Crain's New York Business

18/12/2025

Studio 54, the famous disco that has become a theater in recent years, needs a special zoning permit for repairs or will have to close for good, according to a new filing by its owner, the Roundabout Theater Co.

The theater says renovations done in the late 1970s to turn the former opera house at 254 W. 54th St. into a late-night dancing hotspot, like leveling its floors, make viewing the stage difficult, according to the filing, which was submitted Tuesday to the Department of City Planning. The Roundabout has had to regularly discount tickets and refund money over viewing problems.

There are numerous other structural and operational problems too, including the lack of an orchestra pit, a poorly placed bar and a lighting control area that can only be reached by ladder.

The theater is seeking to fix the issues with a top-to-bottom renovation but says it can’t afford the pricey upgrades. Historic theaters often fund such projects by selling their air rights, but that option is off the table because the building’s previous owner already unloaded them, the filing adds.

The Roundabout is asking the planning department to grant it a fresh batch of air rights for its building — a low-slung 13,000-square-foot structure that extends to West 53rd Street — or it will have to turn off the lights for good in as soon as two years.

Read more here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/roundabout-theater-seeks-special-permit-new-air-rights-studio-54

17/12/2025

The owners of Manhattan's upscale Lowell Hotel are moving ahead with plans to convert a 21-story Madison Avenue office building into an even ritzier property—one of the first new hotel developments in the city since the pandemic upended the industry in 2020.

Hoteliers Nabil and Fouad Chartouni, founders of Kensico Properties, want to redevelop a 21-story Class A office building at 509 Madison Ave. into a 30-story hotel with retail on the ground floor, to be called Lowell Modern.

The proposed conversion would create about 96 rooms, plus a lobby and amenity spaces, across roughly 139,000 square feet. It would also include about 3,300 square feet of retail space. The hotel's main entrance would be located on East 53rd Street, according to the application, while the retail portion would front Madison Avenue.

Full demolition and construction will begin in early 2026 and the Chartounis are targeting an early 2028 completion date.

Read more here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/kensico-properties-planning-ultra-luxury-hotel-midtown?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

16/12/2025

New York’s biggest office landlord, SL Green, plans to unload about $2.5 billion worth of properties in Manhattan to help offset the impact of interest rates the developer deemed “too high.”

SL Green, founded in 1980, has amassed a portfolio of 30 million square feet, mostly in Midtown. Sales next year should be partially offset by more than $1 billion worth of acquisitions, firm executives told investors during a Dec. 5 presentation.

“It’s frustrating. We’re selling assets, losing (income) to fight against interest rates that are too high,” CFO Matthew DiLiberto said.

Nine Manhattan office and residential properties are on the sale block, according to the investor presentation. They include 1350 Sixth Ave., a 600,000-square-foot Plaza District office tower; a 25% stake in 245 Park Ave., a 1.8 million-square-foot tower acquired out of bankruptcy three years ago; and a 65% stake in the office building at 750 Third Ave. that’s being converted into apartments.

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SL Green said it wants to offset “too high” interest rate

15/12/2025

Corporations and wealthy people dumped nearly $83 million into New York City’s elections this year, shattering previous records. But Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory proved that the city’s generous public matching funds program is an effective counterweight, according to a new analysis by good-government group Citizens Union.

“Ultimately, big money lost and small-dollar donors and volunteer-fueled campaigns won the day,” said Grace Rauh, Citizens Union’s executive director.

But there is still cause for concern, according to the authors. Loopholes that allowed some dark-money donors to obscure their identities by contributing to middle-man PACs should be addressed before the next election, the report argues.

Read more here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-policy/mamdani-small-donors-beat-record-big-money-nyc-elections-report?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

12/12/2025

A trendy Queens neighborhood is about to get its first Whole Foods.

The Amazon-owned natural foods market is venturing east into Ridgewood, well beyond its strongholds in Manhattan and along the Brooklyn waterfront, Crain's has learned.

