Adams promises transformation at NYCHA- POLITICO – POLITICO

Good morning and welcome to the Monday edition of the New York Real Estate newsletter. We’ll take a look at what you might have missed last week, and we’ll also take a look at the week ahead.

Quick Fix

Mayor Eric Adams had a message for state legislators on Friday as they consider a proposal his administration is pushing to help stabilize the city’s public housing: “Fixing NYCHA can’t be a soundbite.”

The proposal, known as the preservation trust, would allow the beleaguered authority to transfer a portion of its apartments to a new public benefit corporation that would be controlled by a board of NYCHA and City Hall appointees, including resident leaders. Officials say it would allow the agency to tap into new funding sources to repair its crumbling housing stock.

“If it’s not the land trust, then I’m hoping they come up with how we fund this,” Adams said at a press conference on Friday. “If we’re not going to do land trust, if we’re not going to do [Rental Assistance Demonstration], how [do] we fund it? We need $30-something billion, so we have to come up with a way to transform these apartments.”

Proponents of the trust say NYCHA has few other options, with a $40 billion capital backlog and a sufficient influx of federal money unlikely. The proposal — which has been opposed by some resident leaders and legislators — was approved by the Assembly housing committee earlier this month and will come before the body’s codes committee on Monday. Whether it will ultimately be approved by both chambers of the Legislature remains unclear, with little time left in this year’s session.

The issue has been one of the Adams administration’s biggest priorities in Albany, but the mayor suggested Friday he’s done making his case.

“We presented our case in Albany, it’s up to Albany to make the determination and I respect whatever decision that they come out with,” he said.

The mayor joined other elected officials and tenant leaders at a public housing development in Williamsburg to announce $434 million in repairs across NYCHA buildings in Brooklyn through a controversial program, known as RAD/PACT, which outsources the management of public housing apartments to private firms.

“We have to move from a place of no to everything,” the mayor said. “Because we said yes, these residents moved from one state of living to another state of living.”

He pledged to overhaul the struggling housing authority over the next four years. “Four years later, I’m not going to be the mayor of this city where NYCHA is still in the condition that it’s in,” Adams said.

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Policy and Politics

LAW AND DISORDER — “Coalition of co-ops, building owners sues to block Local Law 97,” by Crain’s Caroline Spivack: “A coalition of cooperatives and building owners is suing the city to block Local Law 97, which imposes ambitious greenhouse gas emissions caps on most buildings larger than 25,000 square feet. Building owners have until 2024 to comply with the limits—as well as increasingly strict standards in 2030 and 2050—or face fines. The lawsuit, filed Thursday night in state Supreme Court, is led by two Queens cooperatives—Glen Oaks Village and Bay Terrace Cooperative Section I—and their respective board presidents, along with the owner of a mixed-used Manhattan building, 9–11 Maiden Lane. The suit names the city and its Department of Buildings as defendants. The legal challenge calls the law ‘ill-conceived and unconstitutional,’ taking issue with the annual fines levied on buildings that fail to comply with the caps: $268 per metric ton over limits.”

HOUSEKEEPING — “Speaker wants NYC to double its spending on affordable housing,” by Gothamist’s Chau Lam: “In her first State of the City speech, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Sunday proposed spending an extra $4 billion in the next fiscal year to build and preserve affordable housing, nearly doubling the amount proposed by the mayor. Many New Yorkers have no access to housing and those who do spend a disproportionate amount of their incomes on rent, Adams said before an audience assembled at York College in Jamaica, Queens. ‘The foundation of health for every neighborhood in our city is safe and stable housing,’ Adams said to applause. Adams became the first Black City Council speaker in January when her colleagues elected her to be their leader. In her address on Sunday laying out her vision for New York City, the speaker also touched on increasing access to food and parks, expanding economic opportunities, reducing violence and improving New Yorker’s physical and mental health.”

TIP ME: Something going on readers should know about? Have a tip or a story idea? Email us at [email protected].

Around New York

BIG DEAL — “Aby Rosen teams up with Rolling Stone publisher on $290M office deal,” by The Real Deal’s Rich Bockmann: “Aby Rosen closed the book on his latest office deal with help from an unlikely source. Rosen’s RFR Holding teamed up with Variety and Rolling Stone publisher Penske Media Corporation to finalize his $290 million purchase of 475 Fifth Avenue, where the glossy magazine company has its headquarters. Penske Media contributed 50 percent of the equity in the partnership, a source familiar with the purchase told The Real Deal. Representatives for RFR and Penske did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Rosen closed his purchase from Nuveen Real Estate Thursday with a $260 million loan, Commercial Observer reported. Citigroup and JPMorgan teamed up on the senior mortgage, while PCCP provided mezzanine debt.”

SKY’S THE LIMIT — “New York City Condo Sells for $55 Million in One of the City’s Biggest Deals of the Year,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Katherine Clarke: “A full-floor apartment at Aman New York, a luxury condominium on New York City’s Billionaires’ Row, has closed for $55 million, a spokesman for the project confirmed. The deal is one of the most expensive to close in the city so far this year, local agents said. The apartment comprises the full 22nd floor of the condominium, which occupies the upper levels of the Crown Building near the southeast corner of Central Park. The asking price was roughly $62.5 million, according to the offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General’s office. The unit comprises roughly 6,300 square feet and four bedrooms, according to the offering plan.”

OFFICE WATCH — “Boutique LES office scores blockchain firm as anchor tenant,” by The Real Deal’s Lois Weiss: “A new, glass-encased boutique office and retail project in the Bowery has landed an anchor tenant. San Francisco-based Solana Labs, has agreed to lease the top four floors of 141 East Houston Street, a ground-up project by East End Capital, Grandview Partners and KPG Funds. The firms acquired the site by buying the Sunshine Theater in 2017 for $31.5 million. In announcing the lease, the firms identified the tenant only as ‘a global leader in the blockchain space,’ but it was revealed to The Real Deal by other industry sources. ‘We built 141 East Houston with the vision of attracting leading companies in tech forward industries,’ said Jonathon Yormak, East End’s founder and managing principal.”