A Benetti super-yacht (inset: Andrew Cuomo)

The New York state budget bills passed by the Legislature on Monday night included sales tax breaks on the purchase of private planes and yachts.

Buyers of yachts will only pay sales tax on the first $230,000, while buyers of small planes designed to carry under 20 people will not pay any sales tax, according to the New York Daily News.

Critics slammed the deal, especially in the face of other proposals that were left out of the final budget, such as a minimum wage increase and statewide property tax relief.

“I guess the yacht lobby is stronger than people thought,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesperson for the Senate Democratic Caucus. “It is outrageous that we are giving tax breaks to buy a yacht but couldn’t raise the minimum wage or provide real property tax relief.”

Supporters of the measures claimed that they would be a boon to the state economy and help job creation.

“We are trying to encourage people to buy their boat, to maintain their boat and use their boat in New York,” said a Cuomo administration official.

The state’s new fiscal year begins Wednesday. [NYDN] — Tess Hofmann

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A design by Shi Yuqing, Hu Yifei, Zhang Juntong, Sheng Zifeng, He Yanan, China (Credit: eVolo Magazine)

The sky is the limit. Literally.

The winners of the 2015 eVolo Magazine skyscraper competition used themes including overcrowding, global warming and environmental disaster as inspiration for futuristic designs, according to Business Insider. The competition, which asked architects to re-envision the concept of vertical living, is in its 10th year.

Three winners and 20 honorable mentions were picked from about 500 contestants who submitted futuristic skyscraper designs. [Business Insider] — Claire Moses

From left: Ben Kallos and earlier Midtown East rezoning plan

City Council member Ben Kallos plans to introduce a bill today requiring that a city planner attend every meeting held by the city’s 59 community boards.

Kallos said the bill intends to give communities a more active role in the land use review process, the Gotham Gazette reported. The bill would form a planning department in the five borough president offices. There would be at least one professional urban planner on staff for each community board.

Brooklyn has the most community boards, at 18. Queens has 14, while Manhattan and the Bronx each have 12 and Staten Island has three.

Kallos, who chairs the governmental operations committee, is expected to introduce the bill at the City Council meeting Tuesday night. He said the long-delayed proposed rezoning of Midtown East helped influence this bill.

“The City has two main powers,” Kallos told the Gotham Gazette. “The first is over budget and the community boards have a say in that. They make their budget priorities known. The other is land use. In order to give community boards power and a voice in that land use process, they need skilled technical help.” [Gotham Gazette] — Mark Maurer 

Renderings of 388-390 Greenwich Street in Tribeca (credit: Citigroup via Tribeca Citizen)

New renderings of Citigroup’s planned headquarters at SL Green Realty’s 388-390 Greenwich Street on the Hudson River show that the buildings will be getting a curtain-walled makeover.

Citigroup is relocating its headquarters from 399 Park Avenue at East 53rd Street. In 2013, it signed a deal worth over $1 billion to renew its 2.7 million-square-foot lease in the building.

Greenwich Street plaza

388-390 Greenwich Street

A memo sent to employees last week included renderings of the new facility, which will integrate 388 and 390 into one building with a single lobby, a “town square,” a rooftop terrace, and a fitness center, the Tribeca Citizen reported. The building will also be LEED-certified.

Citigroup estimates that the transformation will be complete by 2019.

SL Green has full ownership of the building after buying out Ivanhoe Cambridge’s stake for $783 million last year. [Tribeca Citizen] — Tess Hofmann

From left: Jon Gray and Steve Schwarzman

Blackstone Group raised $14.5 billion from institutions for a forthcoming real estate investment fund and plans to raise another $1.3 billion from individuals.

Blackstone, the world’s biggest alternative asset manager, has had enormous success with its existing real estate investment vehicles, according to Bloomberg News. Its seven previous global property funds have doubled their invested capital, with returns of 18 percent since 1994. The firm oversees $81 billion in real estate assets.

