Archive for Neighborhood View
REBNY Sets Ground Rules for Apartment Smoking Ban
Posted by: | CommentsResidential building owners may soon have to devise and disclose their smoking policies to renters or buyers if a new proposal by Mayor Michael Bloomberg is passed. The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is generally supportive of the legislation given it is in line with recommendations previously issued by one of our subcommittees. However, REBNY is proposing some important changes to the City’s bill.
Last week, Mayor Bloomberg introduced a bill that would require owners of Class A multiple unit residential buildings to disclose where smoking is permitted or prohibited inside the units, outside areas within 15 feet of entrances and doorways as well as the common areas, balconies, courtyards and rooftops.
Current trends to regulate smoking in public spaces, such as in parks and restaurants, have sparked interest in pursuing non-smoking policies for residential buildings. Additionally, New York City’s Smoke Free Air Act already requires that individuals cannot smoke in public places, including the common areas of a multiple dwelling such as hallways, elevators and stairs.
The proposed legislation put forward by the Mayor’s office would require buildings to create a smoking policy if they do not already have one. There are several concerns with the legislation.
- In the current draft of the bill, buildings would have to comply within 90 days. This is an unrealistic turnaround time for condo and coop boards. They would need at least 6 months to confer with their attorneys and have any smoking policy approved by the board members.
- Under the legislation, the proposed notification requirement is the responsibility of many parties including owners, managers and leasing agents. In actuality, given the various ownership and management structures in New York City real estate, each lease and sale transactions can be structured differently and can make it difficult to clearly delineate responsibility. It may be straightforward to designate responsibility in an owner managed and leased rental building, but it may be less clear if a condo owner is subletting his/her own apartment.
- Additionally, the City is seeking to impose hefty violations if this notification is not in place. We question the need for a complicated fine schedule.
REBNY will be working with the Mayor’s office and City Council to ensure that any bill that is passed is practicable for building owners and managers.
Related to the smoking issue, the Best Practices Subcommittee of REBNY’s Residential Management Council created a guide that serves as a starting point to help managing agents best inform their buildings and boards if they are considering implementing a no-smoking policy. This Subcommittee, which finalized the guide at the beginning of April, laid the groundwork to open communication and provided insight into addressing this issue.
Under existing city, state, and federal law, owners of rental apartment buildings are free to adopt a non-smoking policy with regard to the individual residential units that are free market. Currently, there are no laws in New York prohibiting smoking within an apartment in residential buildings, but implementing a smoking ban could lower maintenance costs and insurance rates.
Here are some highlights from REBNY’s guide for implementing a smoking ban in residential buildings:
Rentals
A landlord or owner can ban smoking in the building for each new non-rent-regulated tenant. However, the landlord would have to add a rider to that effect to the lease.
In the event that an existing tenant has smoke emanating from his or her apartment and other tenants have registered complaints, the landlord may be able to use that as a basis to attempt to terminate the smoker’s lease.
Coops
An outright ban on smoking would most likely require an amendment to the proprietary lease, which would require the affirmative vote of the owners of a supermajority (typically two-thirds or 75 percent) of the shares.
The Board of Directors may consider whether the smoker’s conduct rises to the level of objectionable conduct sufficient to terminate the shareholder’s proprietary lease. The Board of Directors could also use the prohibition against “objectionable odors” emanating from an apartment found in most proprietary leases to attempt to terminate the smoker’s proprietary lease.
Condos
Condominium’s By-Laws can generally be amended by the affirmative vote of the owners. The Board of Managers has the ability to reject any purchaser who permits smoking in the unit. The Board of Managers can also indicate a specific date in the future at which point no resident may smoke in the building including within the unit.
If the Board of Managers has the authority under the By-Laws to fine a unit owner who smokes in a unit and the smoke enters another unit, it may impose such a fine. Absent such a provision, the Board or offended unit owner could sue the owner who smokes for monetary damages and an order enjoining the owner from smoking.
The Guide titled, Issues to Consider-Smoking and Second Hand Smoking in Multi-Unit Residential Buildings, is easily accessed on the member’s only side of REBNY.com. Go to ‘Just for Managers’ and click on ‘RMC Subcommittees” for the full document.
