I recently interviewed state Sen. Brian Kavanagh of Manhattan, a key figure in the real estate industry, because he chairs the state Senate housing committee.
But I wasn’t calling about big-picture issues like rent stabilization and 485x, which are on hold until the legislature reconvenes in January. Rather, I was interested in a building that will soon be a subject for my column, The Real World.
The property, at 109 East Ninth Street, happens to be in Kavanagh’s district. It came to my attention when its frustrated owner, Michael Geylik, called to share his tale of woe.
Geylik bought the 1850s-era building a few years ago for the purpose of locating his office on the ground floor, which used to be a bar. Above it were rent-stabilized apartments and SRO units — some vacant, some occupied.
Preparing for that work, he discovered the building was in far worse condition than he’d realized. He also underestimated the stress and expense of being a landlord for a property like this.
I will save the gory details for my column, but will reveal that the saga of 109 East Ninth Street touches on many of the problems facing real estate in the city: bureaucratic agencies, conniving tenants, meddlesome advocacy groups, tenant-sympathizing journalists, impulsive elected officials and counterproductive regulations.
I haven’t yet gathered all the facts needed to decide who screwed up, but I am pretty sure the answer will be everyone.
Two lessons already seem clear. First, if you want an office, lease one or buy a commercial condo. The headaches of being an SRO landlord are immense. Geylick spent $60,000 on legal fees in May alone and was scheduled to testify Thursday at an OATH trial.
Second, if problems crop up, get everyone in a room before the whole thing turns into an ungodly mess that costs everyone involved.
Kavanagh gamely defended the actions of his staff, who toured the building before taking action. The senator also said he would help Geylick deal with the city bureaucracy if asked.
But so many problems could have been avoided had the electeds talked to Geylick before firing off a letter to HPD. He isn’t hard to find — his office is on the ground floor.
What we’re thinking about: “‘Splitting the difference’ is only a fair resolution if both parties are being equally unreasonable,” Timber Equities principal Mitch Perle recently posted on LinkedIn. What’s your favorite real estate adage? Send your thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The state Department of Agriculture and Markets allocates farmland preservation funding to the New York City region, which is ineligible to apply for grants from this pot of money. The funding is then reallocated to regions with farms. This merry-go-round delays grants to farmers, an audit by the state comptroller found. Recent rounds of funding were delayed from 181 days to 233 days, the audit found.
Elsewhere…
Staten Island’s housing market is more typical of the nation’s than the other four boroughs’ markets are. But now, the island’s inventory is moving in the opposite direction from that of the nation’s. And that’s bad news for agents.
While for-sale inventory across the U.S. rose to 1.54 million units heading into June — up 20 percent from a year earlier — it’s going down on Staten Island, according to the Staten Island Board of Realtors.
Inventory was 39 percent lower last month than in June 2024, the board reported. Meanwhile, new listings on the island were down 24 percent and pending sales fell 32 percent.
The positive spin from the board is that motivated sellers are having an easy time finding buyers, with days-on-market down 9 percent (to 63 days) and months of supply down 36 percent (to three months). The problem is that there are not enough motivated sellers: Sales in June were down 18 percent year over year.
Closing time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Thursday was $15 million for a 3,073-square-foot, sponsor-sale condominium unit at 217 West 57th Street on Billionaires’ Row. Corcoran’s Kane Manera and Janet Wang had the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $17 million for two lots at 5 Hanover Square in the Financial District. CIM Group sold the 46,750-square-foot property to David Werner Real Estate Investments.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $9.9 million for a 4,487-square-foot condominium unit at 845 United Nations Plaza in Midtown East. Anne Aransaenz of Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a proposed 52,504-square-foot, 99-unit residential project at 22 Mt Hope Place in the Bronx. Nikolai Katz filed the permit on behalf of Grun Group.
— Matthew Elo
