The Rubin Report: The Pulse of The NYC Development Market

Issue No. 17 - May 2024

Welcome to issue Number 17 of The Rubin Report: The Pulse of the NYC Development Market.

This issue will be full of development happenings across the five boroughs: what sites have traded as well as what new building projects have been filed. You will see that since April 1st until today, on a sampling of 75 recent New Building filings across Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn & Queens, there have been an astounding 5,170,725 ZFA and 4,579 Residential Units planned. Impressive.

We now have a replacement for 421-a called “485-x”, as well as a commercial to residential conversion tax abatement called “467-m”

My 5 takeaways:

1. This is a GOOD thing for NYC that will provide more housing. Don't listen to the doom and gloom from others, including some brokers in our industry. If a developer builds a 50-unit rental building he/she only needs to provide 20% of the units at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) which this year equates to an average of roughly $38/sf. So in this example: 10 units affordable and 40 units free market. + exempt from taxes for 35-years! (Plus you can use 3 AMI bands, including, a 100% AMI band)
2. New construction is EXEMPT from good-cause eviction for 30-years. So the best way to own in NYC: Build New!
3. The majority of new construction will be between 6 and 99 units: which is historically what the majority of developments in the boroughs have been.
4. We now have a path for office buildings to convert to housing utilizing tax abatements; dubbed 467-m. This is mainly targeted towards Manhattan south of 96th street. Essentially it is a revitalization of 421-g that we saw in the financial district decades ago; which helped bring thousands of housing units to that market.
5. If you had footings in the ground for the old 421-a you now have 6-years to complete the project; which now makes the project financeable. This will get dozens and dozens of projects that were stalled to the finish line.

Bottom Line:

We now have a housing policy in place set for the next decade. Developers: You can now build. Property owners that could not sell a development site because of the lack of a tax abatement: You can now sell and we have a marketplace for it.

Who our business was created for:

I also want to take a moment to talk with you about why we started Development Site Advisors?. This entire company was started to benefit our clients: Sellers of properties with development potential: “Development Sites”.

For many of our clients, the property has been in their family for 30, 40, 50 sometimes 90+ years! They can only sell it once, so when the time comes to do so, we want to make sure they are able to sell it for the highest price & best terms possible.

They can only sell it once, so when the time comes to do so, we want to make sure they are able to sell it for the highest price & best terms possible.

Some situations they struggle with can be tenancy issues, partnership/family disputes, management issues and/or cash flow issues.

We helped these owners first understand the real value of their property as a development site using a valuation tool we created, along with our team of in-house architects, we call a Sitestimate?, then we sold their property for the highest possible price to a developer using a combination of our Due Diligence Accelerator Package?, our 2-phase Targeted Marketing Strategy and our Developer Dashboard and finally we guided them in completing a 1031 tax-free exchange by reinvesting those proceeds into better cash flowing assets with higher returns, so that they were able to enjoy worry-free, passive income and also able to split from partners & solve management issues.

There are also other strategies we implement based on the needs of our clients, but the end goal is to take care of their current pain points and provide them with solutions for a more hopeful, safer and stable financial future.

So if you are a property owner of a potential development site, please know that this entire business model was built around YOU.

If you think our services can be a fit for you, let’s speak.

10 Notable & Recent Land Sales

1. 8 W 14th Street, Greenwich Village, MN - Sold for $57.5M - 108,781 ZFA - $428/ZFA
2. 55 Eckford Street, Greenpoint, BK - Sold for $7M - 22,000 ZFA - $318/ZFA
3. 3083 Webster Avenue, BX- Sold for $7M - 100,000 ZFA - $70/ZFA
4. 12120 Flatlands Avenue, East New York, BK - Sold for $13.9M - 235,488 ZFA - $59/ZFA
5. 45-40 Vernon Blvd, LIC, QN - Sold for $47M - 192,000 ZFA - $245/ZFA
6. 2148 3rd Avenue & 183 E 117th St, East Harlem MN - Sold for $5.5M - 64,350 ZFA - $85/ZFA
7. 960 Franklin Street, Crown Heights, BK - Sold for $64M - 198,310 ZFA - $322/ZFA
8. 706-712 Driggs Avenue & 181-183 South 1st Street, South Williamsburg, BK - Sold for $6.5M - 23,317 ZFA - $278/ZFA
9. 1667 Sheepshead Bay Road, Sheepshead Bay, BK - Sold for $8M - 33,100 ZFA - $241/ZFA
10. 146-26 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, QN - Sold for $7.9M - 32,000 ZFA - $247/ZFA

75 Recent New Building Filings Around Town

These 75 New Building filings across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens were filed between April 1, 2024 and May 15, 2024. They account for 5,170,725 ZFA and 4,579 Residential Units!