From REBNY memo April 25, 2012.
In the News
Posted by: | Comments4/25/12 ‘Sex and the City’ Townhouse sold for $9.85 million: The home at 64 Perry Street, listed for $9.65 million in early March with sold for $9.85 million, according to city records. Read the full article at The New York Observer
4/26/12 Useful Vocabulary for Building Watchers: Here are a few architectural definitions that anyone who wants fluency in New York architecture will find useful. Read the full story in the New York Times
4/26/12 Prudential Douglas Elliman releases “The Elliman Report: Long Island Sales 1Q 2012”: Mild winter weather brought consumers into the market earlier than usual, causing the number of signed contracts in the Long Island housing market to jump from year ago levels. Housing prices were mixed, as buyers of lower priced properties took advantage of record low mortgage rates. Although properties took slightly longer to sell, listing inventory fell to its lowest first quarter total in six years. Despite the slow improvement in the national economy, we are encouraged by the state of the market in 2012. See the full report
4/26/12: Prudential Douglas Elliman releases “The Elliman Report: Hamptons & North Fork Sales 1Q 2012”: The Hamptons and North Fork housing markets showed stability in both price and sales activity. Just as we have seen in prior quarters, the high end of the market continued to show strength. While it took somewhat longer to sell a typical property this quarter, listing inventory continued to decline. Considering the slow pace of our national economic recovery and tight credit, the East End housing market has continued to hold its own. See the full report
4/27/12: Space Shuttle Enterprise’s Historic Flyover Wow’s New Yorkers: Did you see it? Hundreds of space shuttle shuttle fans braved the chilly temperatures and biting wind Friday Morning along the Hudson River here to catch a glimpse of NASA’s prototype orbiter as it flew past the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum it will soon call home. See the full article on Yahoo! News
4/27/12: Threats, stormy Exits and…: The setting for the closing on an apartment in the East 50s was a lawyer’s office. Things seemed to be going well between the sellers until the wife found out the price her husband had received for the apartment. This is New York City, where real estate transactions can literally take on the trappings of a blood sport. Unlike most other parts of the country, it is a place where lawyers are invariably involved in the transaction; at the very least, this increases the number of people around the table. Read the full article in the New York Times
4/27/12 Brokers See Bright Future for 2012’s Residential Real Estate Market: The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has released the results of its Residential Brokers Survey for the first quarter of 2012. With the unseasonably warm weather and favorable market conditions, brokers saw an uptick in activity this quarter and are optimistic about next quarter. Of the brokers surveyed, 69 percent reported that they thought the first quarter of 2012 was better than the previous quarter. Additionally, 76 percent of brokers reported that they expect the second quarter of 2012 to be better than the first, a 16 percent increase from last quarter.
Their optimism was based on the improving activity in the market. The survey found that 70 percent of brokers reported completing executed contracts of sale this quarter, a nine percent increase from last quarter. Another highlight from the first quarter of 2012 was that 74 percent of brokers reported closing rental transactions at or above asking prices, which is a 13 percent increase from this time last year. In addition, 26 percent of the brokers reported closing sales at or above asking price, a nine percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2011 and a 4 percent increase from the first quarter 2011.
“Brokers feel changes in the market first and we count on them to help us gauge where the market is headed,” said REBNY President Steven Spinola. “Based on the survey results, it’s clear that broker’s optimism is coming from an improving market and that their view that 2012 will be a strong year for New York City real estate is justified.”
The survey also found a near perfect record of 99 percent of brokers reporting that they received a coop board approval in less than 90 days from the time a completed coop board application was submitted.
Similar to last quarter’s findings the top features/amenities this quarter were: 1) doorman building, 2) laundry in unit, 3) private storage space, and 4) on-site fitness center.