The Texas-based grocery chain recently inked a lease to take over what appears to be the entirety of a former Beaux-Arts historic bank building at 55-60 Myrtle Ave., which was previously occupied by a Rite Aid before the chain filed for bankruptcy for the second time in May, according to a lease that appeared in the city register Wednesday.

Manhattan and Brooklyn are already padded with Whole Foods stores, which have long been associated with gentrification — a phenomenon that has even been dubbed the "Whole Foods Effect." But none currently exist east of Williamsburg in North Brooklyn or Gowanus in South Brooklyn, creating a very distinct dividing line down the center of the borough.

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The supermarket will take 28,000 square feet on a 15-year lease that includes three options to extend for five years each.

11/12/2025

A multifamily housing complex could soon replace a furniture department store in a Brooklyn district that's for years been one of the lowest producers of affordable housing across the city.

Robert Aiello, a partner at the Queens law firm Aiello & Cannick, wants to rezone a nearly 22,000-square-foot lot in Flatlands to allow construction of a new 8-story mixed-use building with 90 dwelling units at 2233 Flatbush Ave., according to an application filed with the Department of City Planning Tuesday. Aiello is listed as the signatory on the paperwork, which was filed through the entity Ayres 2233 LLC.

Only 41 affordable housing units were constructed in the Southern Brooklyn neighborhood in 2022, the second lowest that year out of the city's 51 districts, according to a report released at the time from the nonprofit group New York Housing Conference. And in the years since, the area has not fared any better.

The proposed project, which would rise between Avenue O and Fillmore Avenue, would contain about 97,000 square feet of total floor area, including 82,000 square feet of residential and 14,00 square feet of ground floor retail space. About 23 of the 90 apartments would be permanently affordable. The development would also include open space in the rear yard and a 39-spot parking garage in the cellar.

Read more here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/new-multifamily-housing-project-could-replace-retail-building-flatlands-brooklyn?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

10/12/2025

Mayor Eric Adams will leave office at the end of this year as a diminished figure, after enduring four years of near-constant scandal and becoming the first sitting New York mayor in a century to face criminal charges. But he often insists history will view him fondly — and when it comes to his housing record, he may be right.

After campaigning in 2021 on vague promises to build more in wealthy neighborhoods, Adams successfully championed City of Yes, the enormous zoning-code rewrite that will unlock some 82,000 homes. Combine that with five neighborhood rezonings worth about 48,000 units, well over 200,000 homes built or preserved by the city’s housing agency and the passage of charter amendments that will speed up construction approvals, and Adams may have the makings of a significant legacy on what could be the city’s most pressing issue.

Adams spoke to Crain’s this month about his housing efforts, one of the few interviews he has granted in an otherwise quiet lame-duck period before he leaves office Dec. 31. He discussed how he faced down his own political supporters on City of Yes, why he reversed course on the Elizabeth Street Garden housing project, and how he’s teeing things up for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani..

Read the interview here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-policy/eric-adams-talks-housing-legacy-city-yes-and-elizabeth-street-garden?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

09/12/2025

Midwood — Brooklyn’s suburb-within-a-city — has scored another unusually large residential sale.

Yosef Hakoun, a real estate investor, purchased a prewar home on East Eighth Street from Joseph Ben-Haim, a swimwear manufacturer, for $8 million, according to a deed that appeared in the city register Friday. It’s one of the largest single-family deals in Brooklyn this year.

The 2,600 square-foot house, which features a red-tile-roof property, a wide front porch and a detached garage at Avenue J, went into contract July 11 and closed Nov. 21, the deed says. Hakoun financed the deal with a $4 million mortgage from New Jersey-based company FM Loans, according to the register.

As with many homes in the neighborhood, a stronghold of the city’s Syrian Jewish community that often sees houses trade at values well above their official appraisals, Ben-Haim seems to have marketed his dwelling privately with no public listing photos available to assess the house’s condition. It’s also not clear if any brokers were involved in the transaction.

