Spoiler alert: This state budget is not going to have a whole lot of housing-related items.
In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled her executive budget, which focused a great deal on cracking down on institutional investors but not much on spurring new housing construction.
The state Senate and Assembly were aligned with the governor on wanting to curb the ability of such investors to scoop up single- and two-family homes, so it seems likely that some version of these proposals will make it into the final budget. Of course, it is less clear when the budget will be finalized.
The budget is expected to include $1 billion to help build housing in NYC over the next five years, as part of the commitments made for the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The effectiveness of that funding will depend on whether other sources of financing keep up. In a report released last week, the New York Housing Conference argued that projected drops in the city’s capital plan over the next 10 years will mean the state funding will be used to “plug budget holes rather than support additional needs.”
Meanwhile, both a bill aimed at making it easier for religious organizations to build affordable housing on their property and efforts to create a state-based housing voucher program don’t seem to have enough momentum to be included in this year’s budget. I’m hearing that some are hopeful that a measure to change apartment-to-condo conversion rules for certain buildings will be included in the final budget.
Last year’s state budget included a ton of housing-related items, including 485x, good cause eviction, a tax break for office-to-residential conversions and a provision to lift the city’s floor area ratio cap on residential density. All signs point to this year being less substantive than that.
What we’re thinking about: The city will start enforcing composting rules on Tuesday. If you are an owner or property manager, how are you working to comply with the rules? Are you able to? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: This year marks the 50th anniversary of a state Supreme Court decision that found New York’s old property tax system to be unconstitutional, a new report by the Community Service Society and the Progress & Poverty Institute points out. The replacement scheme has “aged poorly,” the report states.
Elsewhere in New York…
— An attorney for Mayor Eric Adams is urging a federal judge to decide this week whether to drop the federal corruption charges against the mayor, Gothamist reports. Attorney Alex Spiro pointed to the Thursday deadline for petitions for his candidacy for mayor. “Now, with the petition-filing deadline just days away, we respectfully urge the court to issue its decision as soon as practicable,” Spiro wrote.
— The New York Working Families Party on Saturday endorsed City Comptroller Brad Lander, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assembly member Zohran Mamdani for mayor, City & State reports. The organization will eventually choose which of those candidates to rank first.
— A state Judge has temporarily halted a new law that limits the outside income of state lawmakers to $35,000 a year, the Times Union reports. The law, which was supposed to go into effect earlier this year, is on ice as an appeal to a decision that found the law to be constitutional makes its way through the courts. State Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the law last year.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Monday was $7 million at 10 Pineapple Street. The Brooklyn Heights townhouse is 4,000 square feet and four stories. The Corcoran Group’s Karen Talbott, Kyle Talbott and Scott Sternberg have the listing.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $3.6 million for an apartment building at 152 Sherman Avenue. The Inwood complex is 23,700 square feet and has 41 units.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $12 million for a condo unit at 111 Murray Street. The Tribeca condo is 3,300 square feet and last sold on the market in 2019 for $12.2 million. Compass’ Ian Slater, Michael Koeneke and Eduardo Martinez have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 269,581-square-foot, 33-story building at 185 East 80th Street in Manhattan. The owner of the proposed building is Skyline Developers with David West of Hill West Architects as the applicant of record.
— Joseph Jungermann
