It’s been more than six months since the onslaught of COVID, and many Westchester businesses have closed or are still floundering. But perhaps one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic has been tourism. After 47 years in operation, the renowned Westchester Hilton in Rye closed its doors in July. With 445 guest rooms,…
Read MoreALBANY—The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing the greatest crisis in its long history, with few viable options without federal funding to avoid cuts in service and staff, additional fare hikes and long-lasting damage that could impair regional transit for decades, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s annual report on the MTA’s finances…
Read MoreYONKERS—In a major retail lease deal in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, discount retailer Target has signed a long-term lease for more than 130,000 square feet to occupy a major portion of the former Sears store at the Cross County center here. In addition, shopping center owner Marx Realty also announced that retailer H&M…
Read MoreALBANY—Municipalities in New York State collected nearly $17 billion in sales tax revenue in 2019, representing 9.7% of all local government revenue, according to a comprehensive report on local sales tax released on Oct. 6 by New York State Comptroller DiNapoli. Every county and city in the state, along with many towns and villages, depend…
Read MoreALBANY—New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released his fiscal stress list for 2019 and unfortunately, the Hudson Valley was well represented. On the State Comptroller’s “Significant (Fiscal) Stress” list in the New York metro area were Westchester County, Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County, Suffolk County and Long Beach in Nassau County. Other locations on the…
Read MoreNORWALK, CT—New York City-based Invictus Real Estate Partners has secured acquisition financing totaling $107.25 million for its purchase of The Waypointe multifamily property here. JLL Capital Markets arranged the financing through Freddie Mac and worked on behalf of the borrower. The loan will be serviced by JLL Real Estate Capital, LLC, a Freddie Mac Optigo…
Read MoreHARRISON—In conjunction with the hiring of veteran commercial office broker Chris O’Callaghan, RM Friedland announced on Sept. 21 it has formed an office brokerage division. O’Callaghan joins Harrison-based RM Friedland after serving as Managing Director for Jones Lang LaSalle since 2013 where he was responsible for the Westchester County market for the commercial brokerage firm.…
Read MoreHAVERSTRAW—The Village of Haverstraw is taking a significant step in developing a long vacant and underutilized downtown waterfront parcel with the issuance of a Request for Expressions of Interest to development firms. The village, which issued the RFEI today, is hoping to find a developer that will embrace its vision of developing a mixed-use project…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors’ Commercial Investment Division presented a highly informative and forward-thinking workshop program entitled “How to Use ‘Big Data’ in the Commercial Real Estate Game.” The Zoom program was held on Sept. 10 and was part of CID’s Women in Commercial Real Estate series. The workshop focused on the use…
Read MoreWith the prospect of further coronavirus relief coming from Washington, DC getting bleaker by the moment, state, county and local governments will be facing some harsh fiscal decisions due to the economic fallout from COVID-19 this year and in 2021. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened to withhold 20% of funding earmarked for local governments, hospitals…
Read MoreSPRING VALLEY—Rockland County Executive Ed Day announced on Sept. 9 the first new hotel to open in the county in seven years—The Element by Westin here. The Element by Westin is located at 90 Spring Valley Marketplace and has already started taking reservations for its 87-room inventory ahead of a soft opening scheduled for today…
Read MoreIn early March, when the Coronavirus began to shutter almost everything in its path, the LEGOLAND New York Resort under construction in Goshen was also forced to push back its planned July 4, 2020 opening date until 2021. LEGOLAND New York and its parent company, Merlin Entertainments, made the decision to postpone the Grand Opening…
Read MoreNEW YORK— Turnbridge Equities reported on Sept. 8 it had entered into a new joint venture with affiliates of Dune Real Estate Partners LP to own and develop the five-parcel assemblage for the future Bronx Logistics Center. The joint venture has secured $105 million in predevelopment financing for the project to be developed in the…
Read MoreNEW YORK—SL Green Realty Corp reported on Sept. 8 it had closed on a new $600-million construction facility for its 410 Tenth Ave. project. SL Green is redeveloping the 636,000-square-foot office building that is anchored by Amazon and First Republic Bank. The loan was provided by a consortium of domestic and international banks led by…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The Board of Directors of Westchester County’s Local Development Corporation (LDC) recently voted to approve more than $340 million in bond financing for two major not-for-profits. At its August 20th meeting, the LDC board unanimously approved $300 million in bond financing for Westchester County Healthcare Corporation, the public authority responsible for governing the Westchester…
Read MoreNEWARK—Considered one of the most important infrastructure projects in the New York metro region, the start of construction of the long-delayed Hudson Tunnel project has been pushed back by one year. The Gateway Program Development Corporation released an updated financial plan for the project on Friday. GPDC in its plan noted that the projected start…
Read MorePURCHASE—The law firm Milber Makris Plousadis & Seiden, LLP has signed a long-term direct lease deal totaling 25,000 square feet at 100 Manhattanville Road here. The law firm will relocate its Westchester office to the property owned by RPW Group from subleased space in White Plains. Commercial brokerage firm Newmark Knight Frank handled the full…
Read MoreNEWBURGH—While Orange County is in the midst of a solicitation for two storied properties on Grand Street here, the City of Newburgh has issued a Request for Proposals on Aug. 24 for developers to redevelop the iconic City Club Building at 120 Grand St. The Mayor’s Strategic Economic Development Advisory Committee, in coordination with the…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Real estate firm Helmsley Spear, LLC, which was founded in 1866, reported on Aug. 26 it had signed a new four-year sublease with Lincoln Financial comprising almost 16,000 square feet for its headquarters office, in conjunction with Swig Equities, LLC, and Falcon Pacific Construction/Builders, LLC. “Helmsley Spear and the related Swig Equities companies have…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—A majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics believe that the U.S. economy is in recession and do not expect the downturn to end until the latter part of 2020 or the early stages of 2021. On a darker note, NABE President Constance Hunter, CBE, chief economist, KPMG, said that 80%…
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