Just six single-family residences in Brooklyn have traded for $8 million or more since July, according to StreetEasy, which tracks public listings. And almost all of them have been in more-traditional brownstone-style borough neighborhoods such as Cobble Hill, Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights, according to the data.

Read more here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/yosef-hakoun-buys-east-eighth-street-house-joseph-ben-haim-8m?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

09/12/2025

New York City’s 1986 launch of a voluntary newspaper recycling program today seems a quaint harbinger of robust efforts to come. Indeed it was. In 2019, the city announced its commitment to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 through Local Law 97, which is among the most ambitious climate policies nationwide. And state programs continue to drive clean energy investment.

These efforts underscore New York’s role as an environmental pacesetter — and the honorees on our 2025 list of Notable Leaders in Sustainability are the ones turning policies and promises into progress. They are investment professionals overseeing renewable energy funding, architects designing eco-conscious buildings, and leaders delivering solutions for clean heating and cooling.

We are proud to celebrate the 35 executives and innovators whose efforts are yielding a cleaner, greener world.

Read about each honoree here:

Breadcrumb Home Award Program Notable Leaders in Sustainability 2025 Tweet Share Share Email More New York City’s 1986 launch of a voluntary newspaper recycling program today seems a quaint harbinger of robust efforts to come. Indeed it was. In 2019, the city announced its commitment to reaching c...

08/12/2025

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to move into Gracie Mansion with his wife, he announced Monday, settling speculation about whether he would choose to give up his modest Queens apartment for the official mayoral residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” Mamdani said in a statement. He takes office as mayor Jan. 1, but did not specify when he will relocate.

Mamdani’s decision is in line with most of his recent mayoral predecessors. But his choice has been closely watched, in part due to the unusual amount of attention paid during the campaign to Mamdani’s current rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria. His opponent, Andrew Cuomo, argued that Mamdani earned too much as a state lawmaker to continue living in the $2,300-per-month one-bedroom unit.

Read more here: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-policy/zohran-mamdani-will-move-gracie-mansion-wife-rama-duwaji?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

04/12/2025

If Zeckendorf Development’s 15 Central Park West was the hot spot of the early aughts and Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South was the star of the 2010s, Extell Development’s new West 66th Street project has the spotlight now.

Sales have been robust at the 70-story, 127-unit high-rise between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, which opened earlier this year. And VIPs from the world of finance, real estate and professional sports have flocked to the address overlooking Central Park.

The development has also had nearly two-dozen homes trade for more than $10 million at a time when the median for new condos is a fraction of that price.

But the most notable aspect of the tower, which is the Upper West Side’s tallest, may be that it even exists at all. Conceived more than a decade ago, the West 66th offering has battled several lawsuits, a downturn in the luxury market and a construction-pausing pandemic before being able to open its doors.

As with the most velvet-rope-type of high-end projects, Extell, whose chairman is Gary Barnett, has chosen to cloak the site in an air of mystery.

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The 127-unit tower is 70% sold and closed since the start of the year despite little marketing.

03/12/2025

The Chetrits are on the verge of losing another major building amid a continuing rough patch for the wealthy real estate family.

Less than a year after relinquishing Brooklyn’s Hotel Bossert to pay back $177 million in outstanding mortgage debt, the Chetrit Org. stands poised to surrender its 1 Whitehall St. in Manhattan for similar reasons.

A court will award the 21-story Financial District office building to the highest bidder in a foreclosure auction this week, to satisfy an $80 million judgment against the landlord.

The proceeding, set to take place at Manhattan state Supreme Court, will be the culmination of a court battle that began in October 2024. The lender LoanCore Capital sued Chetrit over an allegedly defaulted $156 million note backed by 1 Whitehall St., a 366,000-square-foot postwar office building between Stone and Bridge streets.

Chetrit stopped making payments on the mortgage in July 2023, court filings show.

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A Financial District office building the family owns is headed for the auction block.