Articles of the week ending February 20th
Vanbarton’s Joey Chilelli Sees the Residential Potential in Your Office Building
By Amanda Schiavo, Commercial Observer
Joey Chilelli of Vanbarton Group is leading major office to residential conversions across Lower Manhattan including 180 Water Street, 160 Water Street, and 77 Water Street as part of the firm’s long term strategy to transform underperforming office buildings into Class A housing.
RXR digs into pockets to keep 450 Lexington Ave. bought for $720M competitive
By Aaron Elstein, Crain’s New York Business
RXR is refinancing and investing roughly $476 million in upgrades at 450 Lexington Avenue to keep the fully leased Midtown tower competitive, primarily to support anchor tenant Davis Polk & Wardwell, as rising renovation costs continue to pressure major Manhattan office landlords.
Pakistan Seeks New Broker For Roosevelt Hotel
By Rich Bockmann, The Real Deal
The government of Pakistan is restarting its search for brokers to secure a joint venture partner for the $4 billion redevelopment of the Roosevelt Hotel site in Midtown Manhattan, ruling out an outright sale and instead planning to retain up to a 50 percent ownership stake in a potential 1.8 million square foot office tower project.
Mamdani’s budget proposal increase taxes, raid reserves
By Jack Grieve, Crain’s New York Business
Zohran Mamdani unveiled a preliminary $127 billion budget that includes a proposed 9.5 percent property tax increase to close a $5.4 billion deficit, while urging Kathy Hochul to instead support higher taxes on wealthy residents and corporations to avoid burdening property owners.
Land Grab for Data Centers Is One More Obstacle to Much-Needed Housing
By Will Parker, WSJ
Surging demand from tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Google for massive data center campuses across Northern Virginia is driving land prices to record levels, outbidding homebuilders and worsening the region’s housing shortage as local officials and residents push back against the rapid industrial expansion.
Vanbarton files plans to alter plaza at 77 Water St
By C. J. Hughes, Crain’s New York Business
Vanbarton Group plans to renovate the public plaza at 77 Water St by removing longtime sculptures and reducing trees as part of its residential conversion of the Financial District office tower.
Verizon backtracks on Manhattan HQ plans
By Katie Burke, CoStar News
Verizon is seeking to sublease nearly 200 000 square feet at Penn 2 just months after signing a long term headquarters lease as it reassesses its office space needs in Manhattan.