1. 227 West 19th Street, Chelsea MN - Plans filed to build a 6-Story, 13,218 ZFA, 5-Unit Apartment Building. The land was purchased in October 2023 for $5,950,000 which equates to $450/ZFA
2. 140 Lexington Avenue, NoMad, MN - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 15,433 ZFA, 12-Unit Apartment Building. The land was purchased in June 2022 for $7,075,000 which equates to $458/ZFA
3. 201 East 23rd Street, aka 301 3rd Ave, Kips Bay, MN - Plans filed to build a 21-Story, 86,726 ZFA, 69-Unit Apartment Building with Ground Floor Retail. The site was Ground Leased for 99-years in August 2023 for a deal valued at $21,500,000
4. 18 West 116th Street, Harlem, MN - Plans filed to build a 10-Story, 35,199 ZFA, 46-Key Hotel & House of Worship Building.
5. 12 Gouverneur Pl, Morrisania, BX - Plans filed to build a 10-Story, 23,893 ZFA, 30-Unit Apartment Building
6. 404 Claremont Parkway, Claremont, BX - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 6,420 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building
7. 1119 Boston Road, Morrisania, BX - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 26,457 ZFA, 40-Unit Apartment Building. The land was purchased for $2,100,000 in July 2023 which equates to $79/ZFA
8. 138 Bruckner Blvd, Port Morris, BX - Plans filed to build a 12-Story, 313,443 ZFA, 447-Unit Apartment Building with ground floor Retail + Facility space. The land was purchased in January 2022 at a deal valued at $35,000,000 or $111/zfa
9. 1320 Inwood Avenue, High Bridge, BX - Plans filed to build a 14-Story, 139,348 ZFA, 113-Unit, Mixed-use Residential + Community Facility Building. The property sold in January 2023 for $12,725,500 or $91/ZFA
10. 1682 Weeks Avenue, Mount Eden, BX - Plans filed to build a 6-Story, 9,621 ZFA, 21-Unit Apartment Building. The property was purchased for $615,000 in June 2023 or $64/ZFA
11. 48 W 167th Street, High Bridge, BX - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 24,045 ZFA, 28-Unit Apartment Building.
12. 3044 Decatur Avenue, Norwood, BX - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 5,885 ZFA, 9-Unit Apartment Building.
13. 233 E 202nd Street, Bedford Park, BX - Plans filed to build a 8-Story, 25,846 ZFA, 44-Unit Apartment Building. The property was purchased in June 2023 for $2,350,000 which equates to $91/ZFA
14. 2854 Webb Avenue, Kingsbridge Heights, BX - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 5,436 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building. The property was purchased in April 2024 for $550,000 or $101/ZFA
15. 714 Beach Avenue, Clason Point, BX - Plans filed to build a 6-Story, 27,118 ZFA, 41-Unit Apartment Building.
16. 2801 Boston Road, Allerton, BX - Plans filed to construct a 1-Story, 15,660 SF, Food Store Building. The property will also have a full 16,445 sf cellar. The site, zoned C8-1, was purchased for $5,000,000 in April 2023, which equates to $319/ZFA (or $155/gsf)
17. 667 Flushing Avenue, Williamsburg, BK - Plans filed to build a 9-Story, 41,909 ZFA, 49-Unit Apartment Building.
18. 314 Rutledge Street, Williamsburg, BK - Plans filed to build a 8-Story, 42,238 SF, Commercial + Community Facility Building in a C8-2 Zoning District.
19. 105 River Street, Williamsburg, BK - Plans were filed to build a 42-Story, 444,575 ZFA, 399-Unit Apartment Building Tower with 31,860 sf of Community Facility space. This is part of a 2-tower waterfront development site that was purchased in December 2019 for $150,000,000
20. 157 Leonard Street, Williamsburg, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 4,624 ZFA, 7-Unit Apartment Building. & 78 Stagg Street in Williamsburg, BK - with plans to construct a 4-Story, 5,263 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building. The site for these 2 developments was purchased in February 2024 for $4,000,000 or $404/ZFA
