Thursday brought the beginning of rent guidelines board season, pitting landlords and tenants of rent-stabilized housing against one another. This year’s Income and Expense Study found buildings’ net operating income — a measure of profitability — jumped 8 percent between 2022 and 2023 when adjusted for inflation.
Property owners claim the study’s findings are distorted by the inclusion of irrelevant buildings. Tenant advocates, meanwhile, argue the takeaways of the report support a rent freeze.
A major legal challenge emerged to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (which could impact the other City of Yes initiatives). More than 100 groups, City Council members, community board members and state lawmakers are asking a state court to annul the City of Yes, particularly the final rezoning expected to add 80,000 homes over the next 15 years.
The lawsuit, filed in Staten Island court on Wednesday, alleged that Eric Adams’ administration violated city and state environmental laws by failing to do a comprehensive review of the impact of the zoning changes. A City Hall representative said the administration stands by its process.
This week, Eliot Spitzer agreed to sell a large Upper East Side rental building to Miki Naftali for over $800 million. The 208-unit property was previously marketed as a potential high-end condo development opportunity.
Naftali is known for condo projects and may convert the rental building into condos, given his development history in the area. A firm plan for the property at 800 Fifth Avenue has yet to emerge, though, as the deal has also yet to close.
Naftali can’t have buyer’s remorse yet. The same can’t be said for the buyer of an $80 million penthouse at 520 Park Avenue, who is suing the Zeckendorf developers for fraud, alleging they failed to disclose a planned skyscraper by Extell Development that would obstruct the penthouse’s Central Park view.
The lawsuit claims the Zeckendorfs were desperate to sell the penthouse and withheld information due to their status as real estate insiders and previous difficulties selling other units in the building. The buyer wants to rescind the sale and aims for potential damages, arguing the offering plan did not disclose the specific risk of obstruction, despite a general disclosure about potential view changes.
And in Astoria, KS Group landed $300 million in construction financing to revive the long-stalled Astoria Cove project in Queens, planning to deliver more than 2,800 units across three phases.
The project, which dates back to 2014, faced previous financing issues and affordable housing disputes but is moving forward with mixed-use buildings, residential towers and commercial space.
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Naftali scoops up Spitzer’s UES rental building for more than $800M: report
Buyer of 520 Park’s $80M penthouse sues Zeckendorfs over obscured views
Opponents sue to annul City of Yes