registered with Cord Meyer, which also owns Bay Terrace Shopping Center. Under the land lease with Bell Apartments, which is a five six-story buildings, 300-unit co-op, the board of directors must enter into a new agreement to give Cord Meyer the right to build on the undeveloped land opposite PS 169 on 212th Street.

The plans have not been finalized, because no deal has been reached between Cord Meyer and the board, but the design team, Morali Architects, released a close-to-finished building proposal at the meeting.

Architect Anthony Morali said the 186 units would only cover 50 to 55 percent of the current available space, and plans would result in a building density that is half of what the current zoning rules allow for, so no zoning variance would need to be granted.

Morali said instead of one large building, he plans to construct seven separate building segments connected by corridors and parking structure underground with at least 186 spaces. The developers said there would spots available for at least 220 cars, including outside parking. The underground parking lot would only be accessible on 18th Avenue and 23rd Street.

If the developer and the co-op board reach an agreement, they expect to break ground by fall or if not then in 2017. Morali said construction should take a total of 15 to 18 months.

Once complete, developers said they expect the condos to sell for between $400,000 and $500,000. One- to three-bedroom units in the Bell Apartments now have an average value of $350,000.

Holliswood Hospital may go condo

From the Queens Tribune:

The Holliswood Hospital property may be turned into condos and luxury single family homes, one source – a resident who lives near the former hospital – said. The news comes after some neighbors, including members of the Holliswood Civic Association, have been on tenterhooks for the past two years over what the former rehabilitation center for drug users might become.

The lot has been empty since the former hospital shut down in August 2013 due to bankruptcy. On July 7, an LLC associated with Queens Developer Steve Cheung, 3861 Realty, bought the property for $10.9 million.

According to the source, Cheung called Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) on Sunday night and informed him that he was planning to build condo apartments and approximately 15 single-family luxury houses.

Weprin confirmed the call on Tuesday. “I think it is something the community would be accepting of and support,” he said of the alleged plans.

Cheung said that he and his architect had not yet solidified plans. “As soon as we have a decision, we’ll let you know,” Cheung told the Queens Tribune on Monday.

But asked about the planned construction quoted in the reported call with Weprin, Cheung did not deny the plans, saying simply, “We try.”