21. 152 Meserole Avenue, Greenpoint, BK - Plans filed to build a 5-Story, 6,427 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in October 2021 for $1,700,000 or $264/ZFA
22. 105 Diamond Street, Greenpoint, BK - Plans were filed to build a 3-Story, 4,992 ZFA, 4-Unit Apartment Building.
23. 30 Wharf Drive, Greenpoint, BK - Plans filed to build a 9-Story, 98,326 ZFA, 104-Unit Apartment Building.
24. 16 Dupont Street, Greenpoint BK - Plans filed to build a 40-Story, 362,040 ZFA, 381-Unit Residential Tower.
25. 133 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg, BK - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 71,984 ZFA, 44-Unit Apartment Building with Ground Floor Retail of 15,662 sf. The site was purchased in December of 2019 for $28.35 million which equates to $393/ZFA
26. 275 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill, BK - Plans were filed to construct a 22-Story, 708,250 ZFA New Jail with first and second floor Community Facility Space on roughly 1.4 acres of land; an entire city block.
27. 340 Myrtle Avenue, Fort Greene, BK - Plans filed to build a 8-Story, 39,561 ZFA, 58-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in August 2023 for $13,320,000 which equates to $334/ZFA
28. 91 Court Street, Downtown, BK - Plans filed to build a 9-Story, 30,825 ZFA, 29-Unit Apartment Building with 3,754 sf of ground floor commercial space.
29. 150 Lawrence Street, Downtown BK - Plans filed to build a 24-Story, 83,696 ZFA, 110-Unit Apartment Building with 5,331 SF of Commercial Space. The site was purchased in February 2023 for $22.5million; The air rights from an adjacent property was purchased for $3.2million as well. The total sales price was $25.7million which equates to $307/ZFA.
30. 321 Franklin Avenue, Bed-Stuy, BK - Plans filed to build a 6-Story, 15,202 ZFA, 10-Unit Apartment Building with a 3,370 sf commercial store on the ground floor.
31. 910 Bedford Avenue, Bed-Stuy, BK - Plans were filed to construct an 8-Story, 16,510 ZFA, 15-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased for $5,500,000 in May 2022; which equates to $333/ZFA
32. 223 Linden Street, Bushwick, BK - Plans have been filed to build a 13-Story, 207,020 ZFA, 353-Unit Apartment Building.
33. 1009 Decatur Street, Bushwick, BK - Plans filed to build a 5-Story, 7,499 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in November 2023 for $1,060,000 or $141/ZFA
34. 107 Schaeffer Street, Bushwick, BK - Plans were filed to build a 5-Story, 11,330 ZFA, 16-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in September 2020 for $1,800,000 which equates to $159/ZFA
35. 299 Stockholm Street, Bushwick BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story + Penthouse, 5,499 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building on a 25’ x 100’ Lot. The property sold in August 2022 for $495,000 or $90/ZFA
36. 352 Jerome Street, East New York, BK - Plans were filed to build a 7-Story, 15,505 ZFA, 19-Unit Apartment Building with ground floor Commercial space on a 56’ x 60’ Corner Lot. The site was purchased in April 2021 for $885,000 or $57/ZFA
37. 499 Pennsylvania Avenue, East New York, BK - Plans have been filed to construct a 4-Story + Penthouse, 5,739 ZFA - 9-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in June 2022 for $550,000 or $96/ZFA.
38. 78 1st Place, Carroll Gardens, BK - Plans filed to build a 6-Story + Penthouse, 8,980 ZFA, 6-Unit Apartment Building
39. 224 Third Avenue, Gowanus, BK - Plans filed to build a 12-Story, 46,943 ZFA, 60-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in November 2022 for $12,000,000 which equates to $255/ZFA
40. 338 43rd Street, Sunset Park, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 3,856 ZFA, 6-Unit Apartment Building. The property was purchased in March 2024 for $720,000 or $186/ZFA
