Location is one thing, but locations near the park are something else. CBRE just did an analysis that found commercial rents facing parks such as the High Line, Madison Square or Bryant Park averaged 44 percent higher than rents just a block away.
Residential rents are affected by regulation as well as location, so a State Supreme Court decision in Baron vs. Laurence Towers helps clarify the legal rent in cases where apartments were deregulated due to high rent and then re-regulated under the Roberts decision. The court followed the Appellate term decision in 72A Realty Associates vs. Lucas in finding that the new legal rent was based on the rent charged four years prior to the complaint…and not four years prior to the Roberts decision or when the unit was first deregulated. This is one of several consistent decisions that seem to be shaping the law in the absence of clarifying legislation from Albany. It specifically says the owners should not be penalized for failing to register the units when it was not required under the rules generally understood at the time.
Optimism seems to breed optimism. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI), released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) yesterday, improved for the eighth consecutive quarter with an index level of 54. It is the highest reading since the second quarter of 2005. Multifamily starts are running at 200,000 a year nationally, up from 110,000 in 2009 and 2010, but still down from about 300,000 per year average for twelve years before that.
Now that you are back at work after Labor Day, it is time to think about getting out of town again — perhaps to Las Vegas, January 22-24th, for the International Builders Show. Registration for ABO members and spouses is free during September at this link.
Meanwhile, see you Wednesday at our seminar on The Future of Management