Another example of a small house. Photo by Tammy Strobel

A tiny home in Windsor Terrace has an asking price designed to make prospective buyers take notice. The 900-square-foot, three-bedroom bungalow with a wild front and back yards was placed on the market for a cool $1.25 million. The little home is sandwiched between two much larger homes, giving the impression that it didn’t get the memo to grow up. The listing is a real lesson in realtor-speak:

“Super sweet, lovely and charming,” are the opening words of an exquisitely creative listing for the 17-foot wide cottage at 658 Vanderbilt Street.

Especially upbeat is the home’s description as a

“…truly unique property that has always, over the years, commanded the attention of onlookers and admirers!”

This is definitely a true statement, however misleading it may be.

Keep in mind that in Brooklyn, as location begins to become the be-all and end-all of a property’s worth, the real value here most likely lies in the fact that according to the area’s zoning rules, the baby-bear house can be swept into the trash to make way for a three story papa-bear near-mansion, with all the latest amenities.

According to realtor Barbara Puccia,

“Someone can move right in or knock it down,” she said. “The neighborhood would be sad to see it go, but I have to market it in its full diversity. People are paying the same amount for a condo. Here you get a house with a back yard.”

The house was built during the end of the 19th century, and rumors say that it was once located inside Prospect Park. Owner Heather Baley paid a mere $150,000 for the house in 1989. We are excited to see how the deal unfolds.

Who are New York City’s power players? Which real estate business men and women are making the most noise in the City? In this article we read about a few of the main players for 2015, one of whom is Vladislav Doronin of Moscow-based Capital Group.

Making it to the list of ‘Top 20 biggest power players in New York City real estate,’ each year is no easy feat. In 2014 the region’s real estate business escalated by 21 percent and in the first quarter of 2015, sales reached $10.1 billion so there is a lot of money to be made for those who are successful. Vladislav Doronin has been heading Capital Group since he launched it back in 1991; in addition, just last year he became majority owner of the Aman Group.

Who else is making the real estate news in New York City? According to an article in The New York Post, founder of Paris Forino Interior Design, Paris Forino, has been “thrust into the spotlight as one of New York’s most sought-after interior designers.” Her firm has only been in business since 2012, but lack of time has not prevented her from becoming one New York real estate businesswomen to be watched this year.

DBOX founding partner, Matthew Bannister, has also been a part of some very impressive projects in the real estate industry. Since the launch of his firm back in 1996, he has participated in the creation of “the Emmy-winning film presentation of an imagined One World Trade Center; devised a stunning homage to New York for 432 Park Avenue; and green-screened preconstruction video fly-throughs of the New York by Gehry building.”

Others who have been included in this list along with Vladislav Doronin, Paris Forino and Matthew Bannister include: Norman Foster (of Foster & Partners), Saif Sumaida and Amit Khurana (of Sumaida + Khurana), Soo K. Chan (of SCDA Architects), Annabelle Selldorf (of Selldorf Architects), Veronica Mainetti (of Sorgente Group of Americda), Robert Reffkin (of Compass), Jamie Drake (of Drake Design Associates), Bjarke Ingels (of Bjarke Ingels Group), Robert A. M. Stern (of Robert A. M. Stern Architects), Michael Shvo (of Shvo) Ziel Feldman (of HFZ Capital Group), Aby Rosen (of RFR Holding), Jonathan Miller (of Miller Samuel Inc.) Roman Abramovich, Thomas Juul-Hansen and Andre Kikoski (of Andre Kikoski Architect).

The Gowanus apartment lottery attracted way more bidders than units available. This shouldn’t have come as such a great surprise since the price was right and the location, most sought-after. But deciding to purchase the land to on which to build this property was not only a risk for David Lichstenstein, CEO and founder of The Lightstone Group, but a pricey one. “You must spend money to make money,” might have been an infamous quote many centuries ago when uttered by Titus Maccius Plautus, but the sentiment still reigns true today. Thus individuals such as Lichtenstein, (along with other real estate investors) at the nadir or the housing market started, “snapping up foreclosures at bargain prices betting they could rent them for a tidy profit, and sell them for a tidy profit.”

