The City quietly released the 2011 Housing Vacancy Report last week, finding that there was a 3.12 percent housing vacancy rate (about par for a recession), that the housing stock was up to a record 3.35 million units, and that housing conditions were the best in the 46 year history of the survey. The vacancy rate for apartments renting for over $2500 per month was 5.26 percent. There were also a record 164,000 units unavailable for sale or rent, mostly either being renovated or only used seasonally. If my math is correct, about 15,600 of the seasonal or occasional use apartments are regulated units in Manhattan.

The Appellate Division, First Department, yesterday found in Nestor v. Britt that landlords could not relocate an elderly tenant to an unregulated unit at a subsidized rent when seeking owner occupancy. The law requires relocation to an equal or superior regulated unit even though “It may be, as landlords argue, that the offer of an equivalent or superior stabilized housing unit in close proximity to tenant’s Upper East Side triplex apartment is not, realistically speaking, ‘an option in the current real estate market.’ ” Of course, that begs the question of whether that makes rent regulation unconstitutional in those neighborhoods where the rent laws prevent owner occupancy.

ABO is cosponsoring the National Realty Club lunch Thursday with Peter M. Locke, Principal, Head of Real Estate Investing at Blackacre Capital Management, LLC, the real estate arm of Cerberus Capital, a $14 billion hedge fund. ABO members pay the NRC member rate. Join us at noon at the Palm West, 250 West 50th St. Reservations required.

Greg Carlson, David Buchwalter and I ventured to Orlando last week for a RAM (Registered in Apartment Managers) Board of Governors meeting and a tour of the International Builders Show, sponsored by NAHB.

I was impressed by the smallest and largest things I saw at the show. A couple of vendors were showing a replacement electric socket that incorporates USB ports along with three-prong plugs. You can plug your I-Pod, Blackberry, cell phone, or tablet in directly, without littering the floor with adapters.

Others, including Rainwater Collections Solutions, were offering expandable polymer tanks to store storm water, up to 200,000 gallons. With New York City planning to limit storm water runoff from new buildings, developers are looking at virtual bathtubs on their roofs or creative ways to squeeze the water into other spaces. Flexible tanks and liners may be part of the answer.

Back in New York, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gave a State of the City address widely believed to be the kickoff for her mayoral campaign. On housing, she said that “HPD is going to start requiring sixty year affordability in many of our biggest developments.”

She also will introduce legislation with Council Member Gale Brewer so that “Instead of just fixing water damage, landlords will have to repair the hole in the roof that’s causing it.”

It is not clear what the specifics will be, or whether the council members know that many violations are already written to require correction of underlying conditions.

Finally, there are a few seats left for our Thursday panel: Builder vs. Operator: Design that Owners and Managers can live with. Call 212 385-4949 to reserve your free seat.

Mayor Bloomberg’s 2013 budget proposal issued yesterday holds the line on tax rate increases, but anticipates 3.3 percent growth in property taxes from assessment increases. There are also a bunch of fine and fee increases, including:

More than $8 million from a new Fire Department Safety Protocol Inspection Fee, requiring City Council approval.

Another million from doubling Fire Department plan review fees.

Another million from increasing Fire Department fines enforced by the Environmental Control Board.

Another $4 million in DOB penalties for work without a permit, elevator, and boiler violations.

And another $500,000 in asbestos fines.

The State Attorney General’s Real Estate is entering the digital age, sort of. As of April 1st, condo and coop offering plans will have to be made available to prospective purchasers in digital format, if they request it, and sponsors will have to prepare a notarized paper affidavit of mailing the cd.

Anyone going to the International Builders Show in Orlando next week is invited to a New York State cocktail party Wednesday evening. Call Dan Margulies in the ABO office for details by Monday.

Sign up today for ABO’s Feb. 16th panel Builder vs. Operator. Design that Owners and Managers can live with.

Construction related accidents were down 18 percent in New York City in 2011, despite a 7.7 percent increase in construction permits. City officials credited new safety codes and government outreach programs to developers. The biggest increase in permits was for minor alterations, New building permits were only up from 1,517 to 1,523 but major alteration permits climbed 7.1 percent from 2,878 to 3,081.

