Landmarking 10 blocks makes City Councilman Corey Johnson more likely to vote in favor of St. John’s Terminal project

By Joe Anuta

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to introduce a new South Village Historic District early next month—a move that will both appease preservationists and help grease the wheels for a massive mixed-use project nearby.

Organizations including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation have pushed the commission to landmark 10 blocks to the southern portion of the existing South Village Historic District, which is roughly bounded by Sixth Avenue, West Fourth Street, LaGuardia Place and Houston Street, called Sullivan-Thompson Historic District. And in late August, City Councilman Corey Johnson, the local representative for the area, made the district’s expansion one of the conditions for his approval of a proposed 1.7-million-square-foot project, St. John’s Center, set to rise at 550 Washington St., across the street from Pier 40 in Hudson River Park. That project, which is also supported by the Hudson River Park Trust and the de Blasio administration, needs City Council approval.

“If we are to approve the 550 Washington St. application, the city must also extend landmark protections to the historic blocks south of Houston Street,” said Johnson during testimony before the City Planning Commission.

The de Blasio administration supports the project for a number of reasons, though mainly because 25% of the proposed 1,586 apartments will be enrolled in the city’s affordable housing program. However, it needs Johnson’s vote, since the council typically defers to the local representative on land-use matters. Meanwhile, the Hudson River Park Trust wants the pending rezoning application to go through because it’s selling $100 million worth of air rights from Pier 40 to the developers, a team of Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group. The trust plans to use the cash to repair the deteriorating dock.

By putting the South Village Historic District expansion on its to-do list, the city is meeting one of Johnson’s demands—something that the Bloomberg administration did in a similar situation in 2013, when the South Village Historic District was expanded from its the initial 2011 boundary in order to get former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to sign off on a proposal to allow residential development in Hudson Square.

“The city had to be forced to [expand the district] in exchange for the Hudson Square rezoning,” said Andrew Berman, head of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which has sought to have the entire district landmarked for a decade. “Just like this time around.”

However, the designation does not guarantee that Johnson will give the St. John’s Center project a thumbs-up. While the developers have already made a number of alterations to the project in response to other community concerns, groups including Berman’s want to prohibit destination retail at the site. Johnson has also asked for a transportation study and permanently prohibiting the Hudson River Park Trust from selling more of its unused development rights to sites within Community District 2, which runs from the West Village in the north down to Hudson Square and Little Italy in the south, a move that would limit development in the district.

Hudson River Park is home to millions of square feet of unused development rights that exist on commercial piers. The trust plans to eventually sell some of those rights to the owners of upland development sites, though most of those rights are concentrated farther north in the park.

September 21, 2016 12:00PM

Money continues to flood out of China, which should be good news for New York’s real estate market.

August was the 24th straight month of net capital outflows from China, with $51 billion leaving the country after accounting for capital inflows, the Wall Street Journal reported. The pace has slowed a bit from its peak in December and January, when more than net $140 million left the country each month.

Year-to-date, net capital outflows from China total more than $400 million, driving down the Yuan 3 percent against the Dollar. Meanwhile, China’s foreign currency reserves fell by $190 billion this year.

Many savers appear to believe that the Yuan will continue to fall in value, according to the Journal, which gives them an incentive to convert their wealth into dollars.

Chinese savers looking to get their money out of the country have been a staple of New York’s residential real estate market, helping drive up luxury apartment prices to record levels.  This year the high-end market has slowed a little, so it should be welcome news for developers and brokers that Chinese buyers don’t appear to be going anywhere.

The Real Deal reported on Monday that that Chinese institutional investors — such as Kuafu Properties and SMI USA — are increasingly taking on luxury ground-up developments in Manhattan. [WSJ] — Konrad Putzier

September 13, 2016 
By Kathryn Brenzel

Chris Ward and a rendering of Red Hook waterfront redevelopment (credit: AECOM)

Many great real estate projects start out as abstracts — but whether or not AECOM’s vision to transform Red Hook’s waterfront has legs hinges on several crucial details.

The company on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to build up to 45 million square feet of residential space in Red Hook, a plan that would add as many as 45,000 new apartments, 25 percent of them affordable. As part of the proposal, the company also suggested extending the No. 1 train into Brooklyn and adding three subway stops, an undertaking that it estimates will cost $3.5 billion.

