Page 4 - CooperatorNews May 2021

4 COOPERATORNEWS — MAY 2021 COOPERATORNEWS.COM PULSE I P LAW CooperatorNews Presents FREE Webinars—a Valuable Resource for Boards and Managers at CooperatorNews.com/events CooperatorNews, a Yale Robbins Publish- ing publication, has been a resource for the boards, managers, and residents of co-ops, condos, and HOAs for nearly two decades, both in print and online—and we are pleased to provide another platform in our toolkit: Cooperator Events, a series of FREE educa- tional ‘town-hall’ style webinars, sponsored by leaders in the multifamily industry and fo- cusing on issues and challenges facing today’s boards. We have assembled expert panels on everything from legal questions around the COVID-19 pandemic to optimizing your insurance coverage to disinfecting your com- munity’s pool. Registration and attendance are FREE to all—just visit CooperatorNews.com/ events, choose the webinar you’d like to attend, and sign up. It’s that simple. You’ll get an email link and reminders for the event, and will have the opportunity to submit questions for the panelists before AND during the webinar it- self. Past events are archived and available on- demand at CooperatorNews.com/events. Serving on your board is a big job, and a big responsibility, but sound, timely advice from industry veterans can help lighten the load and make your building or association run more smoothly. We’re committed to help- ing you achieve that, and look forward to ‘see- ing’ you at an upcoming webinar! LAW & LEGISLATION New York State Mandates Workplace Harassment Training According to a release from Mackoul Risk Solutions, New York State has enacted several signifi cant measures regarding harassment in the workplace. All New York State employ- ers are required to adopt written workplace harassment prevention policies and institute annual anti-harassment training for all em- ployees. Training for new hires must take place within 30 days of employment, notes the release. For more information on this training and to avoid costly fi nes for non-compliance, Mackoul suggests contacting Rebecca Scanda- liato at 516-279-1215 or rscandaliato@mack- oul.com. REAL ESTATE Manhattan Sales Outpace Last Year in Q1 Th e latest numbers released by real estate consultancies Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel reveal that the fi rst quarter of 2021 was a good one for co-ops and condos in Manhat- tan. For the fi rst time in four quarters, says the release, sales exceeded those from the prior year. Th e quarter also demonstrated some su- perlative activity for the Manhattan co-op and condo sector: the market share of bidding wars dropped to the lowest level since the agencies began tracking such data nearly 13 years ago, and the market share of fi nanced condo sales was the highest it’s been in the seven years of tracking. Other salient data points noted in the re- port include: • Annual increases in listing inventory skewing toward smaller units • A decline in median sales price for co-ops and condos individually year over year • A near-100% increase in sales of co-ops since the end of the spring lockdown last year • In the luxury sector, all price trend indica- tors declined from last year, and listing inven- tory expanded year over year for the fi rst time in fi ve quarters • Sales of new development units priced under $3 million surged over last year’s num- bers Contested Condos at 200 Amsterdam Return to Market Th e Real Deal reports that marketing has resumed for the 112 units at 200 Amsterdam Avenue aft er a lower court determined that developers of the new condo tower had to cut fl oors from their already topped-out building. It’s “a big win for development in New York,” says attorney Michael Zetlin, senior partner at Zetlin & De Chiara who led the fi ling of an amicus brief on behalf of the New York Building Congress in the recent appellate case brought by project developers SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan. As previously reported in this publication and elsewhere, aft er the developers got ap- proval for the project from the Board of Stan- dards and Appeals (BSA) in 2018, a pair of community groups—the non-profi t Munici- pal Arts Society (MAS) and the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development— challenged the project, objecting to how the previous developer amassed air rights from other sites to enable 200 Amsterdam’s soaring height, and calling it “gerrymandered zoning.” A judge remanded the initial approval for a re- evaluation, but the project was green-lit again in 2019, prompting another legal challenge from MAS. In February 2020, the judge in that case sided with the objecting groups, and ordered the developers to trim 20 stories from the 52-story tower. But last month, a New York State Appellate Court overturned that ruling, noting that the developer had a valid permit. According to TRD , aft er spending a month assessing the current state of Manhattan’s lux- ury condo market, the project developers have given brokerage Brown Harris Stevens the go- ahead to market the apartments, with units starting at $3.1 million. “As the Board President of a 50 story UES condo, I was tasked with leading a change of our building’s management company. Our choice was FirstService Residential. We just completed a 30 day transition...it was seamless. Their Transition Team worked closely with our Board, Resident Manager and building attorney, attending to every last detail. Not only is our board happy with the transition, but also Unit Owners and staff.” >> Les B., Board President www.fsresidential.com/new-york LetsTalk.NY@fsresidential.com 212.324.9944 New York’s Property Management Leader Making a Difference. Every Day. continued on page 9