A key City Council committee approved the proposed Brooklyn Skyscraper landmark district despite strong real estate industry opposition. As a tradeoff, however, there is a move to allow storefront landmark reviews citywide to be conducted more rapidly by Landmarks staff rather than through lengthy public reviews.

The Appellate Division, First Department, clarified stabilized apartment succession rights when a tenant tries to hide that they’ve moved out. In Third Lenox Terrace vs. Edwards, the tenant’s sister moved in with her in 1995 and might have been entitled to succession when the tenant moved out in 1998, but the tenant pretended to still be in the apartment and paid the rent until the owner brought a non primary action in 2005. The sister claimed succession rights. The court held that because the sister did not live together with the tenant in the apartment  for the two years immediately prior to the succession claim, 2003-2005, she was not entitled to the apartment.

It will be illegal to sell or install carpets, carpet pads  or adhesives that emit excessive volatile organic compounds, i.e. harmful chemical vapors, after July 1, 2013 according to a new city law enacted this week.

Tentative fiscal 2013 property assessments are finally online a few days late. The city’s $6 million computer that crunches the numbers was not working right, at first. Class 2 market values are up an average of  3.6 percent, but assessments are up 5.15 percent thanks in part to transitional assessment increases.

Governor Andrew Cuomo had little to say about housing in his executive budget message this week, but did propose an additional $8 million annually in Low Income Housing Tax Credits for five years. He said that equates to an additional 600 apartments a year.

Two interesting articles you may have missed this week. Crains profiled Joseph Ficarola of New York Community Bank. NYCB provides financing for 85,000 units in 3000 buildings, three times as many as any other bank in town, and has a negligible default rate. Naturally, some activists attack them for making the loans.  And Nicole Gelinas had a good column in the Post about the constitutional challenge to NY rent regulations that the Supreme Court is considering whether to consider.

Be sure to sign up for our Jan. 25th luncheon on the commercial real estate market, and look for the invitation to our Feb. 16th panel – Builder vs. Operator: Design that Owners and Managers Can Live With.

Can you say: redundant?

Amidst $25 billion or so in unfunded infrastructure spending, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed one thing in his state of the state speech this week that he can do administratively: create a new Tenant Protection Unit within the Division of Homes and Community Renewal. The unit would proactively investigate owners who may be involved in fraudulent schemes to deregulate apartments,  commence overcharge proceedings, and prosecute owners who fail to maintain basic building services.

We also have to note, as sponsors of Buildings/NY, that while NYC needs a bigger convention center, the biggest complaint we hear about the Javits Center from attendees is that it is too far away and hard to get to. Aqueduct?

The Department of Environmental Protection is holding a series of workshops over the next few weeks on online filing under the Community Right to Know law that tracks the use and storage of hazardous materials. Call 718-595-4436 for a schedule and reservations. Residential buildings without commercial or manufacturing tenants are generally exempt, but watch out if you have a dry cleaners.

An Advisory Committee to the Centers for Disease Control recommended this week that the blood lead level considered hazardous to children be lowered, potentially doubling the number of kids considered lead poisoned or at risk. Before it would have any impact here the CDC, NY City Council and Dept. of Health would all have to act, and it’s not clear what they could do. The report noted that  investigations already often fail to identify a single source or risk factor for children with low blood lead levels, and the challenge is even greater for lower level exposures . It is also not even clear whether abatement or so-called interim controls have much effect at the low levels being discussed.

Most of the carbon monoxide detectors installed more than five years ago will have to be replaced in the new year under legislation signed by the Mayor on Tuesday. The law requires building owners to replace units either within six months from the effective date of the law (120 days from signing) or when their useful life has expired, whichever is later. The typical useful life is 5 to 7 years and most detectors were installed shortly after they were first required in 2004, so time is up in most cases.

The original law required owners to keep a record of installation, so if you have the manufacturer, model, and date of installation you could look up the useful life. Under the new law, owners can charge tenants the same $25 fee for replacement as they could for a new unit, if the useful life is expired. Tenants are still responsible for ordinary maintenance.

