HPD released more details this week on a Request For Proposals to develop a mixed use property with between 100 and 250 apartments in the Main Street, Flushing area. Responses are due October 10th.
That would be a boost for Queens, the only borough where new residential building permits fell year to year and quarter to quarter in the first three months of 2014, according to a Furman Center report. Citywide, new building permits were down from the last quarter of 2013, but up from a year ago, and 40 percent of the new units planned are in Brooklyn.
Seems like more and more property owners are worried about Hurricane Season, according to the New York Observer. Existing properties are buying removable flood barriers, moving mechanicals, buying generators and reconfiguring entrances. And new buildings are incorporating all that and more. The season runs from June 1st to November 30th, but tends to get busier in the fall.
The Department of Buildings is running two more training sessions on new buildings codes in September. Revisions, effective Oct. 1st, affect excavations, demolition, site housekeeping, concrete formwork safety, sidewalk sheds, safety nets, adjoining property protection, site safety at major buildings, rigging, and scaffold safety.
What do those codes cost? The National Association of Homebuilders this week released a study on the effects of regulations and fees adding $883 to the cost of construction, which they calculated added $1,000 to the selling price on average. The bottom line in the New York metro area was that every $1,000 increase in home prices made homes less affordable to 5,742 households.
Today is technically the deadline to enroll in the Fall electric and gas group contract being organized by the ABO -FS Energy Program. If you do not have time to call, have someone from your office get on this now. FS Energy has saved 300 buildings almost $13 million on energy costs, with rates averaging 16 percent below Con Ed on electricity. Check out this website or call program manager Thom Devlin at (646) 284-5230 for more information. Today.