41. 291 18th Street, Greenwood Heights, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 3,996 ZFA, 3-Family home. The site was purchased in April 2023 for $900,000 or $225/ZFA
42. 138 A 16th Street, Park Slope, BK - Plans filed to build a 5-Story, 8,805 ZFA, 7-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased for $1,995,000 in August 2022, which equates to $226/ZFA
43. 115 55th Street, Sunset Park, BK - Plans filed to construct a 6-Story, 92,983 ZFA, Ambulatory Hub Building in an M1-2 Zoning District
44. 1045 Bergen Street, Crown Heights, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 7,945 ZFA Community Facility Building.
45. 809 Midwood Street, East Flatbush, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story + Penthouse, 10,246 ZFA, 15-Unit Apartment Building. The site sold for $1,500,000 in February 2024 which equates to $146/ZFA
46. 960 Franklin Avenue, Crown Heights, BK - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 204,706 ZFA, 289-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in April 2024 for $64,000,000 or $313/ZFA.
47. 823 Maple Street, East Flatbush, BK - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 14,100 ZFA, 17-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in April 2023 for $1,500,000 or $106/ZFA
48. 6418 8th Avenue, Sunset Park, BK - Plans filed to build a 8-Story, 19,398 ZFA, Commercial + Community Facility Building in an M1-1 Zoning District. The site was purchased in August 2023 for $4,300,000 or $221/Max ZFA
49. 6315 14th Avenue, Borough Park, BK - The NYC School Construction Authority has filed plans to construct a 61,573 ZFA School Building (Community Facility) in an M1-1 Zoning District. They paid $9,500,000 which equates to $154/Max ZFA
50. 4911 19th Avenue, Borough Park, BK - Plans filed to build an 8-Story, 27,056 ZFA Commercial + Facility Building. The property was purchased in October 2022 for $4,000,000 or 148/ZFA
51. 3710 15th Avenue, Borough Park, BK - Plans filed to build a 3-Story, 45,706 ZFA, Commercial + Facility Building. The assemblage was purchased in April 2023 for $14,152,085 which equates to $309/ZFA
52. 1020 60th Street, Borough Park, BK - Plans were filed to build a 1-story + mezzanine, 4,526 ZFA Manufacturing Building in an M1-1 Zoning District. The site sold in December 2021 for $1,780,000 or $393/ZFA.
53. 910 58th Street, Borough Park, BK - Plans filed to build a 6-Story, 11,211 ZFA, 10-Unit + Ground Floor Facility Building. The site was purchased in September 2019 for $2,700,000 which equates to $240/ZFA
54. 4402 12th Avenue, Borough Park, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 10,000 ZFA, 4-Unit Apartment Building. The site was sold in May 2023 for $1,800,000 which equates to $180/ZFA.
55. 2255 Nostrand Avenue, Midwood BK - Plans filed to build 2-Buildings: One is a 7-Story, 65,030 ZFA Mixed-use Building and the other a 9-Story, 46,687 ZFA Community Facility Building.
56. 2150 Coyle Street, Sheepshead Bay, BK - Plans filed to construct a 7-Story, 106,399 ZFA Community Facility Building.
57. 2312 Avenue U, Sheepshead Bay, BK - Plans filed to build a 3-Story, 7,773 ZFA, Commercial + Facility Building. The site was purchased in October 2023 for $1,350,000 which equates to $174/ZFA
58. 30 Village Road North, Gravesend, BK - Plans filed to build a 5-Story, 38,229 ZFA Commercial + Facility House of Worship Building in an M1-1 Zoning District.
59. 271 E 28th Street, Flatbush, BK - Plans filed to build a 4-Story + Penthouse, 7,488 ZFA, 10-Unit Apartment Building. The corner 25’ x 100’ lot was purchased in November 2023 for $960,000 or $130/ZFA