The survey was sent to REBNY’s Residential Broker Members. 404 brokers took the survey this quarter. See the REBNY Q1 2012 Residential Broker’s Survey Results
In the News
Posted by: | Comments4/9/12 Lux Life: 3 Pads sold for over 20M last week: Despite the Easter and Passover holidays, the affluent pulled out the stops in Manhattan, snapping up the former Fifth Avenue homes of a famous financier and a copper heiress. Read the full article at Crain’s New York Business
4/12/12: Audits Find Flaws in City’s Property Assessments: The audits note that for many years the city used one methodology, called net income capitalization, to determine property valuations. For the 2008-9 fiscal year, the city switched to another method, called gross income multiplier. Then, without advance notice to homeowners, it reverted to the original methodology for the 2011-12 fiscal year. Read the full article in the New York Times
4/13/12 Exclusive 1st Quarter 2012 Elliman Report for the Miami, Florida Market: The Miami housing market experienced the highest market share of non-distressed sales in several years, with a surge in both condo and single-family sales activity. The luxury and the non-distressed markets both continued to see upward pressure on prices. Distressed sales activity is expected to pick back up over the next year, which will help the market gain better footing for the long term. Foreign buyers continue to play a key role in driving sales demand, incentivized by the weak US Dollar. We anticipate an active Miami housing market over the next several quarters. Read the report from Prudential Douglas Elliman
Where to Eat on the Upper East Side
Posted by: | Comments
View Michael Lomonaco in a larger map
Michael Lomonaco shares some of his Upper East Side Favorites
Pizza by the Slice: Italian Village
Pizza by the Pie: John’s Pizzeria
Cheap Burger: J.G. Melon
Fancy Burger: Jones Wood Foundry
Sandwich: 2nd Ave Deli
Coffee: Oren’s Daily Roast
Bagels: Tal Bagels
Chinese: Pig Heaven
Breakfast: E.A.T
Bar: Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle
Ice Cream/Gelato: Sant Ambroeus
Falafel: Melange Food Fair
Late Night Eats: Cascabel Taqueria
Date night: Crown
Can’t-miss Neighborhood Spot: Sandoro’s
From Serious Eats NY
In the News
Posted by: | Comments3/30/12 In Manhattan Pizza War, Price of Slice Keeps Dropping: “In the amped-up war of commerce and 75-cent pizza on the Avenue of the Americas in Midtown, a perilous moment is approaching. Circumstances suggest that ravenous New Yorkers might soon witness 50-cent pizza, 25-cent pizza or, yes, free pizza.” Read the full article in the New York Times.
4/2/12 NY ranks as No. 1 global business center: “Thanks to investments in public transportation, cultural amenities and education, New York surpassed London, Paris and Tokyo as the city with the most global clout.” Read the full article at Crain’s NY Business.
Manhattan Residential Co-op & Condo Sales Market Report First Quarter 2012
Posted by: | CommentsToday, we released our First Quarter report for the Manhattan Residenital Co-op & Condo Sales Market. Manhattan Residential Co-op & Condo Sales Market Overview Q1 2012 reported here and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“Employment conditions have continued to slowly improve, inventory levels have remained modest, and new development stabilized, but tight mortgage underwriting conditions remain a challenge to the market.”
- Median sales price was $775,000, 0.9% below $782,071 in the prior year quarter. Price per square foot increased 6%, and average sales price increased 0.8% over the same period.
- The S&P’s downgrade of US debt, paired with the European debt crisis, Wall Street bonus concerns, and large swings in the stock market indices all contributed to the market’s slowed pace leading into the first quarter. As a result, the number of sales slipped 3.5% to 2,311 from 2,394 in the prior year quarter.
- Active listing inventory slipped 0.6% to 7,560 in the first quarter from 7,605 in the prior year quarter, but remained consistent with the 7,478 quarterly average over the past ten years.
- Days on market—the number of days between the last price change, if any, and the contract date—saw a 25-day increase to 152 days from 127 days as older inventory was sold off.
- Listing discount—the percent difference between the list price at time of sale to the sales price—increased to 6.3% from 4.5% in the same period last year.
Survey Says: Sellers Getting Real about Real Estate
Posted by: | CommentsA new survey of 600 Real Estate Professionals conducted by Coldwell Banker reveals that home sellers are more apt to price their home in line with market pressures. It also noted other changes in buyer preferences. The survey also showed what today’s buyers are looking for in a new home.
