Page 4 - NY Cooperator November 2019

4 THE COOPERATOR — NOVEMBER 2019 COOPERATOR.COM Wed., November 13, 2019 In Case of Emergency The Union League Club, 38 East 37th Street, New York, NY 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. As property and asset managers, there’s a lot to think about for the day-to-day opera- tion of our buildings. It’s also a critical part of our job to plan and be prepared for any form of disruption. How do you prepare? What do you need to do? How does NYC prepare for any form of disaster? Our panel- ists include: Thomas Currao, FDNY Chief of Counterterrorism and Disaster Preparedness; Chloe Demrovsky, President & CEO DRI International; Dmitri Dits, CBCP, Assistant Commissioner, NYC Department of Buildings. Members $85; non-members $120. The Union League Club requires that gentle- men please wear jackets. Thurs., November 14, 2019 CAI-LI Chapter Membership Meeting with Educational Seminar: “Getting the Most out of Your On-Site Sewage Treatment Plant” Capital One Bank-Corporate Offices 1307 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Long Island communities with their own on- site Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) must oper- ate them in a way that continues to protect the only source of clean drinking water—the aquifers. But how do we do that and still stay within our budget? What are some of the rules and regulations that govern your on-site STP? What are some of the required preventative maintenance measures? Are there any regula- tions that you are currently not following and how will that impact your community? How can you maximize your spending power to minimize the impact to your budget? This month’s speaker, Matthew P. Scheiner, P.E. of Robinson & Muller Engineers, P.C., will answer these questions and provide a brief overview of the STP requirements. There will also be time for your specific questions. No fee for condo/HOA volunteer board mem- bers and community board; resident business members $20; non-member fee $40; refresh- ments served. Registration required. Space is limited. Photo ID required. RSVP by Friday, November 11 to Christine M. Majid, Executive Director CAI – Long Island. Email: info@cai- li.org; Phone: 631-882-8683. Sun., November 17, 2019 CNYC’s 39th Annual Housing Conference: Exhibits, Classes, Networking 25 West 18th Street, New York, NY 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Every current CNYC member cooperative and condominium can send one person FREE to attend classes all day at this annual event, the premier learning experience for boards of housing cooperatives and condominiums. The Conference brochure is posted on the CNYC website. Advance registration is required– with specific classes selected. All are welcome. Fees vary. Visit www.cnyc.com/events.php to learn more. CAL EN D AR Industry Pulse November Trends Douglas Elliman Releases Q3 2019 Brook- lyn, Queens, and Riverdale Market Reports In reports released last month, Douglas Elliman noted a decline in number of sales in all three markets, with some reduction in sales and listing prices as inventories continue to rise. Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Inc. and author of the reports hesi- tates to call it a “softening,” acknowledging that “\[T\]hese markets are coming down from a robust period... Market conditions combined with falling mortgage rates will create ideal circumstances for buyers in the coming months.” The Queens market was the price ex- ception, setting record highs for both me- dian and average sales prices in the quarter. “Queens seems to be a standout quarter af- ter quarter since it enjoys the spillover from Brooklyn as buyers seek out greater afford- ability,” said Steven James, President and CEO of Douglas Elliman, New York City in its press release. “Market uncertainty and potential homebuyers’ search for afford- ability are challenges facing all the markets in the New York City metro area right now, and we’ll have to see how sellers adjust go- ing forward.” The median price for co-op sales in the Queens market was especially high, reaching a new record —$309,363 — for the seventh time in the past nine quar- ters. Co-ops did particularly well in Brooklyn too, according to the reports. The average and median sales price for co-ops in that market set new records after rising annu- ally for three quarters, reaching $637,848 and $485,000, respectively. New develop- ments saw a slight uptick in median sales price from last year, while resales dropped somewhat. It is the luxury market in the borough that has seen a downward price trend, with the median sales price decreas- ing 6.2% compared to the same period last year, to $2,343,851. In Riverdale, Douglas Elliman reports that “\[l\]isting inventory and price trend in- dicators fell for the first time in more than a year.” For the Fieldston, Hudson Hill, North Riverdale, and Spuyten Duyvil areas that the reports cover, year over year listing inventory fell 14.9%, and the average sales price was 12.4% lower than the same peri- od a year ago. Luxury sales prices dropped there as well, declining 18% from last year’s metric to $1,267,731. Legislation New State Law Requires LLCs to Disclose Identities in Residential Transactions According to The Wall Street Journal , Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill last month requiring limited liability compa- nies (LLCs) entering into residential real estate transactions to disclose the identities of their individual members. The bill originated in the 39th Senate District of Rockland County, New York, where reports of illegal home conversions in the area prompted lawmakers to address the issue legislatively. Concerned that the anonymity of the buyers and sellers would make it harder for authorities to enforce property rules, legislators drafted a bill that forces LLCs selling or purchasing resi- dential property to include the names and addresses of the company’s owners on its property tax return. Now, according to The Journa l, the new law may be having unintended conse- quences for the luxury real estate market in Manhattan, where the well-heeled and well-known commonly make purchases under the preferred anonymity of an LLC. Without the protection of their privacy and their assets that anonymous transactions afford, the rich and famous clientele in the high-end condo market might be reluctant to have their identities publicly available through New York’s Freedom of Informa- tion Law (FOIL). City brokers, attorneys, developers, and residents alike are up in arms. The area’s luxury market has already seen a slump in terms of number of sales and prices with other new tax laws like the mansion tax tak- ing effect. With roughly 30 percent of con- dos purchased since 2008 owned through an LLC, according to The Journal’s analysis, buyers of luxury real estate accustomed to this practice might be less likely to enter into these transactions under the threat of identity exposure. “It will effectively kill real-estate finance,” predicts real estate at- torney Stuart M. Saft of law firm Holland & Knight and Chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums. The new law, it should be noted, applies to all one- to four-family dwelling units, except for co-ops. Will luxury buyers who value privacy over location take their real estate dollars to other states? Or perhaps Manhattan’s high-end co-ops will see more celebrity purchasers? (As to the question of whether they can obtain board approval... see the next story.) Transactions Co-op Boards Reject Billionaire Adam Neumann, ex-CEO of WeWork Page Six reports that even before his company’s recent failed initial public offer- ing (IPO), Adam Neumann, now former CEO of WeWork, had difficulty securing a co-op on Manhattan’s tony Fifth Avenue. Citing a real estate insider, Page Six identi- fied two elite buildings—950 and 960 Fifth Avenue—whose boards would not even entertain Neumann’s application. Accord- ing to Page Six’s sources, Neumann and his wife, Rebekah, “wanted the gilded life on Fifth Avenue … But the brokers put in dis- creet calls to members of the co-op boards, and they all said no.” The boards of at least one other co-op gave the billionaire a simi- larly cold shoulder. Prior to the WeWork IPO delay—but after cashing out more than $700 million from the company—Neumann had been on a real estate shopping spree. According to techcrunch.com, Neumann’s residen- tial and commercial acquisitions included “a $10.5 million Greenwich Village town- house; a farm in Westchester, New York; a home in the Hamptons where he report- edly weathered the storm with his family ahead of resigning as CEO last week; and a $21 million, 13,000-square-foot house in the \[San Francisco\] Bay Area with a guitar- shaped room.” Now those properties may end up as collateral for a $500 million loan for which Neumann is seeking new terms, according to the outlet. While co-op boards can reject applicants for any reason, or for no reason, Neumann’s fluctuating finances might not be the only factor in his lack of success in purchasing the Fifth Avenue apartment. His question- able business practices and outlandish be- havior might well have come into play, in- cluding reports of him setting his sights on Mars for future WeWork locations, declar- ing that literal orphans should be given “a new family: the WeWork family,” and ban- ning employees from expensing meals that included meat. Newest Units across the Boroughs Hit the Market below $1 Million The New York Post runs down a list of nine brand-new buildings entering the market this fall with apartments listed below the $1 million mark. Noting the $999,950 Manhattan median sales price re- corded this quarter (a 17% decline from the same quarter last year), The Post suggests a new “affordable” benchmark in New York real estate. In Harlem, Eleven Hancock enters the market with 34 of its 71 condo listings priced under $1 million. Its studios start at $585,000; units as large as four bedrooms are available. Slated for completion in 2020, the building boasts a gym with Peloton bikes, a pet spa, and a roof deck. At 150 E. Second St. in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, all five of its units have hit the market at less than $1 million. Ranging in size from 654 to 1,217 square feet, the con- do apartments come with private outdoor space, parking, storage, and washer-dryers. The DUMBO complex Front & York launched sales of its 408 condos in Sep- tember, about 20 of which come with price 2019 PULSE/CALENDAR continued on page 17