Chris Ward, chief executive of AECOM’s Metro New York, is the first to admit the vision is extremely preliminary. During a panel Tuesday organized by the New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation, Ward repeatedly stressed that the company’s study of the area was in no way a plan, but rather a “framework” designed to inspire conversation. The next step is for AECOM to take the proposal to residents.

“It really is for the community to embrace,” Ward said. “If not, it’ll just be a series of ideas that won’t get realized.”

Other factors also potentially stand in the way. For one, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would need to allow its 80-acre Red Hook Container Terminal to be used for the development. The agency has floated shutting down the terminal as part of its efforts to shed its non-core real estate assets, but has not yet embraced AECOM’s vision. A spokesperson for the agency said they were currently reviewing the proposal.

AECOM would likely also need the blessings of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and City Hall. Ward said both are currently focused on their own projects.

“Sounds like this is in the very preliminary stages of an idea,” Kevin Ortiz, a spokesperson for the MTA, said in an email on AECOM’s proposal. “We look forward to hearing more about it, especially details regarding funding.”

Representatives for City Hall did not immediately respond to messages seeking additional information.

Then there’s the cost of the entire project, which remains unclear. The proposal includes three scenarios for residential development, 25 million square feet, 35 million square feet and 45 million square feet. The biggest option would pay for 45 percent of the proposed subway changes — the extension from Rector Street in Manhattan to Red Hook and three additional stops — work that AECOM reckons will cost $3.5 billion. One official told The Real Deal that $3.5 billion for a tube under the river and three stations is a “remarkably low estimate.”

Ward said that the city is currently focused on the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, but feels the streetcar alone won’t do enough to address the neighborhood’s growing density. He noted the subway extension would take five years, whereas the BQX is expected to take longer (the city’s estimate is 2024). He acknowledged that subways have become associated with massive cost overruns, especially the East Side Access project, which is linking the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Terminal. The Second Avenue subway expansion — on which AECOM is a contractor — is another notorious example of a long-delayed subway project.

“That [Second Avenue subway] has cast such a pall over whether or not we can build subways efficiently, on time and on budget,” he said. “I hope we haven’t given up on subways. It’s what made America great, they are the best way to connect neighborhoods.”

Ward said that redeveloping Red Hook could help address what he said was a critically low housing vacancy rate (just 3.45 percent in 2014) and help connect public housing to the waterfront.

Michelle de la Uz, executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, a South Brooklyn-based nonprofit affordable housing developer, countered that encouraging growth in the neighborhood without first addressing existing inequalities — like the lack of a public high school in Red Hook — would only exacerbate problems of access.

The projected total in the city for 2016 is13,000; last year permits topped 56,000     by Greg David

August 01, 2016
By E.B. Solomont

Eyal Ofer

New York City real estate has had silent investors for as long as developers have been buying and selling property. But as the world economy grows more uncertain and lenders pull back, that quiet money is playing a bigger role in clinching deals here. And, in some cases, it’s getting louder as once-hushed players take on more visible roles. Below is a look at some of the notable private investors bankrolling real estate activity in NYC.

Eyal Ofer/Global Holdings
Estimated net worth: $8.9 billion
Fortune made in: Shipping

Eyal Ofer’s firm Global Holdings has a stake in $2.3 billion worth of New York City real estate, according to Real Capital Analytics. Patriarch Sammy Ofer, who was once Israel’s richest man and died in 2011, made a fortune in shipping in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Then, in the 1980s, his son Eyal began leveraging that fortune and investing in New York real estate. The company is best known as a longtime (and quiet) backer of Zeckendorf Development, with stakes in a number of the company’s projects, including its marquee condo 15 Central Park West and its more recent and upcoming towers. But Global Holdings has recently taken on a more visible role, partnering with Rudin Management at Greenwich Lane. After under-the-radar office investments such as 875 Third Avenue, acquired in 2013 with partner Miller Global Properties, Global Holdings bought out Miller for $100 million in 2014 to become the building’s sole owner. In another solo deal earlier this year, Global Holdings picked up 1250 Broadway for $565 million. Ofer, 66, was born in Israel, but currently lives in Monaco. In addition to owning a stake in Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ofer is an avid collector of contemporary art, and his family donated $13 million to the Tate Modern in 2013.