A risk it was, but as Frank Warren taught us when he said “be wise enough not to be reckless, but brave enough to take risks,” to succeed, these have to be calculated ones. And when David Lichtenstein’s firm bought out substantial amounts of land it was because its leader was “convinced it would yield better returns for his New York firm.” While the Lightstone Group was not alone in this move, there were still many who avoided engaging in the risk, since at the time it seemed “unlikely to pay off quickly.” It was just the hedge funds and real estate investors with an appetite for success and not afraid to take risks, that did.

And it seems this action paid off in many cases. One such example is the building at the Gowanus Canal. The 86 affordable apartments located at Gowanus’ 365 Bond Street were entered into a lottery sale led by the Lightstone Group. Eighty-six might not seem such a small number, but it’s all relative; with 56,000 applicants, the popularity and attractiveness of these units suddenly appears to be a very elusive thing. Prices of the units are actually extremely reasonable and thus very sought-after: a studio would cost $833 a month and a one-bedroom just $895.

Apart from these low rents, Gowanus is a great place to live. And as everyone with any kind of knowledge for real estate knows, the industry is focused on three things and three things only: “location, location, location. As Scott Avram, one of David Lichtenstein’s co-workers at the Lightstone Group, pointed out: “I would say that it clearly demonstrates the tremendous demand and interest in those looking to live in Gowanus.” Furthermore, together with its sister property 363 Bond Street (also developed by the Lightstone Group), this is a “unique property with an esplanade and a public park, he said. 365 Bond St. has 430 market-rate apartments.”

So this risk seems to have paid off. But why? What was the thinking behind the Lightstone Group’s decision to buy this Gowanus land and then build? Why not simply purchase existing properties and flip them as seems to be common in the world of real estate investors? According to an interview David Lichtenstein gave in The Washington Post, there is a significant advantage to doing it this way. He explained, “I started my career buying and owning single-family houses, and I know that’s a really tough job. Toilets break. Trees fall. There are so many things that can go wrong. Land, on the other hand, is cheap to manage. It’s painless, really. All you have to do is pay your taxes, and that’s it.” With the purchase of land and then the construction of this Gowanus building, the job is already done.

Potential tenants had two months to be included in the lottery. It was run between the beginning of November 2015 and 4 January 2016. It was supervised by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).

Downtown Brooklyn Skyline.

The transformation of Brooklyn’s cultural center has taken a huge step forward with the opening of the Ashland residential tower. The tower is located at the meeting point of Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn, where the cultural institutions are located with the Brooklyn Academy of Music as the anchor.

New York has spent over $100 million in public spaces and arts organizations found there. New developments are sprouting up as affordable housing, retail, and office space grow.

Ashland is 53 stories with 304 full-rate apartments sprinkled with 282 affordable units. They range in size studios to three-bedroom apartments with monthly rents for market-rate apartments starting at $2,600 and three bedrooms going for as much as $7,500.

The affordable units are distributed by lottery. They will start at $801 for a studio, and a three-bedroom unit will cost $3,649 for a three-person household making between $126,995 and $155,400 a year. There were 82,262 applicants for the affordable apartments.

“The location is incredible, as you have beautiful Fort Greene as your front yard, Downtown Brooklyn to the west, and you have all the cultural offerings literally right outside your door,” said David L. Picket, the president of the Gotham Organization, the developer of the building.

The memory of Hurricane Sandy and the devastation it left in its wake seems to be quickly fading for many as developers clamor to bring modern structures into the most vulnerable Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Looking east along the northern esplanade of Manhattan Beach, and along Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Robert Swanson.

Take Sheepshead Bay, for instance. Once a sleepy fishing village, parts of the neighborhood lie within the riskiest of the city’s six designated flood zones, the zone closest to the shore. Yet development has been growing steadily. In 2013, just one year after Sandy, only 13 permits were filed for new buildings in the 11235 zip code section of Sheepshead Bay. In 2014 that number rose to 18, and then in 2015 it rose again to 21. Also up are permits for demolition; 14 in 2013 and 42 in 2015.

