Number of stalled NYC construction sites jumps to January 2011 levels

From left: Building Congress President Richard Anderson and a stalled construction site

Back to the drawing board, New York City. The number of stalled construction sites in Gotham has risen 17 percent since February—effectively eliminating progress made in getting construction going again in the last year, a new report from the New York Building Congress shows.


The Department of Buildings began tracking the number of stalled sites in the five boroughs in July 2009, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers the previous September, which resulted in widespread construction delays. This month, 691 sites were identified as stalled, up from 592 in February of this year. The November total marks the seventh highest number of stalled projects since the report’s inception, and the highest since January 2011.

Of the sites deemed stalled, 45 percent have been on the DOB’s list since it began, and 26 percent were added this year. The New York City Department of Finance estimates that stalled sites, including vacant land, have an aggregate market value of $883 million, the report said.

Brooklyn fared the worst of all the boroughs, with 47 percent of total construction projects — 323 in all — stalled as of today’s report.

“It is interesting to note that while the raw number of stalled sites has increased, the estimated market value has dropped by nearly half a billion dollars,” Building Congress President Richard Anderson said in the statement. “This suggests that the luxury residential market was home to an outsized percentage of the projects that have resumed in 2012.” –Guelda Voien

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/11/28/number-of-stalled-nyc-construction-sites-jumps-to-january-2011-levels/

Planned New York Media Center Gets a Developer, and an Address in Brooklyn

The planned “Made in NY” media center, a project favored by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, took a big step forward on Thursday as New York City officials designated the Independent Filmmaker Project, a nonprofit, as its developer and operator. They also named a building at 20 Jay Street in Brooklyn’s Dumbo district as the center’s location. The building, designed in 1909 for the Arbuckle Brothers coffee roasting company, is currently a New York City landmark.

Earlier this year, New York officials called for proposals to design and operate the center, which is supposed to serve as an incubator for media projects by offering low-cost work space and other support. In choosing to go with I.F.P., the city also named General Assembly, an education company, as a partner with responsibility for developing courses that will be part of the center’s program.

Through its boards of directors and advisers, the I.F.P. brings connections to some important players in New York’s entertainment industry, including Sheila Nevins, an HBO executive who has fostered that company’s documentaries business, and Michael Barker, the co-president of Sony Pictures Classics. The center is expected to open in the spring of next year, the I.F.P. said in a statement.

By MICHAEL CIEPLY

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/planned-new-york-media-center-gets-a-developer-and-an-address-in-brooklyn/