Sources familiar with the deal told Bloomberg about the fundraising progress, though the details will not be publicly available until the fund is done raising capital. Earlier this month, it was reported that the firm was looking to raise $15 billion.

“As we look into 2015, we’re very excited about our two flagship funds — one in real estate and one in private equity will be entering the market,” Laurence Tosi, Blackstone’s CFO, said at a conference last month. “The main competitors for us in real estate were largely the investment captive shops inside the investment banks. They’re all gone now.”

Jonathan Gray heads Blackstone’s real estate group, and is seen as a possible successor to CEO Steve Schwarzman.

The firm purchased Chicago’s Willis Tower for $1.3 billion this month, in the priciest-ever deal for a non-New York City office tower. In November, it purchased Vornado Realty Trust’s 1740 Broadway for $605 million. [Bloomberg News] — Tess Hofmann

Ed Minskoff and Magic Johnson at the Elite Eight matchup (Credit: Bleacher Report)

Minskoff Equities’ Ed Minskoff was spotted at the Elite Eight matchup between Louisville and Michigan State on Sunday.

Minskoff and NBA legend Magic Johnson were both supporting the Spartans, who were forced into overtime by Louisville, but ultimately prevailed 76-70. [Bleacher Report]

From left: 123 William Street in Lower Manhattan and 434 West 33rd Street on the West Side

Planned Parenthood is ditching its current office condominium on Manhattan’s West Side and leasing a space in Lower Manhattan at American Realty Capital’s 123 William Street.

The reproductive health nonprofit’s new lease is a 15-year deal for 65,000 square feet on the ninth through 11th floors of 123 William Street, according to Crain’s. 

American Realty Capital recently purchased the building from a partnership between East End Capital and GreenOak Real Estate for $253 million. Planned Parenthood was represented by broker Suzanne Sunshine, while the building is represented by CBRE’s Brad Gerla and Jonathan Cope.

Its former 70,000-square-foot office space at the base of 434 West 33rd is now on the market with Eastdil Secured and Planned Parenthood expects to sell it for at least $35 million, according to Crain’s. Several sources told the magazine that Brookfield Property Partners, which is developing  Manhattan West in the area, will be the likely buyer. Brookfield is reportedly in talks to acquire the rest of the 13-story building from Vectra Management Group. [Crain’s] — Tess Hofmann

Thomas Davidoff and Airbnb founders

Airbnb gives a slight boost to average rents in some major cities in the U.S., according to a University of British Columbia professor’s study commissioned by the short-term rental company.

The listing service increases the price of a one-bedroom New York City apartment by roughly $6 per month. The jump is even bigger for a one-bedroom in San Francisco – about $19 per month.

Thomas Davidoff, assistant professor at the Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia, used data on the majority of Airbnb’s 1 million listings.

Critics of the service have said that people who rent out their apartments to tourists are willing to pay higher rent.

“It’s not an affordability issue. It’s a luxury neighborhood issue or a bohemian neighborhood issue,” Davidoff told the Wall Street Journal.

Airbnb, which is valued at more than $20 billion, reportedly spent roughly $15 million on television ads in the second half of 2014. [WSJ] — Mark Maurer

David Weinreb and the Howard Hughes Corp. development site (photo credit Max Dworkin)

The Howard Hughes Corp. has struck a deal with Edison Properties that allows the former to build a large mixed-use building straddling the border of the South Street Seaport Historic District, according to sources familiar with the transaction. 

The Dallas, Texas-based Hughes Corp. and Edison, headquartered in Newark, N.J., each own a handful of properties on the block along Front Street between John Street and Maiden Lane. About half of the block lies within the historic district.

City records show that Howard Hughes paid $64.6 million earlier this month to buy nearly 150,000 square feet of air rights from a parking lot Edison owns at the northern end of the block, part of the historic area, and add them to an adjacent development site that Howard Hughes has been assembling since late last year.

The Howard Hughes site, which fronts at 163 Front Street, lies just outside the historic area.

