Category : Residential

By Sarah Trefethen Just over 10 years ago, in January of 2002, Nassau County was short on the cash needed to maintain its various properties, from courthouses to administrative office. Then-County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi set out to consolidate the county’s holdings, devising a plan that included the sale of a 25-acre parcel in Garden City, a village of just over 21,000 residents in central Long Island. That decision set of a chain of events that is still playing out in court, where Garden City officials face allegations that racial discrimination caused them to disallow the development of multi-family rental buildings on the site. The case is expected to go to trial in district court this summer. These cases highlights some of the challenge that have faced both developers who want to target young, elderly and blue-collar residents in suburban New York, and policymakers who seek to bring racial and economic diversity to some of the area’s whitest, most affluent communities. “Everyone’s for affordable housing until you select a location,” said James Britz, senior vice president of the Long Island Housing Partnership.

By Al Barbarino After reclaiming 225 Rector Place from corrupt real estate developer Yair Levy, Related Companies is re-launching the Battery Park property as a luxury condo building with the help of acclaimed hospitality designer Clodagh. Related, which sold the property to Levy in 2005, bought it back in January of 2011 for $82.8 million after the property fell into receivership and Levy was charged with defrauding apartment owners in the building and not completing renovations.

By Liana Grey Several months ago, Morgan Turkewitz, a broker at Citi Habitats, received an unusual request from two college friends hoping to share an apartment in Manhattan: the pair wanted to take a look at listings and sign a lease all in a single day. The college friends — one grew up in Kentucky, the other in New Jersey — arrived in the city one morning, and toured buildings in the East Village, Murray Hill, and Gramercy Park, all popular destinations for recent graduates. By the afternoon, they’d narrowed their list down to a pair of one-bedrooms in a walkup near Gramercy Park, including one with a subdivided living room suitable for two roommates. 

By Liana Grey Not long ago, the price of one- and two-bedroom apartments in Brooklyn rose while studios lagged behind. Now, smaller units across the borough — which has seen some of the highest demand for new development in the city — are red hot. In its latest market report, the brokerage firm MNS calculated that studio prices in Brooklyn jumped by 2.3 percent over the past month alone, compared to a one percent increase for one- and two-bedrooms. In Park Slope, prices shot up by 5.6 percent.