60. 2539 Bedford Avenue & 158 Lott Street, Flatbush, BK - Plans filed to build 2-buildings: One a 7-Story, 120,018 ZFA, 130-Unit Mixed-use Building, the other a 5-Story, 60,855 ZFA, 95-Unit Apartment Building. Both buildings totaling 180,873 ZFA. This is part of a larger 4-Building project.
61. 23-42 31st Drive, Astoria, QN - Plans filed to build a 5-Story, 15,073 ZFA, 22-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in Feb 2023 for $3,950,000, which equates to $262/ZFA
62. 30-78 29th Street, Astoria, QN - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 18,606 ZFA, 27-Unit Apartment Building. The site was sold $5,300,000 in November 2023 which equates to $284/ZFA.
63. 25-23 Newtown Avenue, Astoria, QN - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 22,353 ZFA, 27-Unit Apartment Building. The site was sold in September 2022 for $4,750,000 or $212/ZFA
64. 31-11 28th Road, Astoria, QN - Plans were filed to build a 5-Story, 5,879 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in May 2022 for $1,500,000 which equates to $255/ZFA
65. 28-03 36th Street, Astoria, QN - Plans were filed to build a 6-Story, 7,535 ZFA, 10-Unit Apartment Building. This 25’ x 100’ corner lot was purchased in September 2022 for $2,100,000 or $279/ZFA
66. 54-21 Roosevelt Avenue, Woodside, QN - Plans filed to build a 5-Story, 6,818 ZFA, 4-Unit Mixed-use building. The property was purchased for $1,400,000 in September 2019, which equates to $205/ZFA
67. 95-01 24th Avenue, East Elmhurst, QN - Plans filed to build a 2-Story, 5,698 ZFA House of Worship.
68. 147-26 Sanford Avenue, Flushing, QN - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 7,954 ZFA, Residential Building. The site was purchased in June 2023 for $2,100,000 which equates to $264/ZFA
69. 37-18 138th Street, Downtown Flushing, QN - Plans filed to build a 9-Story, 91,568 ZFA, Commercial + Facility Building. The site was purchased in July 2023 for $37,500,000 which equates to $409/ZFA
70. 141-05 32nd Avenue, Flushing, QN - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 36,891 ZFA, 48-Unit Apartment Building.
71. 141-40 Northern Blvd, Flushing, QN - Plans filed to build a 15-Story, 142,279 ZFA, 121-Unit Apartment Building with 35,707 sf of Commercial and Community Facility Space.
72. 101-04 115th Street, Richmond Hill, QN - Plans filed to build a 4-Story, 8,744 ZFA, 8-Unit Apartment Building.
73. 172-02 Hillside Avenue, Jamaica, QN - Plans filed to build an 8-Story, 50,609 ZFA, 35-Unit Residential Building with 10,518 sf of Commercial Space.
74. 146-18 Liberty Avenue, Jamaica, QN - Plans filed to build a 7-Story, 40,246 ZFA, 52-Unit Apartment Building. The assemblage was purchased between November 2019 and July 2020 for a total sales price of $4,650,000 which equates to $115/ZFA
75. 147-35 95th Avenue, Jamaica, QN - Plans filed to build Two (2), 24-Story Buildings totaling 720,248 ZFA and 1,045-Unit Apartment Building. The site was purchased in November 2021 for $59,700,000 which equates to $83/ZFA

Financial Market Snapshot:

Federal Prime Rate: 8.5%

Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR): 5.31%

United States Federal Funds Rate: 5.5%

United States Annual Inflation Rate: 3.36% (down from 3.48% last month)

US 1-Year Treasury Rate: 5.1% (up slightly from 5.09% last month)

US 10-Year Treasury Rate: 4.365% (up from 4.15% last month)

Treasury Bill Auction Rates:

• 4-Week Term: 5.270%
• 13-Week Term: 5.25%
• 17-Week Term: 5.235%
• 26-Week Term: 5.165%
• 52-Week Term: 4.895%

US Bonds:

• 20-Year Bond: 4.818%
• 30-Year Bond: 4.635%

Mortgage Rates:

• 30-Year Fixed Rate: 7.11% (up from 6.92% last month)
• 15-Year Fixed Rate: 6.61% (up from 6.44% last month)
• 5-Year Commercial Rate: 7.29% (up from 6.6% last month)

Ground Up Construction Rates: 8.5%+

Hard Money Lending Rates: 10%+

Highest Interest Rate for Bank Savings Account: 5.55% (flagstar)