Today there are at least two noteworthy projects under construction. Already going up is a 28-story condominium tower at 1501 Voorhies Avenue. Muss Development and AvalonBay are partnering on this building which will be the tallest structure in Sheepshead Bay when it is completed in 2017. Its location adjacent to the Sheepshead Bay subway station and the B and Q subway lines makes it easily accessible to Downtown Brooklyn and Midtown Manhattan.

Just a few blocks away from the condo a 7-story commercial-residential development is also under construction. The VUE is under the auspices of developer Sergey Rybak. Located on Emmons Avenue, it will have a roof-top pool and deck and 58 units. The property was purchased for $13 million, including buying out a local diner which had operated on that location for over 40 years. The look of the new building, a modern, glass-sheathed design, is also a stark contrast to the brick and mortar style buildings that characterize the area.

Push-back has come to these projects and others for basically two reasons. One is the fear that the new, modern designs will change the character of the neighborhood. Modern, high-density condo-towers will not only change the look of the area, but it will also attract a new type of resident, which worries some.

Others see the proximity to the ocean as a serious danger.

“We should be pulling back from the waterfront, not doing density,” said Steven Barrison, the president of the Bay Improvement Group, a coalition of Sheepshead Bay businesses and civic groups.

Mayor de Blasio has been taking a different approach to the danger. Since Hurricane Sandy 16 new building codes have been instituted to keep the buildings safe.

Still, experts like Ted Steinberg, a professor of history and law at Case Western Reserve University and the author of Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York,  say this approach is foolish.

“There is this short-term, profit-driven real estate logic in conflict here with an extremely likely long-term trend toward environmental instability,” Steinberg said.

Photo courtesy of Youngking11

Although the average rental in Brooklyn is considerably less than Manhattan’s sky-high prices, the range in Brooklyn is wide. Some people who might be thinking, based on Brooklyn’s overall average rent, that living in Brooklyn is still too costly, should consider some of the borough’s less expensive neighborhoods.

There are three areas in Brooklyn where the average rental goes for under $2,000. That’s a bargain if you compare to Brooklyn’s most expensive area, DUMBO, where rents average out at over $5,500. Compare that to the Manhattan average of a bit more than $4,100 and Brooklyn’s average rent of almost $3,200. It kind of makes you want to know what horrible places have rentals for under $2,000.

Well, it turns out these places are nice. In Sheepshead Bay, which is on the southernmost border of Brooklyn, just east of Brighton Beach and Coney Island, there is a charming, quiet, calm feel in the air.

“It’s a tight-knit neighborhood that is relatively quiet compared to living in, say, Downtown Brooklyn,” says Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel. “A key draw continues to be its location on the water and, thus, the area has been seeing more new development activity,” he added.

The downside is that it takes about one hour to get to midtown Manhattan by the B and Q trains.

The other two neighborhoods which have rentals for under $2,000 per month are Sunset Park and Flatbush. Not as cheap as Sheepshead Bay, and maybe not as charming, but a bit closer to Manhattan, and overall, nice places, too.

If you want to own a piece of property in Montauk or you’re hoping to find a rental, you have many options. There are many real estate agents who can help you to find the right property for your needs. After all, if you’re investing your time and money in a property, you want it to be the right property for you. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

1. Speak to friends who already own property in the Montauk Colony area. Which realtor did they use? Were they happy with the experience that they had? Why have they chosen to live in the area where they live?
2. The Montauk Colony collection is a unique location at the very tip of Long Island. As you think about a property it’s important to consider the climate and location. Do you want a property that is closer to town so you can walk and feel like you are part of the area? Or would you prefer one that is on a cliff and that offers a far-away feel of isolation? As you look at properties, make sure to ask questions about the insulation, heating costs, leaks and other winter related questions.
3. Consider your purpose as you look at properties. Are you looking for a place that will be a summer home and an occasional location for family get-togethers? Or are you hoping to settle in the Montauk Colony area? Do you want a property that includes grounds and are you willing to do the upkeep on those grounds? Or would you prefer something smaller that will provide you with a place to get away, but with less headaches to do so?
4. There are many real estate agencies that are ready to help you with your search. A few of the names in the area include classically large companies like Century 21 LLC. There are a number of real estate agencies, as well, that are unique to the area and specialize in this lovely location. These include:

Douglas Elliman: Established in 1911, they are the nation’s fourth largest real estate company. They do everything from sales and rentals to mortgage work and title insurance.

