Tag Archives: Real Estate

One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center Sparks Bidding War

One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center is in the works (photo courtesy of Gothamist).

Things are heating up in the bid to buy into the as-yet-unfinished One World Trade Center, aka Freedom Tower, a 1,776-foot tower (by the way, didn’t something important in our nation’s history happen in 1776?) that will add 2.6 million square feet of office space to Ground Zero. When the current builder, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, opened up a bidding competition in January, six of the United States’ biggest developers threw their hats in the ring. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the recent dropout of Boston Properties Inc. means that only two finalists remain.

On one side of this epic face-off is the family-run Durst Organization, which has specialized in Midtown apartment and office buildings for the better part of a century and most recently completed the Bank of America Tower in Bryant Park. On the other side is Related Cos., a gargantuan international developer responsible for building such mammoth edifices as Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center.

Continue reading One World Trade Center Sparks Bidding War

Building Vacancies Drop in Battery Park City and Tribeca

Battery Park City and Tribeca Vacancy Rates Drop


Rental Vacancies Dropped in April
Rental Vacancies Dropped in April

Signs of an uptick in the economy are showing. Rental vacancy rates in both Battery Park City and Tribeca/Soho are amongst the lowest in Manhattan. Battery Park City is shows only 1.04% vacancy rate while Tribeca shows half that at a o.52% vacancy rate — according to the Wall Street Journal. It should also be noted that the numbers for Tribeca also include a large section of the Soho area bordering the East Village boundaries.

The rates compiled from Citi-Habitats a real-estate brokerage the city wide vacancy rate was 1.23% of apartments in April were vacant which is a significant drop from April 2009 which was at 2.28%.

For those of us who live here, that’s fantastic news! For those who want to live here — the market is no longer on their side to find housing in our area.

The vacancy rate is inversely proportional to the job market. Lower rental vacancies indicate that there is strength in the job market.

One downside to a low vacancy rate in our area are longer lines at the grocery store. Still good news all around for the economy.

Tyra Banks Bangs It Up in Construction

Tyra Banks Bangs In Battery Park City

Tyra Banks Bangs It Up in Construction
Tyra Banks Bangs It Up in Construction

Love thy neighbor. Even if it is Tyra Banks.

According to several sources in Riverhouse as well as numerous media outlets, Tyra Banks upon living in the neighborhood and is  calling Battery Park City home.

Banks has recently closed on four units at the Riverhouse, located in the northern section of the neighborhood, for a cool $10 million. In true diva style Banks has commenced on construction to merge all four units into a single home for herself.

The constant construction and banging has not gone over well for her new neighbors — leading to several noise complaints to the police, according to an item in New York Post’s Page Six.

In defense of the diva, Battery Park City has been nothing but the mecca of new construction for the last 9 years… what’s a little more banging going to affect us anyhow? Surely after the construction has hammered in its last nail, neighbors will begin to tout that they live in the same building as Tyra Banks or, better yet, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Either way, welcome to the neighborhood, Tyra! So long as you don’t shut down the entire Whole Foods to shop at your leisure, we at BatteryParkCity.com will be glad to see you around.

Brookfield Properties and Battery Park City in Dispute

Brookfield and BPCA in Collection Dispute

Brookfield Properties and Battery Park City in Dispute
Brookfield Properties and Battery Park City in Dispute

It may be summer but things in the Winter Garden just got a little chilly.

According to recent reports, the Battery Park City Authority is seeking $4-$7 Million dollars from Brookfield Properties, owners of The World Financial Center.

The dispute is related to rent income received by Brookfield from one of their former  and largest tenants Lehman Brothers, who decided to vacate and break their lease from One World Financial center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Although Brookfield Properties is the rightful landlord to any and all rent income within the 8 million-square-foot World Financial Center, a portion of all rents are to cover the land lease which is owned by the Battery Park City Authority.

The authority claims that although Brookfield received a lump sum from the broken lease, they did not report their earnings and instead spread out the money over the life of the original lease — spanning several financial statements.

The net effect of this move was an overall decrease in monies owed to the authority.

According to a quote from Sandy Altman, the Authority’s general counsel, “It was a big  blow.”

As of now, the case between both Brookfield Properties and the Battery Park City Authority is currently awaiting the decision of a arbitration panel.

We’ll provide more information when it becomes available.