Did your heart stop when yesterday’s Daily Dirt reported that 45 City Council members have sponsored a prevailing wage bill for subsidized projects?
The Fair Share Act, introduced by Council member Kevin Riley, could “decimate” the city’s affordable housing programs, one alarmed reader noted.
Building affordable projects already runs about $700,000 per unit, not including any cost for the land. Jacking up labor costs with a prevailing wage mandate would push that number even higher, to the point where developments wouldn’t be built.
Council members, with at least one exception, understand this. At the same time, also with at least one exception, they want more low-rent units.
Why would supporters of affordable housing sponsor a bill that would crush affordable housing projects? So they can placate the union behind the bill, knowing it will never come to a vote.
That’s the beauty of letting the Council speaker control the movement of legislation. Adrienne Adams can allow her members to tell the carpenters union “I support your bill” without any risk that it will actually become law. In other words, they can have it both ways.
It’s disingenuous, but that’s politics. We don’t have to look far for proof: Riley also introduced the Fair Share Act last year and got 44 sponsors, yet the bill died. It only takes 26 votes to pass a bill and 34 to override a mayoral veto.
Technically, Council members have the power to advance a bill over the speaker’s objection — a concession they won from a previous candidate for speaker — but they never do.
What we’re thinking about: Do readers of The Real Deal want to see more or less coverage of proptech? Send your thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Rampant deer strikes on the North Fork — 227 in Southold Town last year, and another 12 last week — have prompted calls for culling, but plans are being blocked by an Assembly member without a single deer in her district: Deborah Glick of Manhattan, according to Patch. “We have, in the state Assembly, representatives from New York City telling us what we can and cannot do in regard to hunting,” Southold council member Greg Doroski told the publication. “They have no understanding of the problems in this community.”
Elsewhere…
The Long Island Business Association is surveying local developers about how much they have invested in projects elsewhere and why, Newsday reported. The idea is to show local officials how they can make Long Island more attractive to developers.
One suggestion for local officials: Stop rejecting projects, especially ones you had initially encouraged only to pull the rug out from under them later. And start zoning for apartment buildings and walkable shopping districts near Long Island Rail Road stations, as Mineola has done with great results.
Billion-dollar disasters nationwide have increased nearly sixfold since the 1980s. The following numbers, from the Insurance Journal via Newsday, are adjusted for inflation.
1980-1989: 3.3 per year
2015-2024: 18.3 per year
The increase is because there is more property now to be damaged, and global warming has made powerful storms more frequent.
Alicia Glen, in a feature story about female developers, told the New York Times that despite all her credentials — former deputy mayor, former Goldman Sachs muckety-muck, Columbia Law School, Gateway Development Corporation co-chair — “I had trouble raising money” when she launched her development firm, MSquared. “My male counterparts — [in] two phone calls, they can raise a billion dollars.”
Closing time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Thursday was $37.5 million for units 12W and SVT20 at 907 Fifth Avenue in Lenox Hill. TRD reported on the transaction earlier today.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $73 million for four properties in Chelsea totalling 24,530 square feet. The properties include 341-343 Seventh Avenue, 287 Seventh Avenue, and 167 West 29th Street. The buyer’s address is linked to Namdar Realty Corporation.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $12.5 million for a 5,950-square-foot townhouse at 180 East 75th Street in Lenox Hill. Steven Cohen of Douglas Elliman has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was 639,873 square feet for a 60-story, mixed-use building by Alloy Development. The permit calls for 521 units at 376 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn. It is part of Alloy’s all-electric project including 505 State Street and 100 Flatbush Avenue.
— Matthew Elo