Brown Harris Stevens: Established in 1873, Brown Harris Stevens offers you a time-honored way to look for that property of your dreams.

Corcoran Group Real Estate: This group has 35 years of experience in the business. In 2003, they expanded into the Hamptons and South Florida.

Purchasing or renting a property in the Montauk Colony area shouldn’t be overwhelming. It should be the fulfillment of a dream and an exciting new chapter in your life. Let’s hope you can make it so with these recommendations and suggestions.

Rocco Basile

The passive house standard was established less than a decade ago in Germany by the Passivhaus Institut.  Given the advantages to the environment and energy bills it provides, it soon spread to other parts of the world including the New York area.  As such, it gave various professionals in the industry (including Rocco Basile of Avo Construction, and Stephen Lynch of Caliper Studio among others) a greener way to build, while maintaining top quality standards.

Having such a positive impact on so many aspects involved in building construction, the “sweeping green-building initiative” is also being greatly lauded by Mayor Bill de Blasio.  He is seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050 and using this type of construction is a huge step in the right direction.

Avo Construction –launched in 2011 by Rocco Basile – built Brooklyn’s 210 Pacific Street using this method.  In Cobble Hill, this unit was designed and developed by NAVA Companies (offering both half-floor and full-floor units containing three and four bedrooms).  It features induction cooktops, solar thermal hot water systems, and various other green elements.

The way the passive house works is through the use of a system exchanging interior and exterior air (such as an energy recovery ventilator) along with an airtight building envelope.  With the units in New York, there is the need for both heating and cooling systems but these are much smaller than standard ones, generating far less greenhouse gas emissions and keeping energy bills down.

According to the Passivhaus Institut, units using this method require around a quarter of the energy using in a home that is powered with regular energy.  Other benefits with the model are much quieter interiors due to very thick, insulated walls as well as cleaner and fresher air because of the filters used in energy recovery ventilators.  Furthermore, these filters can actually help eradicate asthmatic systems and other related-allergies.

Basile and Avo Construction have always sought to employ the most qualified experts to build homes, harvesting a sophisticated ambience resulting in high end construction.  Going green, where possible, adds to this goal.  As NAVA Companies Partner Stewart Osborne noted, this really is “something that is an extra added bonus for the buyer who’s thinking, ‘Oh, my energy bill is going to be a lot cheaper,’ or ‘Oh, I’m in a forward-thinking building that has a reduced footprint.’ ”

The Brooklyn Waterfront, 1911

Jehovah’s Witnesses are sold off close to their last bits of Brooklyn real estate in the wake of their relocation to Upstate New York.

The most recent sale was of their Brooklyn Heights, 12-story, 97-unit apartment building for $58 million. The sale of 97 Columbia Heights was to a Los Angeles-based investment firm, Hawkins Way Capital, which also purchased another Witness building for $18 million, located at 119 Columbia Heights, just up the street.

97 Columbia Heights, close to 89,000 square-feet, was purchased by the Witnesses when it was still under construction in 1986.

The Witnesses also put up for sale what is their last empty lot in Brooklyn, located at 1 York Street, just north of the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Heights. The lot’s price is not listed, but it is estimated to be worth about $54 million, with about 189,000 to 250,000 square-feet of buildable space on 52,000 square-feet. That comes to about $300 per build-able square-feet.

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Looking north along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, New York, USA. Photo courtesy Acroterion.

A building in Brooklyn which was the property of Jehovah’s Witnesses was sold to a developer based in Florida, the Wall Street Journal reported. The developer, Kayne Anderson, paid $200 million for the 16-story apartment building located in Brooklyn Heights.

