The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development is seeking to identify developers to participate in rebuilding 1-4 unit homes that were destroyed or substantially damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Responses to a request for proposals are due by June 5th.
The City Water Board late last week adopted the 5.6% rate increase proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection, effective July 1st. Not coincidentally, the Mayor this week noted that the City had spent $20 billion on water infrastructure since 2002.
A strike, Wednesday, by about 100 attorneys and 60 paralegals employed by Legal Service of New York will likely lead to court delays. The last strike, in 1993, lasted for a month.
If you have an older building with past fire code violations you will be more likely to be reinspected as the City moves from cyclical Fire Department inspections to a risk based model. The new model automatically tracks, scores, prioritizes, and then schedules a building for inspection. Currently, the risk model contains characteristics including the building’s construction material, whether or not the building has a sprinkler system, the height and age of the building, last date of inspection and occupancy. The system also captures and tracks violation history and then reschedules follow-up inspections.
Thanks to Labor Law 240, the City is still potentially liable for the 2008 crane accident on East 91st Street. The site was leased by the City to the Education Construction Fund, which, in turn, contracted with a private developer for development of apartments over a school. The City claimed it was not an owner in control of the property under the law and that damage claims against it should be dismissed. The State Supreme Court denied summary judgment, noting that the City had retained some approval of agreements entered into by EDC. Under Labor Law 240’s absolute liability standard, that might be enough to establish that the City still had control of the property. Reforming Labor Law 240 is the New York State Builders Association’s top legislative priority in Albany this year and it is getting some consideration by legislative leaders because it will likely add up to $400 million to the insurance cost of replacing the Tappan Zee bridge.
Don’t forget to reserve your seat at ABO’s June 12th luncheon at the Princeton Club featuring Barry Rudofsky, Managing Member of Bronstein Properties, on the topic:
Family Money to Institutional Money and Back
The evolution of multifamily finance in New York
Buy tickets here, or call 212 385-4949 to reserve.