Andrew Cuomo received a significant real estate endorsement in his bid to replace Eric Adams as mayor. The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York endorsed the former governor, though that wasn’t a huge surprise considering its leader’s established support for Cuomo.
To put an exclamation on the endorsement, Gary LaBarbera said his group may hold a public event down the road.
After years of planning, City Council agreed to rezone a 21-block area that spans Prospect Heights, northwestern Crown Heights and southern Bedford Stuyvesant along Atlantic Avenue. It allows for new housing construction in an area dominated by low-density commercial and industrial zoning.
The rezoning should pave the way for roughly 4,600 residential units, of which 1,900 will be below-market rate, and are expected to be built over the next 10 years.
Orlando Bravo, founder of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, was exposed. In March, Bravo anonymously sued the developers over an impending neighboring skyscraper obstructing his penthouse views at 520 Park Avenue.
Arthur Zeckendorf and William Lie Zeckendorf filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying Bravo’s claims were “completely without merit” in a memo endorsing the motion, revealing the Bravos as the buyers for the first time.
The penthouse sold for $79 million.
A group of units at 172 Madison is getting the “Owning Manhattan” treatment, as Ryan Serhant’s team moves to sell five units after developer Yitzchak Tessler agreed to turn them over to his lender as part of a reorganization plan.
There’s been a year of legal back-and-forth, including multiple bankruptcy filings by Tessler regarding the property’s unsold condo units. Tessler is hoping to secure exit financing to pay off his remaining debt and complete the unfinished penthouse units, while the Serhant team prepares to launch sales, pending court approval.
In a twist with reality television written all over it, the Rent Guidelines Board held a revote on preliminary ranges for rent-stabilized leases, a crucial gauge for the final adjustments. While the board reaffirmed the range for one-year leases it approved last month, it cut the lower range for two-year leases by one percentage point to 3.75 percent from 4.75 percent.
The change was linked to a clerical error. Sources told us that an emerging “narrative” was that the number had been adjusted down to align with the mayor’s stance; the board tweaked the lower number, however, not the upper number Adams flagged.
Read more
City Council signs off on plan to build 4,600 homes along Atlantic Avenue
Building Trades endorses Andrew Cuomo for mayor
Bankrupt 172 Madison units get the “Owning Manhattan” treatment