The developer renamed the building The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights, whereas it was previously known as the Towers. The plan is to convert the 295-unit residential building to a luxury senior housing with 300 units.

Kayne said they will add a swimming pool, spa, and several dining areas in the 75,000 square feet the building holds. The developer did not reveal how much rent they will charge residents, but it is speculated that a studio apartment will go for about $7,000/month and two-bedroom apartments for about $10,000. If residents need assisted care, the monthly fee could double.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have been selling off their substantial Brooklyn holdings, which was up to 36 buildings at its height. They are moving to Warwick, New York, and have almost sold all their holdings.

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The area is being cleared and the foundations being dug in preparation for the construction of Brooklyn’s newest combo project: The Dime Savings Bank

The main branch on Havemeyer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn om 2015. Photo courtesy Jr3500.

/Residential tower.

Proceeding apace, Williamsburg’s historic Dime Savings Bank will see a specially designed 248-foot tower rise adjacent, incorporating the Dime’s neoclassical design into the art-deco inspired design of the tower.

The tower will, upon completion, be 22-stories comprising 350,000 square-feet which will be distributed among 178 rental apartments and 100,000 square-feet of office space and 55,000 square-feet of ground floor retail rentals. There will also be accommodations for 340 cars.

Fogarty Finger Architects designed the tower, which will integrate the beloved look of the Dime building into the more modern, art-deco look of the tower. Two companies are behind the project’s development: Charney Construction and Development and Tavros Capital Partners. Tavros bought the property in March 2016 for $80 million, and just received a loan for the tower’s construction this month for $150 million.

The plan includes restoration of the bank building. Additions from the ‘60s, such as drop ceilings and some finishes will be removed. Columns will be renewed, and special attention will be paid to the skylight already there, working to maximize the light pouring in. The area of the bank will function either as a showroom, office lobby or retail space.

The architects took their inspiration from Art Moderne architecture in addition to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, especially his Johnson Wax Building and the Starrett-Leigh building in Chelsea.

The structure will be dressed in white terra cotta, and wink and nod to the Dime’s original look.

The project is expected to be completed sometime in second quarter of 2019.

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Sunshine Cinema, NYC, July 2015. 143 E. Houston Street. Photo courtesy of Tero Koistinen.

New York is an old city which is constantly growing and renewing itself. Unfortunately, for growth to happen, sometimes beautiful and historic buildings need to be demolished. The following buildings are on the chopping block. Here is a little bit about each one.

Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side showed their last movie at the end of January. The building has been standing since 1844. It was built as a Dutch Reformed Church, and re-opened in 2001 after large renovations, as a movie house. It is scheduled for destruction in March. The building applied for landmark status but was denied in 2016. A nine-story glass office building is set to take the Sunshine Cinema’s place.

The Beth Hamedrash Hagodol synagogue, also on the Lower East Side, is about to be torn down. New York City granted the building Landmark status in 1967, but the 167-year-old building was already shuttered and in disrepair when a three-alarm fire in May 2016 left little behind. It was originally built as the Norfolk Street Baptist Church in 1850 but was transformed into a Jewish house of worship in 1885. The space will be given over to a 10-story senior residence.

A Beaux-Arts building built in 1913 was denied Landmark status despite two separate requests and a letter of support from the New York State Historic Preservation Office. The Gowanus Station building is one of only a handful of significant historic buildings left standing along the Gowanus Canal. It and several other buildings are going to be torn down in order to build an huge sewage overflow tank, needed to facilitate

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There are several reasons stocks can be a great investment vehicle along with real estate. Therefore, it is not surprising when Principal and CIO of Prime Opportunities Investment Group LLC, Pouya David Yadegar, became interested in stocks.

Before founding the firm, Pouya managed his own family’s wealth through investments in high-end Los Angeles real estate. The family office focus is on purchasing and developing multifamily housing in the wealthier areas of Los Angeles such as Beverly Hills and Brentwood, and Pouya’s real talent lay in his ability to find undervalued properties. Deciding that he could use his knack for identifying mispriced real estate to also uncover underpriced stocks, he branched out into equity investing.

