Brooklyn Space November 22, 2023
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (center) speaks with Councilmembers Crystal Hudson (left) and Lynn Schulman at City Hall, March 25, 2022.
Photo courtesy of NYC Council
Photo courtesy of NYC Council
Legislation Will Set Affordable Housing Targets for NYC Neighborhoods
The so-called Fair Housing Framework, sponsored by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and passed unanimously by the Council Wednesday, will task city agencies with creating a housing plan every five years that includes production targets for each of city’s 59 community districts—though stops short of mandating development. Last calendar year, New York City produced 8,935 affordable homes via new construction, according to an analysis by the New York Housing Conference, which tracks annual development data.
More than 1,000 of those apartments were built in Brooklyn’s Council District 37, which spans Cypress Hills, Bushwick, Ocean Hill, Brownsville and East New York, the most of any neighborhood in 2022. In Manhattan’s District 2—which includes the Lower East Side, the East Village, Kips Bay and Murray Hill—no affordable units were constructed last year.
Those disparities, advocates and lawmakers say, help fuel the city’s affordability crisis, particularly in neighborhoods with access to ample infrastructure like parks, schools and public transportation. On Wednesday, the City Council passed legislation aimed at a more equitable geographic distribution of income-restricted homes, tasking city agencies with setting development targets for each of the city’s 59 community districts every five years.
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Rendering: S. Wieder Architect
Around Kings County
Two-Building Development Tops Out At 218 Front Street
Construction has topped out on 218 Front Street, a seven-story, two-building residential complex in Vinegar Hill. Designed by S. Wieder Architect and developed and built by Chess Builders, the project will yield 218 rental apartments with 66 affordable housing units, as well as 350 square feet of commercial space and 180 square feet of community space on the ground floor. The large interior lot is bound by Front Street to the north and York Street to the south, and was formerly occupied by a one-story industrial warehouse and an open-air lumber yard.
Tired of Waiting to Buy, They Redesigned Their Brooklyn Rental
In the process, a family discovered the joy of living in the present — and how much you can do to personalize a home that you may not be in forever.
251 Douglass Street Breaks Ground In Gowanus
Construction has broken ground at 251 Douglass Street, the site of a 15-story residential building in Gowanus. Designed by Fogarty Finger Architects and developed by Charney Companies and Tavros Capital, the 15-story building will span 250,000 square feet and yield 260 residential rental apartments. Notably, 25 percent of the inventory will be designated as affordable housing, aligning with city efforts to increase inclusive living options. The development will also include ground-floor retail spaces and parking facilities, enhancing the area’s commercial and residential appeal.
Three Friends Bought a Brooklyn House Where They Could Live Alone Together. Which Was the Right Fit?
With a combined budget of up to $3.5 million, the trio sought a townhouse that could offer communal living space and separate apartments, but options were scarce. Here’s what they found.
NYC’s First 100% Affordable Housing Development With New Public Library Opens in Sunset Park
The Brooklyn Public Library and Fifth Avenue Committee opened the Sunset Park Library and Apartments, a first-of-its-kind development with 100 percent affordable housing above a new state-of-the-art public library branch. The eight-story mixed-use building at 372 51st Street brings new affordable housing homes to Sunset Park for the first time in two decades. Officials say the project could establish a new model for co-located affordable housing developments in the city. Designed by Mitchell Giurgola Architects, the building’s new library occupies the first two and a half levels of the building. The expanded branch spans over 20,000 square feet, roughly twice the size of the old Sunset Park branch.
What $3.3 Million Buys You In Park Slope
Dollar Volume of Brooklyn Investment Sales Down 50 Percent
Real estate investment in Brooklyn is on track to return to Earth by the end of 2023, after reaching historic highs in 2022, according to a new report from brokerage TerraCRG. The total dollar volume of investment sales in the borough was down 50 percent at the end of September compared to the same time last year, according to the report. And it fell 27 percent quarter-over-quarter, according to TerraCRG’s Third Quarter 2023 Brooklyn Market Report.
Value of Kushner, RFR’s Dumbo Office Portfolio Dropped 68% in 5 Years
In another sign of the continuing toll from increased hybrid work, four Brooklyn office properties backing a $180 million securitization from 2018 have seen their value plunge 68 percent in the last five years, according to a Trepp alert. Between failed refinancing attempts and a default, RFR Realty and Kushner Companies have had a difficult year at their Dumbo office portfolio. The four Brooklyn office buildings have been on five-year descent, losing 68 percent of their value since 2018. The value of collateral behind the Dumbo Heights Portfolio commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) at $207.1 million compared with $640 million when Citi Real Estate Funding originated the debt in August 2018.
Median Asking Price Tops $1 Million In Brooklyn, Up 15%: Study
Even with asking prices up, buyers are flocking to Brooklyn’s waterfront and sellers are getting full price, according to StreetEasy.
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Photo: Seth Wenig/AP
Changes will also encourage more high-density housing. Read more.
Perspectives From Brooklyn
And Beyond
► ‘A Bloodbath’: Reckoning For Rent-Stabilized Apartment Owners Starting To Set in
While most of the recent headlines around commercial real estate have focused on distress in the office market, another crisis has been slowly brewing for the owners of the million rent-stabilized apartments across New York City. The strain of a restricted rent roll that isn’t keeping pace with increased costs is beginning to show. Delinquency rates for loans backed by rent-stabilized buildings are on the rise, some rent-stabilized portfolios have traded for huge discounts, and others have faced foreclosures. Read more.
► Why Real Estate is so Difficult to Price Right Now
“Nobody has a good sense of value”: Deal shortage clouds market. What’s the value of a half-empty office tower in Manhattan’s Garment District? How about an aging apartment complex in a Phoenix suburb? In the dark art of valuations, industry pros rely on comparable sales to put a price on real estate. But higher interest rates have led to fewer deals, obscuring an already murky view for brokers, lenders and developers. Read more.
► NYC Rents Retreat From Record Highs as Market Starts to Cool
Prices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and parts of Queens eased in October, but aren’t expected to return to pre-Covid levels anytime soon. Rents in Manhattan, Brooklyn and part of Queens fell in October as the New York City apartment market continued to soften from record highs reached during the summer.
The median rent on new Manhattan leases signed last month was $4,195, down 3.6% from September, according to appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Read more.
► No Balconies or Luxury Toilets: How This City Fought Soaring Rents and Lost
Rents are rising at a record pace in Berlin despite anti-gentrification rules and rental caps. Read more.
Brooklyn Space for Living, Working & Investing is produced by Eagle Urban Media. Contact at [email protected]
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