A zoning diagram prepared by SHoP Architects, the firm that the developer’s controversial 42-story mixed-use tower planned just a few blocks north, indicates a project site spanning both companies’ properties.

Representatives for Howard Hughes did not respond to requests for comment, while Edison declined to comment.

SHoP’s zoning diagram indicates the combined properties hold 518,760 square feet of development rights. Howard Hughes properties’ hold several buildings and at the corner of the block opposite Edison’s parking lots, the Lam Group is finishing up work on a 31-story hotel at 161 Front Street.

The site sits about four blocks south and just inland from where the developer is planning to build a controversial, 42-story residential tower on the East River overlooking the historic district.That plan has been met by stiff pushback from community groups arguing it is out of character with the neighborhood, including local Councilwoman Margaret Chin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who have opposed the plan in its current form.

The Hughes Corp. has been active in the area lately, including purchasing about $31 million worth of air rights back in February from a consortium of banks that owns the air rights above the South Street Seaport Museum and surrounding properties.

Edison is a major parking lot holder in New York through Edison Park Fast, and also owns companies such as Manhattan Mini Storage. It recently sold Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital Group a block-long development site at  518 West 18th Street for more than $800 million, or about $1,000 per square foot, as The Real Deal first reported.

From left: 388 Bridge Street in Downtown Brooklyn and a rendering of 51 Jay Street in Dumbo

Almost half of the new development listings in the two boroughs priced at $10 million or more during the first quarter of 2015 were located in Lower Manhattan, rather than Midtown and other traditional bastions of wealth, according to Halstead Property Development Marketing’s inaugural new development report. In comparison, Billionaires’ Row houses 20 percent of the units at that price point.

The report also shows a “solidification of the marketplace in Brooklyn,” Stephen Kliegerman, president of Halstead Property Development Marketing, told The Real Deal during a phone interview Tuesday.

Halstead Property Development Marketing’s report focused exclusively on Manhattan and Brooklyn due to a lack of new condo product in other boroughs, Kliegerman said. Brooklyn saw 25 percent of all new development deals under consideration, a 20 percent increase since the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the report. The average price per square foot of closed new development sales in Brooklyn rose 11 percent quarter-over-quarter to $1,231. Sales at the Stahl Organization’s 388 Bridge Street as well as at Slate Property Group and Adam America Real Estate’s 51 Jay Street helped spur that growth.

In Manhattan, the average price per square foot for a new development condo was $2,691 per square foot during the first quarter of 2015, according to the report. Most of the borough’s new development activity took place in Lower Manhattan, with 300 units closing or entering contract, 73 of which were located in the Financial District.

In Brooklyn, the highest concentration of new development activity was found in Downtown Brooklyn (53 units), Williamsburg (48 units) and Boerum Hill (47 units), according to the report.

Buyers of new development units in Manhattan, Kliegerman said, respond best to two-bedroom apartments. In Brooklyn, both one- and two-bedroom units are equally popular.

Kliegerman said he expects the market to look similar a year from now. New condo inventory will continue to dwindle in Manhattan, prices will keep going up in Brooklyn, and the strong dollar isn’t likely to deter foreign investment, he said.

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From left: A one-bedroom at 310 East 23rd Street is asking $750,000 and a one-bedroom at 10 Leonard Street is asking $1.75 million.

Believe it or not, Manhattan residential sales prices are flat.

That’s the takeaway from Douglas Elliman’s latest quarterly report, which found that the median sales price in Manhattan was $970,000 during the first quarter of 2015, compared with $980,000 last quarter.  The average sales price, the report found, dropped 2.3 percent to $1.73 million during the quarter.

“The market is downshifting to a more sustainable level of activity,” said Jonathan Miller, president of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel and the author of the Elliman report. The report also found a slight uptick in inventory and a decline in the number of closed sales. “Prices are high but stable,” Miller said.

Despite stable prices in the market as a whole, the luxury segment saw its median sales price drop 10.6 percent to $5.1 million. There were also nearly 20 percent fewer luxury sales compared to last year, with 266 closed sales in the first quarter.