Investing in stocks offers several advantages over real estate. Most noticeable is the liquidity of stocks over real estate. Unloading stocks is practically instantaneous, while selling off property is most emphatically not.

Perhaps what makes stocks especially attractive as an alternative investment to real estate is equity’s scalability. The only factor limiting how much stock an investor can own is how much money he has to invest, meaning, there is almost no limit to how much money he can make. Although property can go up in value, the percentage it rises is limited by many factors, making real estate more earth-bound as a scalable investment.

Stocks require minimal work on the part of the owner, whereas real estate demands upkeep, keeping neighbors and renters happy, finding tenants and more.

Stocks offer the ability to invest in a variety of businesses in virtually every industry. It is easier to protect your investment in stocks if the market should go south, and there may be less tax obligations and fees in the stock market than in real estate investments.

Additionally, the layers of complexity in stocks are as varied as the businesses they represent, so the opportunity to identity more significant price dislocations exists if you have the knack of understanding operating businesses.

With his years of experience in real estate, Pouya David Yadegar has found that the same analytical skills, and long-term approach that continue to lead the family office to success in real estate have been invaluable in his pursuit of stock investing.

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Row houses in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Photo Courtesy Robertafelice.

Fifteen Brooklyn families are realizing their dream of owning homes in Brooklyn through a years-long project of the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity.

The project was launched about ten years ago, according to CEO of Habitat for Humanity Karen Haycox.

“We’ve been holding the property and putting the project together for the better part of 10 years. From groundbreaking until now has been about three years.”

The blue ribbon cutting ceremony took place in the backyard of the brand-new condominiums on Dean Street last Saturday. The housing will provide affordable home ownership solutions for 15 families that meet the financial standards of being at least 80% below the Area Median Income.

During the ceremony the condos were visited. They are two-bedroom units with wood floors, nice-sized closets, kitchen bars, and brand-new appliances. The homes cost between $200,000 and $280,000 with 30-year, fixed interest mortgages.

The series of buildings are located on Dean Street and Mother Gaston Boulevard in the Brownsville neighborhood. The lucky and grateful families will be able to move in by the end of September.

Habitat for Humanity is an organization with 40 years of experience bringing affordable housing to those in need all over the world.

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Until 2010 the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower, with its iconic illuminated clock, at 512-feet-tall, was the tallest building in all of Brooklyn. The

The landmark Williamsburg Savings Building, renovated with 200 high-end residences and offices. Brooklyn, NY. Photo courtesy of Kichaa.

rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn 2004 invited the construction of taller and taller buildings in an attempt to grow the city without encroaching on the already scarce open spaces in the fast-growing borough.

Brooklyn is growing so fast that soon, if it keeps up the present growth-rate, will have as many denizens as Chicago. Since 2010 Brooklyn absorbed an additional 144,000 residents, and a serious housing shortage is in full-blown mode. The question is not if more housing is needed, but where to put more dwellings.

One answer is the 60,000 square-foot block between Boerum Hill and the crowded Flatbush Avenue. There is a proposal on the table now to develop the block with a mixed-use project to be called 80 Flatbush. Composed of two tall towers, the lower stories will be filled with offices, while the upper floors will contain 900 residences. Of those residences, 20% will be set-aside as affordable. Two historic brick buildings will be re-tooled as retail space and cultural usage. The Educational Construction Fund, a group that brings schools to under-used places without the benefit of government money, will build two schools on the site.

The developers are now in a fight to get the zoning rules changed so their buildings can be even taller, so more people can be squeezed into a smaller space. In opposition are some residents from Boerum Hill. They feel the project is not in harmony with the traditional character of their neighborhood. The City Council is considering the issue and should come to a decision by the end of the month.

The project puts in focus the general issue of how a city as dense and expensive as New York can solve its housing crisis and shortage of community facilities. The answer presented by 80 Flatbush is the private sector answer: a larger number of fair-market apartments funding lower-cost units, with also schools, open public space and cultural centers.

