Friday, February 25, 2011

Tax breaks on real estate deals for people like A-Rod cost city 900M a year


Yankees star Alex Rodriguez will pay virtually no property tax for a $6 million apartment he is buying on the upper West Side.
Rodriguez will be billed around $1,200 this year in real estate tax for his 3,000-square-foot, five-bedroom penthouse with spectacular views of the Hudson River.
Over the next 10 years Rodriguez and his fellow residents will continue to receive huge discounts on their tax, a city housing official said.
For Rodriguez, a full tax bill would be at least $60,000 annually, the latest city assessment records show.

[ Read More...]

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Affordable Housing Policies May Spur Gentrification, Segregation

Manuel Zuniga has lived in Greenpoint since 1982. Back then the neighborhood was plagued with high crime, vacant buildings and a shortage of basic government services. But Zuniga was won over by the ease of the commute to Manhattan, the affordability and the close-knit immigrant community of mostly Latino and Polish residents.

Now with two kids in high school, Zuniga is thankful for the many improvements in the neighborhood over the last decade. "In Greenpoint, my kids got a shot at a good education … and safety-wise, the crime is almost non-existent in the neighborhood, now you can walk around at night without a problem," he said.

[ Read full story...]

Friday, February 18, 2011

Tenants of 'worst building in Bronx' may soon get answer to prayers in form of new landlords

Gladys Gonzalez, a resident of 1553 Bryant Ave., prays each night that the ceiling in her bedroom does not collapse on her before morning.

"I'm afraid....I know the Lord is with me and I pray every night for him to watch over this building," said the 49-year-old Gonzalez. "I know it's the only reason the place hasn't collapsed already."
Her prayers may finally have been answered.

The residents of "the worst building in the Bronx," with the most open housing code violations - 1,255 - may soon find an escape from the horror.Two ex-Wall Street bankers have combined their savings with low-interest city and federal loans to buy the notorious address in Fairmont.[ Read More...]

E-mail May Be Binding, State Court Rules

Naldi v. Grunberg, a recently decided case that reached the New York State Court of Appeals, involved a breach of contract in a commercial real estate transaction.  The court justices ruled that E-mails are binding in real estate negotiations.  Lawyers say that the ruling expands the state's Statute of Frauds, a law that requires all property deals to be agreed in writing.  Read more...

Thursday, February 17, 2011

CITY UNVEILS DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR HUNTER'S POINT SOUTH IN QUEENS

The city has unveiled plans for the largest affordable housing complex since the 1970s.

Phipps Houses, Related Companies and Monadnock Construction were recently designated the developers of the project, worth an estimated $360 million in mixed-use development along waterfront in Queens. The development plan for Hunter's Point South includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.

According to the administration, at least 75 percent of the housing will be permanently targeted to low-, moderate- and middle-income families, up from the 60 percent required by the Request for Proposals. The administration says the first phase of the project would be completed in 2014.
[ Read More...]

CITY PROPOSES TO BAILOUT SPECULATIVE DEVELOPERS

Last Thursday, elected officials and advocates came together to express their concerns about HPD’s proposal to extend 421-a tax breaks to thousands of stalled residential development projects. HPD claims the extension is necessary to spur construction and create jobs. Leaders of the city’s affordable housing community, however, see the extension as an expensive giveaway at a time when the city is making deep cuts to essential services.
At a press conference outside HPD headquarters, Council Member Brad Lander raised questions about the merits of the proposal, which would cost the city upwards of $420 million in foregone tax revenue without a single unit of affordable housing being built. Council Member Jumaane Williams and several advocates, including ANHD, sent a similar message to Mayor Bloomberg, saying, “We need affordable housing. No more bailouts!” [Continue Reading...]

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

All-American Streetcar Boom Fuels Urban Future

President Obama spent the past week talking about his plans to improve America's infrastructure. These speeches sometimes sound like something out of The Jetsons, when the president talks about high-speed rail, futuristic airports and nationwide, broadband Internet.

One growing part of America's infrastructure, however, has a distinctly 19th-century feel. It's the return of the streetcar.

Like so many urban development stories in America, this one begins in Portland, Ore.
Outside the famous Powell's bookstore, a 21st-century streetcar glides to a stop, opens its doors, and lets out a mix of tourists and locals. Modern streetcars have been running in this city for about a decade, and Chandra Brown lives right along their route. [ Continue Reading...]