The number of new development sales also dropped 16.8 percent to 272 during the first quarter, according to the report. And the median sales price for new development units fell by 6.1 percent to $1.6 million. The average new development sales price grew 6.6 percent to $3 million.

According to Miller, the price changes can be explained by recent inventory gains. During the first quarter, there were 5,243 units on the market, a 5.5 percent increase from the same period last year, he said.

As for sales volume, the number of closed sales – 2,661 – dropped by 19.5 percent, the third consecutive quarter that saw a double-digit decline. But Miller said sales volume shot up in 2013 and 2014 to record, or near-record levels, in response to pent-up demand following the financial crisis.

“I contend that surplus demand has largely been satiated or absorbed,” Miller said. “The prior level was not sustainable…. So even though sales fell sharply, they are still high.”

Miller said the comparatively low level of resale inventory means prices are likely to climb. During the first quarter, resale inventory overall rose 0.8 percent, while new development inventory rose 22.1 percent. “It keeps the pressure on prices for resales,” he said. “We’re either stuck in a high plateau of we’re poised for more price growth,” he said.

Elliman’s rivals also published their own takes on the market Wednesday.

In its report, Corcoran Group said the first quarter saw 3,401 signed contracts in the first quarter of 2015, up 5 percent year-over-year from 3,248. Town Residential noted a 23.5 percent increase in contracts signed on units priced at $10 million and up.

Startup brokerage Compass tallied $4.5 billion in total sales during the 2015 first quarter, down 16.7 percent year-over-year.

In a separate analysis published on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal found that resale prices are rising. The median price of a resale condo in the first quarter was $1.4 million, up 9.8 percent. New condo prices dropped 22.8 percent to $1.4 million.

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 in Lower Manhattan (left) and the Rockaways (right)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing a $3 billion grant to the city for repairs from Hurricane Sandy and protection against possible future storms.

It’s the agency’s largest grant ever, according to Bloomberg. The money will go toward more secure lobbies with better lighting, better security cameras as well as boilers and electrical equipment benefiting roughly 80,000 tenants of the New York City Housing Authority, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced during a press conference in Red Hook on Tuesday.

“It will allow us to fortify buildings and utilities so that they’re resilient,” the mayor said, “and residents are much more protected the next time extreme weather hits.”

With the money — which will be used for repairs at roughly 33 NYCHA buildings — electrical and heating systems will be moved to higher ground and new barriers for low-lying buildings near the water will be created. The funds will also pay for stand-by generators to use during a power outage.

“We had the devastation of Sandy, but it gave us the capital to rebuild parts of NYCHA better than before,” Senator Chuck Schumer said. “Even people not affected by Sandy, their lives are going to be made much better.” [Bloomberg] — Claire Moses

Robert Durst

Robert Durst is stuck in New Orleans for now.

The black sheep of the Durst family will not be extradited to Los Angeles until Louisiana prosecutors complete their own case against the alleged murderer. Last month, Durst was arrested in New Orleans on murder charges related to the death of his friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles in 2000. During the arrest, authorities found a gun and a stash of marijuana, according to the Guardian.

“Mr. Durst is in Louisiana and will be there until they complete that case,” a Los Angeles district attorney’s spokesperson told the newspaper. “We are waiting for whatever happens in Louisiana to take its course.”

Durst, 71, is being held at a psychiatric facility outside of New Orleans, where he is on suicide watch. If convicted in Louisiana, Durst could face multiple decades in jail for the possession of a firearm. An indictment against Durst is expected to come as soon as Wednesday night, the Guardian reported.

“At his age, given the conditions in Louisiana prisons and his health, even 10 years is a death sentence,” Craig Mordock, a former New Orleans prosecutor, told the newspaper.