“There’s almost no place in the city where when we’re building something sizable there isn’t going to be some concern,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a media roundtable on August 23. “But if we can combine a site that has a lot of height density around it with the ability to get a major school facility built and affordable housing, that’s a pretty rare combination.”

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Big Y, Palmer Massachusetts, one of Bruce Schanzer’s Properties. Photo Courtesy John Phelan.

There are two main ways to diversify a real estate investment portfolio, either with a real estate fund, or with a real estate investment trust, known as a REIT. Think of a real estate fund as a kind of mutual fund, with a strong focus on investing in stocks of publicly-traded real estate companies. Most real estate funds invest in commercial and corporate properties, but there are some invested in land, apartment complexes, and land used for agriculture. This kind of fund has the ability to invest in properties either directly or indirectly through RIETS.

A REIT can be an association, trust or corporation that either owns or finances real estate which produces income. They work similar to a mutual fund, that is to say, investors join their capital to buy shares in real estate and then earn income from those shares.

There are many companies with numerous ways to invest in real estate. Bruce Schanzer, president of Cedar Realty Trust, invests in shopping centers along the East Coast of the United States, from Pennsylvania to Boston. Ryman Hospitality Properties, formerly Gaylord Entertainment, operates and manages the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and WSM radio. It also owns and operates four high-end, meetings-focused resorts. There are also REITs that own properties leased to the US government via the General Services Administration, such as Easterly Government Properties.

As you can see from this brief discussion of REITs as an investment vehicle, there are a huge variety available to suit every need and taste. We recommend further investigation into this fascinating area of investment before deciding where to put your money so it works as hard for you as you worked for it.

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Although the average rental in Brooklyn is considerably less than Manhattan’s sky-high prices, the range in Brooklyn is wide. Some people who might be thinking, based on Brooklyn’s overall average rent, that living in Brooklyn is still too costly, should consider some of the borough’s less expensive neighborhoods.

There are three areas in Brooklyn where the average rental goes for under $2,000. That’s a bargain if you compare to Brooklyn’s most expensive area, DUMBO, where rents average out at over $5,500. Compare that to the Manhattan average of a bit more than $4,100 and Brooklyn’s average rent of almost $3,200. It kind of makes you want to know what horrible places have rentals for under $2,000.

Well, it turns out these places are nice. In Sheepshead Bay, which is on the southernmost border of Brooklyn, just east of Brighton Beach and Coney Island, there is a charming, quiet, calm feel in the air.

“It’s a tight-knit neighborhood that is relatively quiet compared to living in, say, Downtown Brooklyn,” says Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel. “A key draw continues to be its location on the water and, thus, the area has been seeing more new development activity,” he added.

The downside is that it takes about one hour to get to midtown Manhattan by the B and Q trains.

The other two neighborhoods which have rentals for under $2,000 per month are Sunset Park and Flatbush. Not as cheap as Sheepshead Bay, and maybe not as charming, but a bit closer to Manhattan, and overall, nice places, too.

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Brooklyn has a new sign welcoming visitors and guests alike Displaying the word “Welcome” in 15-foot-high bright red letters, the happy new message will be lit for the first time on November 27, 2019, on the 50th anniversary of when the previous message was first broadcast.

That message said “Watchtower,” and it was spread by the Jehovah’s Witnesses beginning in November 1969, and continuously shining (except for during blackouts) until 2017, when the building’s new owners dismantled the old sign.

The new owners of 30 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn Heights are a consortium of developers which includes LIVWRK and CIM Group. In 2017 they took down the sign on what is going to become an office complex called Panorama. But taking the sign down was a lot easier than figuring out what to replace it with.

In 2018 the Board of Standards and Appeals finally decided that a new sign could take the old one’s place.

The developers say that the new sign was created by Morris Adjmi Architects. It is 80 fee long, and will also display the time and the temperature, which was always a part of the building’s display. So New Yorkers and their guests can say ‘good-by’, officially, to ‘Watchtower,’ and say ‘hello’ to ‘Welcome.’

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The New York City Planning Commission is looking into developing a 2.4 million-square-foot urban living complex close to the East New York, Brooklyn waterfront. The plan was conceived by architect PAU and developer Innovative Urban Living.