- 51% of sellers are more willing to price their property competitively than this time last year
- 45 % said sellers are more willing to change the appearance of their homes to entice buyers
- 94% said sellers are clearing clutter and painting or making minor repairs
- 78% said sellers are de-personalizing the home
- 59% said sellers are willing to allow staging with new decorations or furniture
Buyers are going back to the basics valuing new or updated kitchens, bathrooms and open floor plans. Motivating buyers are growing families and job relocation.
Source: “Survey Reveals Sellers More Willing to Price Competitively,” RISMedia
In the News
Posted by: | Comments3/13/12 Luxury Manhattan sales market set to slip following Wall Street’s compensation declines: ”
The high-end Manhattan real estate that has propped up an otherwise stagnant sales market, is likely to begin a decline of its own in 2013 and 2014. According to data from the New York State Comptroller’s office and Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller cited by Bloomberg News, the top 10 percent of the Manhattan condominium and co-op market tends to follow the pattern set by Wall Street bonuses two years earlier.” Get more informaiton at TheRealDeal.com
3/14/12 Rent Study Finds NYC Cheaper Than Long Island, New Jersey: “In what will be a surprise to many New Yorkers, the city isn’t the most expensive place in the country to rent a modest two-bedroom apartment, a new report released has found. In fact, it’s not even the most expensive rental market in the region.” Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal
3/15/12 Pension Reform Announced: “Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos today announced the passage of a sweeping pension reform plan that will save state and local governments more than $80 billion over the next 30 years. New York City taxpayer savings will account for $21 billion of this savings. Our legislative leaders have shown extraordinary determination and deserve immense credit for addressing the critical fiscal challenges facing state and local government.” Read the Governor’s Press Release and Mayor Bloomberg’s Statement
3/15/12 NY State lawmakers to allow casino gambling: “New York state lawmakers have agreed to legalize public casinos and will amend the state constitution to allow seven new casinos to operate, lawmakers said on Wednesday.” Read the full article at Reuters.com
In the News
Posted by: | Comments3/5/12 Pre-K Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Child a Seat: Thousands of families apply to pre-Kindergarten each year, seeking an experience for their child that is more educational than daycare but not as expensive as private school. But demand is so high that there aren’t enough seats to go around, which means that the most sought-after programs remain harder to get into than an Ivy League college. Read the artlicle at DNAinfo.com
3/6/12 NYC sees biggest building permit rise since crash: Number of permits for demolition work soars nearly 37% in the first two months of year, while the number of permits to put up new buildings jumps almost 43%. Levels are still well below pre-2008 peaks. Read more about it at Crain’s New York.
3//8/12 Apartment bargains melted away in warm Feb.: Unseasonable temperatures bring out more customers and landlords respond by cutting concessions and even hiking some rents. A “disappointi9ng season” for tenants seen. Read the full article at Crain’s New York
3/8/12 Stunning gains for city economy: The city economy grew nearly twice as fast in 2011 as initially thought, according to data released Thursday, and jobs boomed in January. Read the article at Crain’s New York.
3/9/12 Crumbling East 81st Street Pedestrian Bridge Set for Makeover: Months after cutting the ribbon on a stainless steel pedestrian bridge at East 78th Street, the city is moving forward with tackling the next decaying walkway connecting the neighborhood to the East River waterfront. Read the article at DNAinfo.com
How’s the Market?
Posted by: | CommentsWhile Quarterly Sales Reports show closed activity for the previous quarter, monthly Contract Signed reports are the ‘crystal ball’ of closed sales to come. Granted all contracts signed for any given month may not close in the next month, and some may not close at all but most (over 95%) will become closed sales which will become part of the next Quarterly Sales Report.
In the following charts and graphs you can see how the market stacks up against last month and this month last year.
The Faith Report – Winter 2012 Warming Up in Winter
Posted by: | CommentsWe may be in the depths of winter, but we’re already at the height of activity for new stores, restaurants and hotels. New York City remains the center of the world for designers and diners, with a number of new hotels readying to house our many visitors (50 million plus last year). From new or relocating designers to coffee shops to luxury condotels, it’s still hot in the city! ~ by Faith Hope Consolo
The end of a quarter brings a blizzard of Residential Sales and Rental Market Reports; followed by a spurt of press coverage spinning and analyzing the reports. But here’s a report that’s different
The Faith Report reads like a who’s who of luxury retailers.