Mortgage Interest Tax Break No Longer Sacred?

A growing number of experts are calling for an end to a massive tax break for homeowners — the mortgage interest tax deduction.

The tax break puts money into the pockets of millions of American homeowners. Getting rid of it has been politically unthinkable. But a growing number of economists and a deficit-cutting commission are telling Congress the time has come to phase out this sacred tax break for homeowners. [ Read More ]

Friday, February 11, 2011

Governor Cuomo Announces Appointment


Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the following appointment to a senior position within state government.

Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns will be appointed to serve as Commissioner and C.E.O. of New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). Under the consolidation of New York state housing programs the Commissioner also serves as chief executive of the State’s major housing and community renewal agencies, including the Housing Finance Agency and State of New York Mortgage Agency. [ Continue Reading...]

City Weighs Extending a Tax-Break Deadline

The City’s housing department is hoping to kick-start construction at the lots by extending a deadline by which developers must finish their projects to qualify for 421-a tax benefits. Read More...

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Tax Credits For The Poor End Up Going To Luxury Hotels, Big Banks

Taxpayer dollars that were intended to help poor communities are instead being used to finance luxury hotels, according to a new story inBloomberg Markets magazine.
A Federal program, called New Market Tax Credits, gives a substantial tax refund to institutions that bankroll development projects in poor neighborhoods, according to Bloomberg. But in practice, it hasn't always worked out that way. Developers use 10-year-old Census data to claim a neighborhood is low-income and deserving of a jobs-creating development. Many of the neighborhoods receiving taxpayer assistance have since become upscale. Some of the projects being financed are among the most luxurious of their kind. [ Continue Reading ]

Friday, February 4, 2011

Win a $10,000 Prize in Sustainable Housing Challenge!

In Support of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), the Ashoka Changemakers is sponsoring in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Planning Association to launch the Sustainable Urban Hosing: Collaborating for Livable and Sustainable Communities Challenges

This Global challenge seeks to identify promising housing development strategies that are sustainable for low-income areas.  Winning challenge strategies will be awarded a total of $10,000 in June 2011. [ Read More]

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Walking Away: Inside The Nevada Foreclosure Crisis

Almost 1 in 4 of Nevada's foreclosures involved a decision to walk away from the mortgage even though the homeowners could pay, according to a new study.

The practice is called a strategic default, and it's at the heart of the ongoing foreclosure crisis in Nevada — the state that leads the nation in the number of foreclosures.

Nationwide, the number of Americans who are losing their homes due to foreclosure also continues to mount.
Joel Searby, author of the Nevada Association of Realtors' new report, "The Face of Foreclosure," says the decision to walk away is a financial one that people arrive at after examining the value of their home.

[ Read full article from NPR ]

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Latest Victims Of The Foreclosure Crisis: Low-Income Apartment Renters

First, a heating pipe broke in the adjacent apartment, sending a powerful blast of steam into his home along with an unrelenting stench. Then, chunks of the ceiling started falling into his bathroom, and black mold began creeping up the walls. Cockroaches thrived in the suddenly tropical apartment. In December, mice popped up from the gaps between the walls and the baseboards. But each time Sergio Cuevas sought the attention of the landlord, hoping to arrest the deterioration of his apartment in the Bronx, he got nowhere. It was like the management company had ceased to exist. [ Read full story ]

Troubled Bronx Buildings Spur City Crackdown

Concourse — For years, New York City's housing enforcement regime learned about bad buildings only when they got so bad someone complained about them. Under a program launched last week, the city will look for signs that a property is slipping into distress, and act to stop it—hopefully with the negligent owners paying the bill. [ Continue Reading ]

The Legal and Business Case for LEED Certification in the Post-Recession World

As the real estate market begins to recover, property owners, contractors, business tenants, and consumers will be looking for more guidance on what it means to own, build, or occupy a LEED certified building or home.

Before the Great Recession and the near collapse of the commercial real estate market, one of the hottest trends in development was the desire for sustainable buildings and the advent of the private sustainability rating system known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which was created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED quickly caught on not only with private builders, but also local governments looking at ways to encourage sustainable design and practice. Of course, when commercial and residential construction came to a standstill, the LEED discussion shifted and those involved looked to find ways to maintain its vigor. As we discuss later in the article, the USGBC has responded to that need by expanding its rating system and continuing to make revisions to existing systems in order to improve the overall LEED product. [ Click to read full article ]