The project proposal includes 13 new buildings ranging in height from 2 stories to 17. The area encompasses 5 lots together along Flatlands, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana Avenues. Due to the location zoning will need to be changed so that a unified, mixed-use development of this size will be compliant with Brooklyn and city regulations.

The residential component of the development includes 2,118 apartments totaling 1.98 million square feet. A majority will be affordable housing so that the project complies with New York’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program. Some of the 1,825 affordable residences will also be set aside for senior residents.

The second-largest chunk of the development will be parking facilities measuring about 170,000 square feet, or about 1,100 total parking spaces. Shopping makes up about 82,000 square feet, including a new grocery store.
Other amenities will include a daycare center, performing arts center, elementary school, a trade school, and 81,000 square feet of outdoor recreational space. There will also be a shuttle service for residents which will take people to and from the L train on East 105th Street and the 3 train at Pennsylvania Avenue.

A public meeting to discuss the project is scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at the Christian Cultural Center at 12020 Flatlands Avenue, Brooklyn. If the project wins approval construction will begin soon and is expected to last about ten years until completion in 2031.

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Over the past several years there is a trend in various New York City neighborhoods that has had the eye of many developers and those who appreciate bringing back New York homes to their original glory. They are referred to as “townhouse flippers” and they are gut-renovating townhouses across the city to single-family dwellings. One real estate broker, who has sold many of these types of homes and has worked with developers to plan their renovations, is Gregory Williamson, of The Williamson Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Williamson is here to discuss this process and trend:

Gowanus Lounge: Can you explain to us exactly what this means and what you are doing?

Gregory Williamson: First, thank you for having me. I’d be happy to explain this type of development. Throughout New York City, particularly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, there are many multifamily townhouses and townhouses that need a lot of work. Due to the high demand over the past several years for luxury townhome living, developers are purchasing these properties and working with experienced brokers to design them and sell them as high-end single-family assets.

GL: Can you tell us about the process?

Gregory Williamson: Sure. Generally, the developer identifies the asset, goes into contract to purchase the property and then approaches a broker to work in partnership to design the home and make sure, once it is completed and staged, that it is priced correctly for the market. This is a risky business as the margins are small, especially since the real estate market has gotten weaker, but if you can find the right property and design and price it well, it can be a home run.

GL: Can you give us an example of a project you have been involved with recently?

Gregory Williamson: Yes. On the Upper West Side, I was involved with 55 West 90th Street, 58 West 75th Street, and 113 West 95th Street. All three buildings were purchased by a developer and then we worked with the architect, developer, and designer to plan them as single-family residences. While the absolute dollars were on the high side, due to such an extraordinary amount of space, the prices per square foot were very competitive, especially when compared to what is being offered in the luxury condo and new development market. These renovations, when done correctly and tastefully, not only provide an enormous amount of living space that is quite rare in New York City, but they also bring authentic and charming homes back to New York. It is a great opportunity for an end-user who needs the room and terrific business for the right developer.

GL: What has inspired you to get involved with this kind of work?

Gregory Williamson: Well, for one thing, I work with developers across New York City so this is right in my wheelhouse. If you dig a bit deeper I guess, in large part, having grown up in Brooklyn Heights, which is filled with gorgeous townhouses and brownstones, this type of work really appeals to me because I appreciate the charm and magic of an authentic and beautifully refurbished townhouse. They are no doubt very special pieces of real estate.

GL: What background and experience do you bring to this kind of work?

Gregory Williamson: I was born and bred in New York City so I know the city like the back of my hand. I’ve seen all kinds of neighborhoods develop and evolve over the years. Plus, real estate is in my blood. My mother, Madeline, was a successful and longtime broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Lastly, I understand what it means to have money in deals, and I can appreciate the skin that a developer has in the game.

Understanding it from both sides, the brokerage and the development side, I think is also very valuable for my clients and puts a level of trust in the relationship that is hard to find.

GL: Thanks so much for being with us today, Gregory!

Gregory Williamson: My pleasure. Thank you!

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