Elegran Edge
The Real Estate Blog

New Jersey is extending generous invitations to businesses to relocate, convincing New York’s big names to open offices across the Hudson.  In raw numbers, there was an aggressive increase in the amount of payouts from 2012 to 2013, stepping up from $698 million to $1.3 billion.    

(Right: Jonathan Miller, Left: Darren Blomquist) Recently, RealtyTrac had send out erroneous data about the all-cash housing market in Manhattan. The Washington Post reported that RealtyTrac’s data concluded that eight out of ten homes in Manhattan were bought with all cash, The Real Deal later picked up the same story. If you’re at all familiar with the Manhattan market these numbers seem a tad bit fishy.  

Stan Humphries the Chief Economist for Zillow was recently interviewed by GeekWire Radio. He gave listeners an in depth look at the Zestimate, a tool provided by Zillow that tells you the value of your specific home, your next door neighbors home or any home nationally that you would like to price. Of course, a real estate agent can do this for you, and Zillow isn’t trying to take that away.

One message that has been on the mind of developers in NYC regarding Mayor de Blasio is the issue of affordable housing. De Blasio during his campaign had announced his support and his plan of creating over 200,000 units of affordable housing. This could be thought of as a rather lofty goal considering that under Bloomberg only 5,000 affordable units were created, and that was over a span of three-terms.

Historically, real estate investment has been generally limited to those who could readily afford to risk at least $50,000 on a single deal.  However, crowdfunding is removing that barrier to entry.  Crowdfunding, as demonstrated for commercial ventures by platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, is being applied to real estate by several services.  This practice could permit individuals to diversify their investments with greater facility, and enable international investors to become involved in more relevant markets.

Al Jazeera English is the Doha, Qatar based news network that is based off the original Arabic Al Jazeera. It is the first English news channel to have originated in the middle east, but now Al Jazeera America plans to take over the US Market. The media giant is currently in talks with Boston Properties for a space in the building that the company finished just last year.

In recent years, New Yorkers have seen the city around them change on a day to day basis. Everywhere you turn, a building is being knocked down, built up, or renovated. Scaffolding hangs over what feels like every sidewalk, and the hum of power tools and men at work that was once an annoyance is now just a part of basic city noise. While many are focused on the constant construction going on in the newly gentrified neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, Midtown is alive with transformation.

Facebook is currently in negotiations with Vornado Realty Trust to lease 160,000 square feet of office space across two entire floors at 770 Broadway in Midtown South.

Yahoo’s recent acquisition of Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash has reaffirmed the company’s position as a contender in the tech world. Riding high on this, the company has announced it’ll be moving the bulk of its operations and New York based employees into the old New York Times building on 43rd street. The Midtown property is sought after, not just for its history, but for its location - it lies at the heart of the city’s busiest area in Times Square and just down the road from Executive Plaza, Carnegie Plaza, and the Gallery House.

The Empire State Building, one of New York City’s most prominent skyscrapers, is now close to becoming a part of a new real estate investment trust, which, if approved by investors, could lead to a $1 billion initial public offering for the iconic building. A recent Reuters report says that Malkin Holdings LLC, the company that manages the Empire State Building, has secured nearly three-quarters of the investor votes it needs to go ahead with the IPO plan that it has been spearheading.