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Technology and media are benefitting Broadway in a big way, as Facebook expands its office space in Manhattan’s Midtown South neighborhood—exercising a lease option that will give it 60 percent more room to spread out.
The social networking firm initially leased 100,000 square feet of space at 770 Broadway for its offices and will add 60,000 square feet after exercising an expansion option in its lease that it wasn’t expected to for two years. CRE experts have speculated that the tech and media boom in the Midtown South submarket pushed the company to act sooner.
The Real Estate Roundtable’s latest quarterly Sentiment Survey has some good news for CRE owners and investors: U.S. commercial real estate markets continue their gradual recovery from recession—as reflected by improving fundamentals, transaction volumes, and capital flows—and will probably remain on a modestly upward trajectory over the coming year.
In some good news for New York City commercial real estate, an overwhelming majority of survey participants have changed their outlook on the fate of Lower Manhattan real estate post-Hurricane Sandy. Of more than 100 executives surveyed by accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP, only 6 percent said they believe property values in Lower Manhattan will drop in 2014. Last year, nearly a third of the respondents forecast a drop in real estate prices for the area.
The findings from a recent CIT Group Inc. survey may make 2014 a little brighter for the CRE industry. That’s because middle-market commercial real estate executives are expressing cautious optimism toward the market and are looking to take advantage of long-term investment opportunities, which bodes well for CRE overall. However, the majority are finding that the current tax and regulatory climate is placing a strain on the performance of their companies.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that New York State is increasing its support for Steiner Studios’ media campus project in north Brooklyn, bringing its total financial assistance to $11.3 million. The contributions will enable the largest film company outside of Hollywood to finance the $137 million infrastructure project that will convert the long-vacant naval hospital annex at the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a hub for media, technology, and film-related businesses.
A former shopping mall will be the new site of Google, Inc. after what has been described as the year’s biggest commercial real estate lease deal so far in Silicon Valley. The mall, which is being revamped into office space, is in Mountain View, Calif.
Google isn’t the only tech company that has caught onto the concept of using retail properties as company campuses. A provider of Web-based computing services paid $32.7 million for an abandoned, 1.2 million-square-foot mall in San Antonio for office space.
A controversial new program that will allow expanding and start-up companies to locate on or near college campuses and receive tax-free benefits for up to 10 years in New York has been the subject of debate among Empire State business owners, real estate brokers, and lawmakers.
Critics of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s START-UP NY program say that existing businesses might suffer and that new businesses that take advantage of the program would have an unfair advantage. Supporters feel that the tax benefits of the program would entice businesses to come to New York and stay there.
Food trucks have unprecedented commercial real estate opportunities now, essentially turning them into tenants in some scenarios. That’s because for some property owners, the presence of these next-generation food trucks at their shopping centers can satisfy a need for diversified food options at a property or otherwise enliven a project. (Although, for others, food trucks may not fit within the tenor of the development, may conflict with a project’s leasing plan, or may otherwise present too many regulatory hurdles for the property owner.
Travelers will have the opportunity to treat themselves to more than just magazines, snacks, and coffee while waiting for flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport. An expansion project at the New York City airport’s Terminal 4 will include upscale specialty shops, brought in by travel retailer Hudson Group. The program includes luxury handbag, clothing, and sunglasses stores, and seven new Hudson travel essentials stores. A souvenir shop is also planned. The stores will open in three phases between May and October 2013.
A New York state judge harshly criticized a major toy retailer recently for using litigation as a tactic in negotiating a new lease for its Times Square store in Manhattan. The court faulted the tenant’s filing of a lawsuit during lease negotiations, emphasizing the fact that a borderline frivolous lawsuit used for negotiation purposes was a waste of taxpayers’ money and New York City’s resources, including its court system.
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