Beny Steinmetz/BSG Capital
Estimated net worth: $1.28 billion
Fortune made in: Diamonds, mining

Born and raised in Israel, billionaire Beny Steinmetz is about as taciturn a real estate investor as they come. While there’s scant evidence of his holdings in New York, he’s a known backer of Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital. The now-60-year-old was born into a diamond trading family and in 1978 moved to Belgium, where he learned the trade.  Today he considers himself a citizen of the world — flying on his private jetbetween Tel Aviv, where his family lives; London, where his mining company BSG Resources is headquartered; and Geneva, where Steinmetz maintains a legal residence. (He also has a French passport.) BSGR has a strong — albeit controversial — presence in Africa, where Steinmetz landed lucrative mining contracts in Guinea in 2008 that have been the subject of corruption and bribery probes. In 2014, Steinmetz reportedly sold his stake in Geneva-based Steinmetz Diamond Group to his brother for an undisclosed sum. Layers of corporations shield the true extent of Steinmertz’s holdings, including his stake in BSGR, which is controlled by a trust of which he’s a beneficiary. “I don’t really care what everyone thinks,” he told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot in 2013, referring to his reluctance to give interviews or even appear at industry events. “I think I’m balanced. Some people might say I’m cold-hearted.”

Morad Ghadamian

Morad Ghadamian/Marjan International Corp.
Estimated net worth: Unknown
Fortune made in: Carpet imports

Ghadamian, 66, was born in Iran and lives in Manhattan in a $27.5 million co-op at 810 Fifth Avenue. He’s a frequent backer of developer Joe Moinian, a fellow Persian Jew whom Ghadamian counts among his “best friends.” After gamely taking a side role to Moinian when it came to real estate investment, Ghadamian has recently become slightly less obscure. Earlier this year, he acquired a 50 percent stake in Central Park South’s Hilton Garden Inn from Starwood Capital Group, which co-developed the hotel with Moinian. Ghadamian’s son, Daniel, is a principal at Capstone Equities, which is overhauling a former Playboy Club at 5 East 59th Street in Midtown.

Abraham Fruchthandler/FBE Limited
Estimated net worth: Unknown
Fortune made in: Stock market, real estate

A frequent backer and partner of prolific Brooklyn landlord Ruby Schron, Fruchthandler reportedly has a stake in (and helps manage) 25 million square feet of real estate nationally, including 4,000 residential units. An Orthodox Jew like Schron, Fruchthandler’s profile is low and appears to be staying that way, even as he increasingly backs smaller developers. Notoriously press-shy, Fruchthandler invested alongside Schron and the Witkoff Group in the Woolworth Building in 1998. But FBE’s largest known investment is the overhaul of the 6.5 million-square-foot, 16-building complex known as Industry City, a redevelopment project the firm is partnering on with Schron’s Cammeby’s International, Jamestown, Belvedere Capital and Angelo, Gordon.

Bashar Kiwan

Bashar Kiwan/Al Waseet International
Estimated net worth: Unknown
Fortune made in: Media

After launching the first Arabic-language, classified weekly newspaper in Kuwait in 1992, Bashar Kiwan made a fortune by expanding that publication into a media empire, Al Waseet International, which includes newspapers, radio stations, digital platforms and advertising services. Five years ago, the French-Syrian-Kuwaiti businessman turned to real estate. The charismatic and entrepreneurial 49-year-old has strong ties to the Saudi royal family — Sheikh Sabah Jaber Mubarak al Sabah, son of the Kuwaiti prime minister, is chairman of Al Waseet. Kiwan’s biggest New York City investment was reportedly in the Witkoff Group’s Park Lane development, though exactly how much cash he put up is not public. And Kiwan, who lives in Kuwait, is now out of that deal: In April, Chinese conglomerate Greenland Groupreportedly acquired Al Waseet’s stake.