From Madison Avenue to 5th Avenue and the Upper East Side, across Central Park on the Upper West Side down to Union Square, the West Village, Soho, Nolita, Tribeca and to the Lower East Side, the Faith Report alerts you to the newest digs for your favorite designers and other trend-setting retailers.
New York Retail Leasing Activity Report created by Faith Consolo Chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Leasing and Sales Division.
In the News
Posted by: | Comments2/5/12: Big Ticket: $19,000,000 - “A Condominium at Trump International Hotel and Tower that sold for $19million was the biggest sale of the week, according to city records.” Read the entire article in the New York Times.
2/10/12: More rooms at more inns loom in NY’s future - “City saw at least a dozen new hotels bow in 2011, with no less than 40 more expected to follow in the next 30 months; YOTEL was the only addition to the Top 25 hotels, with 669 rooms.” Read the whole article at Crain’s New York.
2/14/12: Uzbekistan Cancels Valentine’s Day – Who needs love when you can celebrate the birthday of Mughal Emperor Babur? Uzbekistan has canceled Valentine’s Day — or at least a yearly concert by Rayhan, a popular singer who traditionally croons during Feb. 14 celebrations. Instead, the government is trying to push the appreciation of Babur, who’s a descendent of Genghis Kahn and helped spread an empire across South and Central Asia. Basically, its a rebellion against Western influences. Instead of candy hearts and valentines, the government will schedule commemorative readings and poetry festivals.
2/14/12: Big Deal Rental: Just-sold CPW mansion to hit rental market for $110,000 a month – “A 13-room townhouse at 247 Central Park West recently sold by the former president of handbag company Coach, is now set to hit the rental market in the next few days for a staggering $110,000 per month” Read more about it at The Real Deal
2/14/12 Want a Date? Buy a Home: In a survey of 1,000 single people, more than a third of women and 18% of men said they would much rather date a homeowner than a renter. Read about it at CNNMoney.com
2/16/12 Big Deal Brazil Booms and Brokers Smile: “Many of the Brazilian buyers in New York are professionals in their 30s and 40s, often tied to commodities or the finance sector, which has made many Brazilians rich from a flurry of I.P.O.’s in recent years. Brazilians favor addresses along Central Park on the Upper East Side or in Midtown near Lincoln Center, where many have season tickets, brokers say.” Read about it in the New York Times
2/22/12 A tour of beer heiress’ UES apartment, on market for $14M: :Beer heiress gives a tour of her New York City apartment at the Stanhope, on the Upper East Side, in a video from the New Yorker, via the Real Estalker blog.” Read about it and see the video at the Real Deal.
2/22/12 MTA to make late-night house calls along Second Avenue Subway construction site: “Rather than take Upper East Siders’ word, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials want to experience sleepless nights along Second Avenue for themselves. According to the New York Post, transit officials plan to make late-night visits to apartments near the Second Avenue Subway construction site that has elicited constant noise complaints from neighbors.” Read more at the Real Deal
2/25/12 Subway Entrances? Not on Our Block: “…fears running along 69th Street near Lexington Avenue, home to the Union Club, neo-Georgian homes and carriage houses. They are fears normally associated with the less-charming realities of urban life, like a homeless shelter or a late-night dive bar. But in this case, they are focused on something quite different: new entrances to a subway station.” Read the whole article in the New York Times.
NYC Department of Education Adds PS 527, Redraws Zones for PS 151, PS 290 and PS 158
Posted by: | CommentsOn December 14, 2011, Community Education Council 2 voted to change the current zones for P.S. 151, P.S. 290, and P.S. 158 to open a new school, P.S.5427, in the Our Lady of Good Counsel building located at 323 E 91st St. . The approved changes for the 2012-2013 school year may be found in the map provided below.
The change will affect incoming kindergarten students and students new to public schools who live within the zones. All currently enrolled students may remain at their current school. Kindergarten students with siblings who are in an existing zone will be grandfathered as an in-zone sibling.
Further information can be found at the NYC Department of Education website