The investigation into Berman’s death was reopened after evidence that was revealed during the fifth episode of HBO’s “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.” During the series finale, Durst could be heard muttering “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” [The Guardian] — Claire Moses

The Jennings-McCullogh Mansions used to be located at 39th Street and Park Avenue

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2. Fran Leibowitz talks about her childhood in a split-level NJ home [WSJ]
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4. These are the most popular movie locations in NYC [Curbed]
5. Office markets in tech-heavy cities see uptick [WSJ]
6. Hidden gems from New York’s Gilded Age and what they are today [Curbed]

— Claire Moses

RadioShack stores

A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of RadioShack’s roughly 1,700 stores to the electronics retailer’s biggest shareholder.

The deal saves thousands of jobs as well as hundreds of the company’s storefronts, 250 of which were located in New York, Bloomberg reported. The buyer, hedge fund Standard General, is planning to manage the business together with Sprint Corporation, according to the website.

Standard General bid $145.5 million for the stores during an asset auction last week, but isn’t the only investor eyeing RadioShack’s real estate holdings, Bloomberg reported. Spring Mobile, which is part of video chain GameShop, won a previous auction to buy more than 160 stores. Spring has two months to decide which locations it wants, according to the website. RadioShack’s intellectual property will be auctioned off separately.

RadioShack entered bankruptcy with more than 4,000 stores, $1.2 billion in assets and a debt of $1.38 billion, according to court documents cited by the website. [Bloomberg] — Claire Moses

Bags of marijuana

An out-of-the-ordinary tech tenant is weeding through available retail space in the city.

Terra Tech, a company that also farms herbs and vegetables, owns legal marijuana dispensaries in states such as Nevada and California where pot use has been legalized, according to the newspaper. Derek Peterson, the company’s CEO, told the newspaper he’ll be applying to open dispensaries in New York state. Terra Tech is looking for retail space and growth sites, according to the newspaper.

“You can operate up to four dispensaries and one cultivation facility and a production facility,” Peterson told the Post. The state, however, is not yet accepting applications and has only opened it up to five organizations.

Peterson told the newspaper that the company is looking at various neighborhoods, “where a Starbucks would go.” He added that he’s planning to open dispensaries that are between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet. [NYP] — Claire Moses 

Revel Casino in Atlantic City (inset: Howard Milstein of the Milstein Group)

A partnership between Howard Milstein and Carl Goldberg has emerged as a potential rival to Glenn Straub to buy the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., out of bankruptcy.

According to a filing in the suit by business tenants of the casino, Milstein and Goldberg, together the Milstein Group, are planning an $88 million bid, which would trump the current $82 million offer by Straub’s Polo North Country Club. Straub’s previous $95 million bid failed to close.

The tenants say that the partnership has agreed not to cancel their leases if they win the deal for the casino, the Associated Press reported, in contrast to Straub, who would not necessarily honor the leases.

“One of the bidders, a joint venture between New York’s Howard Milstein and New Jersey’s Carl Goldberg (the Milstein Group) is prepared to post an $88 million cash deposit (which is either $6 million or $16 million more than Polo North’s escrowed purchase price, depending on how you count),” the filing by the tenants states.

Straub’s bid is due to be considered Thursday, and the deadline for the bankruptcy case to be completed is April 30, though Revel has told the court that it needs more time. [AP via Philly.com] — Tess Hofmann

Rendering of 7 Bryant Park in Midtown (credit: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners)

Bank of China is readying to move into Hines Development and JPMorgan’s nearly completed 7 Bryant Park, but contrary to what was previously expected, the banking giant will be occupying only 40 percent of the tower.

The bank bought the 30-story, 471,000-square-foot property for a reported price of nearly $600 million at the end of last year, according to the New York Post. The deal is for a long-term leasehold.

A new JLL report shows that about 60 percent of that space will be up for lease, adding to Midtown’s Class A vacancy. The figure makes sense given that Bank of China was initially in talks to be a flagship tenant occupying just a portion of the tower, before deciding to acquire the building.

CBRE is representing the developers, and would not comment. [NYP] — Tess Hofmann