David Cohen/Carlton Associates
Estimated net worth: Unknown
Fortune made in: Family started Duane Reade

The investment arm of the Cohen family — whose brothers Abraham, Eli and Jack Cohen founded the now-omnipresent pharmacy chain Duane Reade in 1959 — has real estate assets valued at $2 billion, according to RCA. Carlton Associates, started by Jack, is now run by his son, David Cohen. In 2014, Carlton partnered with Schron and low-profile investor David Werner to buy the land under 100 West 57th Street for $285 million. In a 2012 deal, Carlton took on a more visible role when it partnered with Werner and real estate investor Joseph Mizrachi to buy a 1.1 million-square-foot Chicago office tower for $350 million — a record that year. Carlton also has a stake in One Court Square in Long Island City.

Michael Dell

Michael Dell/MSD Capital
Estimated net worth: $23.2 billion
Fortune made in: Computers

After launching the personal computer giantDell Inc. from his dorm room at the University of Texas-Austin, Michael Dell became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 1992 when he was just 27. Often called a tech industry “wunderkind,” the now 51-year-old waged a fierce battle to take Dell private in a $25 billion deal in 2013. While Dell has been making tech headlines, his family office, MSD Capital, has been investing Dell’s personal fortune since 1999 in car companies, restaurants and retail — alongside real estate holdings valued at about $3.5 billion, according to RCA. For the better part of the past decade, MSD has been co-developing an 865-acre resort in Hawaii, which includes a golf course and Four Seasons hotel. In New York, MSD and Goldman Sachs purchased equity stakes in the Related Companies in 2007 totaling 7.5 percent. Although Dell has no plans to take a more active role in New York City real estate, the firm recently invested in Sharif El-Gamal’s condo at 45 Park Place, as well as Adam America Real Estate’s residential development at 22-12 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City.

Editors comment: it should be noted that after this article appeared, Michael Dell was named as an investor/owner in Andrew Pensons Grand Central Station holdings.

Arthur Becker/Atlantic Investors LLC
Estimated net worth: Unknown
Fortune made in: Tech

A onetime restorer of historic homes and former stockbroker at Bear Stearns, Becker made his fortune buying and selling technology companies. Most recently, the 66-year-old was CEO of web hosting company NaviSite Inc., which he left in 2010. Through his Atlantic Investors LLC, Becker has a stake in $500 million worth of real estate, according to RCA. While he’s quiet as a mouse, he has backed some big projects, including Michael Stern and Kevin Maloney’s 111 West 57th Street. He’s also backing a planned condo at 124 Sixth Avenue, a former carwash, being developed by Maloney’s Property Markets Group and Robert Gladstone’s Madison Equities.

Raymond Gindi/Gindi Capital
Estimated net worth: Unknown
Fortune made in: Retail; owns Century 21 department store

The Gindi family, which started the discount chain Century 21, currently has a stake in nearly $5 billion worth of real estate, according to RCA. Raymond Gindi, who is in his late 40s, is a well-known entity in New York real estate, but is rarely in the spotlight unless it has to do with the retail business started in 1961 by his father, Al, and uncle, Sonny Gindi. But there’s no denying Gindi Capital’s significant influence in commercial real estate. (Fun fact: Cousin Eli Gindi, a onetime owner of the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room, closed the iconic restaurant in 2011 amid a dispute with then-landlord Elad Group.) In 2012, the family’s investment arm – Gindi Capital — sold a portfolio of 26 buildings (primarily in Manhattan, with a handful in Brooklyn and Queens) for $164 million, and in 2014 it leased a 19,000-square-foot office in Herald Square, from which it now manages its war chest. Gindi’s New York investments include an unknown stake in the Bryant Park Hotel, alongside Rainbow Shops owner Joseph Chehebar and investor Philip Pilevsky, as well as a stake in 490 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn with Crown Acquisitions. The Gindis are also investors in Vornado Realty Trust’s 650 Madison Avenue and Silverstein Properties’ Silver Towers, though they rarely get mentioned in connection with those buildings.

August 16, 2016 
By E.B. Solomont

Travel Inn Hotel at 51 West 42nd Street in Midtown West and Richard Born

Sorry, tourists! Hotelier Richard Born is rolling out the welcome mat for permanent guests with his latest project in Hell’s Kitchen.

