Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 19th, 2013 Its almost a certainty that New York’s next mayor will be Bill de Blasio who has been very vocal about the need for more affordable housing. He is correct, and just like Mayor Bloomberg has added more than 156,000 units in his 12 years, very close to… [Read More]
UMA THURMAN BUYS AT RIVERHOUSE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 16th, 2013 Uma Thurman is buying an apartment at iconic Riverhouse. The gossip rags are aflutter over this purchase, but from a real estate perspective this is a VERY important sale that every co-op in Manhattan should look at closely. Several months ago I reported how this co-op’s board… [Read More]
THE $500 MILLION (HALF BILLION!) HOUSE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 14th 2013 Is this the most expensive residential property ever? At $500 million it makes La Leopoldo, One 57 or Tour Odeon seem like a good buy. Then again, the price equates to roughly $ 7,462/sf which is not that bad on the BILLIONAIRE-HOME -INDEX. The mansion at Carlton… [Read More]
GOVERNMENT CRISIS: SIMPLE MATH?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 14th 2013 Last week my building’s board met to discuss the need to balance our budget: we realized that Manhattan inflation had caused our operating costs to rise, hence the necessary solution: we had to raise revenues so the common charges were raised by 10% to balance the books…. [Read More]
De Blasio slams Joe Lhota tax plan as a $2B giveaway to the rich
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 14th, 2013 The ‘MAYOR OF FAIRNESS” Bill de Blasio continues to frame his opponent Joe Lhota as the candidate who wants to give free-bees to the rich: Mr. De Blasio should simultaneously address why he and many others pay a QUARTER of the real estate taxes many New Yorkers… [Read More]
NEW ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS AFTER SANDY
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 12th, 2013 As we approach the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the second-costliest hurricane in United States history that killed 73 people and cost New York around $42 billion. ($65 billion in total US damages),… [Read More]
GLOBAL WEALTH REACHES ALL TIME HIGH
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 8th, 2013 In the on-going debate about the depth of buyers for the $ 22billion worth of inventory coming to the New York residential real estate market, I thought it wise to evaluate wealth in general…..and luckily a Credit Suisse Report on the subject hit my desk this morning…. [Read More]
WHEN GOVERNMENTS STRANGLE MARKETS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 8th, 2013 I had an interesting meeting earlier to-day with a group of international real estate leaders to gauge the current state of affairs in global ‘real estate land’: one message emerged that is truly of great concern, especially now as we enter the last phase of the New… [Read More]
THE $22 BILLION QUESTION
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 7th, 2013 There is lots of chatter surrounding estimates circulating that the volume of Manhattan new construction coming to the market or currently on the market totals over $20 billion. This figure addresses properties planned between now and the next 5 years, and to most this figure is alarming, conjuring… [Read More]
RISING DEVELOPMENT COSTS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 6th, 2013 The other day while speaking at AVENUE’s SCHOOL (what an amazing place!) about the historical re-development of West Chelsea, I was asked why everything in new real estate is so expensive. Greed certainly comes to mind as the obvious answer and that certainly is part of the… [Read More]