Under national standards adopted in 2009 and the new City law, all new carbon monoxide detectors have to have an audible alarm, similar to a low battery alarm, when their useful life is expiring.

Co-op and condo sponsors could face more litigation after a Court of Appeals Ruling this week in Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd., v. J. P. Morgan Investment Management Inc.  While the case had nothing to do with housing, it reversed a commonly held belief that the Martin Act, empowering the State Attorney General to regulate securities disclosures, pre-empted a private right of action. The court decided that plaintiff’s common-law claims for breach of fiduciary duty and gross negligence are not preempted by the Act. This could open the door to more shareholder and resident suits.

In a double whammy for property owners, the court also opened the door for Scaffold Law liability on dumpsters. In Ortiz v. Varsity Holdings, LLC, it denied summary judgment in a case where a worker trying to make room in a dumpster fell off the edge onto the street. The case was sent back to the lower courts to determine if safety equipment should have been provided. Now the courts will have to consider if every dumpster needs a scaffold or safety harness of some sort.

Speaking of injuries, the Building Congress analyzed 2010 Census data to determine that the number of uninsured workers in the construction industry rose 4 percent to 49 percent last year. The total number of jobs continued to fall.

The City Planning Department began the formal review process this week for  Zone Green code changes that will allow walls to exceed FAR limits for insulation, and allow rooftop solar installation to go over height limits, as part of a comprehensive plan to remove zoning obstacles to energy efficiency.

Is your new building or major alteration application stalled in a Dept. of Buildings borough office? If you are ready to resubmit the plans electronically you can now transfer the application to the new Development Hub and get a full team review with City examiners, your architect or engineer and yourself in a virtual meeting online. DOB is ready for the 21st century. Are you?

While the US Attorney continues Fair Housing cases against NY developers who complied with local accessibility codes but didn’t meet federal standards, a Texas district court judge has ruled in United States v. JPI Construction that compliance with the federal safe harbor standards is not mandatory and that developers can attempt to prove to a jury that their buildings are accessible within the spirit of the law and that they had no intent to discriminate.

Mayor Bloomberg signed legislation Wednesday allowing property owners to pay a $250 fine and certify heat violations are corrected within 24 hours of notice being affixed to a building — tolling daily fines. The local law also created a new $200 inspection fee when a third or subsequent violation is issued in the same heating season.

You can now buy an urban umbrella instead of an old-fashioned sidewalk shed. E-mail urbanumbrella@agenciegroup.com  to order one.

Two constitutional cases on rent regulation were in the news this week.  The Queens League of United Tenants challenge to whether owners could apply guidelines to legal rents when they had leases for lower preferential rents was rejected by state courts. Meanwhile, the city has until January 4th to answer a challenge by upper West Side property owner James Harmon in the US Supreme Court. Unfortunately, at this time, the high court is only considering whether an owner can make certain types of arguments rather than the direct question of whether decades of regulations have become a taking. If Harmon wins, however, he can go back to the lower courts on the takings issue.

Wondering what to do with your energy benchmarking information? City officials, NYSERDA and Con Edison are presenting a free workshop on interpreting the results, prioritizing improvements, and financial assistance for multifamily buildings December 12th and commercial buildings December 13th. Both programs are from 3-5 at REBNY, 570 Lexington Ave. E-mail Zachary.shelin@cadmusgroup.com with your name and company for info or reservations.

Governor Cuomo’s budget and tax deal was taken up in the Senate just 26 minutes after publication and then approved by both houses Wednesday night. The Governor was the first to note how he had achieved bipartisan action on issues that Washington could not. The next day he doled out a billion dollars for economic development projects statewide, including a few million for affordable housing and accessibility programs in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. About $845,000 will go to the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, founded by Assemblyman Vito Lopez (chair of the Assembly housing committee), despite multiple investigations of the Council for corruption.

If you missed last week’s terrific ABO gala, or just want to relive it in pictures, check out these photo galleries. Gallery 2 has most of the table shots.

Gallery 1

Gallery 2