Born’s BD Hotels, best known for developing trendy spots like the Mercer and Stanhope Hotels, filed plans to build a 39-story, mixed-use building at 515 West 42nd Street, according to plans filed with the city’s Department of Buildings. The new building will be home to 350 apartments, filings show.  

Located one block west of BD Hotel’s forthcoming micro-unit Pod Times Square hotel, the site is currently home to a seven-story Travel Inn Hotel.

According to the DOB, the planned building will have more than 277,000 square feet of residential space, plus another 4,300 square feet of ground-floor retail. Amenities will include an outdoor garden, fitness room and game room, according to filings, as well as a common terrace and sky lounge on the 38th floor.

There will be 10 apartments on each of the third through 37th floors. According to filings, 10 apartments will have private terraces.

Handel Architects is the architect of record for the project.

The property has been in Born’s family for more than three decades. Born’s father, Robert Born, himself a developer, bought the property for an undisclosed price in 1981, according to property records.

It’s unclear if the units at 515 West 42nd will be condos or rentals, and Richard Born did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, BD Hotels said it would lease furnished apartments at its forthcoming Pod Times Square hotel at 400 West 42nd Street. The 665-room hotel, where hotel rooms go for $180 a night, will have Pod Pads on the 23rd through 27th floors.
Born and business partner Ira Drukier have developed residential properties before, including 173 and 176 Perry Street with architect Richard Meier. They also converted a Cass Gilbert office building at 90 West Street into a 410-unit rental with the Kibel family in 2008.

BD Hotels is not shifting away from its bread-and-butter hotel business, however.

In July, BD Hotels bought a stake in the landmarked Hotel Chelsea at 222 West 23rd Street, which they plan to renovate and reopen with 120-plus hotel rooms by 2018. Renovations involve working with the hotel’s 51 tenants to renovate and/or preserve their apartments.

From left: Jeff Blau and 15 Hudson Yards

The Related Companies is seeking a $1.74 billion sellout at 15 Hudson Yards, one of the largest condominiums hauls ever recorded in New York City.

The New York state Attorney General’s office approved Related’s condo offering plan June 2, meaning the building is now able to launch sales. The 88-story tower is slated to have 285 market-rate condos and 106 affordable units. The condo with the priciest sellout currently on the market is Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South, with a projected sellout of $3.1 billion.

A spokesperson for Related would not comment on specific unit prices but said Related was “thrilled to start sales of the first condominiums at Hudson Yards this fall.”

“We have already experienced a tremendous level of interest,” she said.

The tower is financed in part by the Children’s Investment Fund, a United Kingdom-based hedge fund that’s bankrolled the construction of supertall condos for the likes of Harry Macklowe at 432 Park Avenue and Larry Silverstein at 30 Park Place. The fund ponied up $850 million in construction financing for the condo portion of the project.
Construction began on the building in late 2014 and is expected to be completed later this year.

It’s the first residential building to go up as part of Related’s massive mixed-use Hudson Yards development. The first commercial building, 10 Hudson Yards, debuted in May.

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street. Via Bizzi & Partners Development

BY: EVAN BINDELGLASS 8:00 AM ON JUNE 27, 2016

Less than two weeks ago, the foundation was completed for a new mixed-use tower in the Financial District. Now, new renderings are out for the building going up at 125 Greenwich Street, thanks to the eagle-eyed contributors on the YIMBY Forums, and they would appear to confirm a final height exceeding 1,000 feet, given the tower will stand taller than the nearby 977-foot-tall 4 World Trade Center at 150 Greenwich Street.

Evolution of 125 Greenwich, created by YIMBY Forumer Thomas Koloski

The building is being developed by New Valley, Bizzi & Partners Development, and SHVO. The view seen at the top of the page shows off a multi-story section in the middle of the building full of greenery. There is also outdoor space atop the building’s base and on the roof.

Renderings also indicate the skyscraper’s roof will be illuminated, though whether that translates into reality remains to be seen.

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street. Via Bizzi & Partners Development

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street. Via Bizzi & Partners Development

Then there is this view, which shows off the texture of the building not apparent from more distant perspectives. The exterior won’t be entirely glassy, with two bands of what appears to be concrete lining the northern side of the tower.

