Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 16th, 2013

We are beginning to see some new trends in the new development arena in New York real estate land. I am hearing of more and more ‘flippers’: developer-investors who bought development sites for good prices, now flipping them for profit, some even doing so before closing….. are they doing so because their accounting is off and they fear over-development or are they doing so because they were merely speculators to begin with?  This trend has the capacity to elevate pricing artificially and is not good.

Another more disturbing trend is the number of dreadful amateurs getting into development: this was a problem in the 2000’s and its starting to rear its ugly head again. Anyone who ever believed building in New York was a sure-fire way to easy riches is gravely mistaken. This City, with its complex zoning, impossible-to-predict Historical Landmarks Commission, painfully slow and overly-layered Building’s Department, crazy-complicated building code that changes daily and is open to all kinds of interpretation and ‘negotiations’ does not make development an easy prospect. Now add in a shortage of skilled labor, materials, fixtures, etc, and the picture becomes even more complex. We don’t need buildings that are badly conceived and poorly built!