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street. Via Bizzi & Partners Development

According to the most recently filed new building applications, the structure will rise 841 feet, although the new images would indicate a roof height of just over 1,000 feet. The marketing floor count will total 88, though updated DOB applications with the final building height and actual floor count are not yet available.

Per Bizzi & Partners, the tower’s 275 units will range from 400-foot studios to 2,500-square-foot three-bedrooms. They will have 10-foot ceilings and interiors designed by London-based March & White. The developer also says there will be 16,000 square feet of retail space, though that is not currently reflected by DOB information.

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street. Via Bizzi & Partners Development

The location is between Thames Street and Albany Street. Completion is expected in 2018.

credits: NY YIMBY

June 24, 2016 12:19PM
By Konrad Putzier

Illustration by Lexi Pilgrim

The morning after Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union, global markets are in freefall, with some economists already predicting a new global recession. But this worst-case scenario for Europe may actually work out in favor of the New York real estate industry – with one big caveat. Here’s what New York City can expect:

1.     Continued low interest rates

The Federal Reserve already backtracked on its plans to continue raising interest rates this year. Britain’s vote to leave the EU creates further global uncertainty and raises the specter of a recession, making it more likely that the Fed will delay raising rates even longer. That, taken strictly by itself, is good news for New York’s real estate industry. It means cheap financing.

“Mortgage rates will tumble following the Brexit vote, possibly hitting new record lows,” wrote Bankrate’s chief financial analyst Greg McBride. And it means the spreads between bond yields and commercial real estate cap rates are unlikely to shrink, which should help prop up property prices. (If interest rates rise, cap rates typically rise too: No one buys an office building with a 4-percent cap rate if you can get virtually risk-free treasury bonds with a 5-percent yield. If cap rates rise, property prices by definition fall.)

From left: One Hyde Park in London and 220 Central Park South in Manhattan

2.    Move over, ol’ chap: NYC likely to push ahead of London in luxury residential race

Remember when London was the most popular city for foreign billionaires looking to stash their cash in some luxury penthouses? Well, those days could soon be over. A collapsing pound, likely economic turmoil in Britain, and uncertainty over London’s future role and status within Europe will likely put an immediate damper on London’s property market. In an analysis released Fridaymorning, London-based brokerage Knight Frank did its best to comfort Britain’s property owners, saying “it should be remembered that the UK is a country with 60 million wealthy consumers.”

But the damage is done. By appearing more stable in comparison, New York City is set to benefit and may well attract more wealthy buyers seeking a stable and safe market to invest in.

3. NYC real estate to become more attractive as a global asset class

It’s not just that New York real estate will now be more attractive compared to London – it may also become more appealing relative to stocks and bonds. In times of extreme uncertainty, investors tend to flee the financial markets and invest in more stable assets. On Friday morning, the price of gold and Treasury bonds both shot up. New York real estate (both commercial and residential) is widely considered one of the safer investments — BlackRock’s Larry Fink recently described it taking over gold’s traditional role as an “instrument for the storing of wealth.” 

Expect more money to flow in.

From left: Ricky Gervais and Steve Carell

4.     New York’s office investment sales market just got a boost

London and New York are the world’s two largest office markets. London has been the world’s financial capital for two centuries, but in recent years, its place within the European Union played a big role in keeping things that way. Back in April, the head of Land Securities, Britain’s largest commercial real estate company, warned that Brexit would lead to a “demand shock” for London’s office market as economic turmoil hits and financial firms move jobs to continental Europe. The popularity of London and New York commercial real estate is fanned by the fact that they are “perceived by mainstream investors to be the most likely to deliver strong rental growth in the coming few years,” a Real Capital Analytics report noted last summer. As one falters, the other stands to benefit by becoming more appealing to major office investors. “Too many things are “TBD” in London right now, so NYC office, multifamily and high street retail will likely benefit from even more capital flows,” wrote Daniel Parker of Hodges Ward Elliott.

And here’s the big caveat:

All of the above only really matters if the world economy stays in decent shape. But if Brexit leads to an economic crisis in Europe that spills over into a global recession, no one in New York’s real estate industry will fondly recall the day Britain voted to leave the EU.