One mystery (nearly) down, several more to go with the Elizabeth Street Garden deal.
One day before the primaries, First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro announced a deal with Council member Chris Marte to leave the garden as-is, in exchange for his approval of three other rezonings.
Of course, he would need to be in office to do that, and he faced a crowded Democratic primary. Unofficial results show Marte with 49.19 percent of the vote, short of the more than 50 percent needed to win outright. We should have a more definitive picture next week.
Details of the deal have been sparse. When the administration released a request for proposals for 100 Gold Street in March, it indicated that the project would not require public subsidy. At the time, the RFP called for 1,000 or more housing units, where at least 25 percent are affordable. The latest deal sets the minimum affordable units at 300.
During a press conference, Mastro said the Gold Street project was dead on arrival without Marte’s support. If that was the belief, did the developers who responded to the RFP think there was a good chance of the City Council bucking its tradition of member deference in this case? Would these developers have applied if they knew the administration thought it had little chance of passing the Council?
It is also not clear if the affordable housing adjustment will require subsidy, nor if public money will be required to secure 123 affordable units at 156-166 Bowery, which will be upzoned to allow more than 320 housing units, according to a June 2 agreement between Marte and developer Kinsman Property Group. A commercial building was planned for the site when the late developer Brandon Miller’s company controlled the leasehold at the site. Kinsman has since taken over the leasehold, property records show.
The third rezoning is planned for a city-owned site at 22 Suffolk Street, where 200 affordable units could be built (which almost certainly require public funds).
I’m harping on the subsidy issue because it will influence the timeline of these projects and potentially mean other projects won’t happen or will be postponed. Without more information, the deal announced this week isn’t a clear-cut tradeoff between 123 housing units at the park and 400-plus units elsewhere.
What we’re thinking about: Will real estate coalesce around Mayor Eric Adams? Will different factions of the industry choose different approaches after largely backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo? Will some figure out how to work with a potential Mayor Zohran Mamdani? Send a note to kathryn@threaldea.com
A thing we’ve learned: Jared Solomon, a former vice president in Vornado Realty Trust’s leasing office, was indicated on charges that he stole millions of dollars from the real estate investment trust, Rich Bockmann reports.
Elsewhere in New York…
— President Donald Trump has already weighed in on the results of NYC’s Democratic primary, calling Assembly member Zohran Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic,” on his Truth Social platform, Politico reports.
— Meanwhile, Rep. Jerrold Nadler endorsed Mamdani in November’s general election, the New York Times reports. “Voters in New York City demanded change and, with Zohran’s triumph, we have a direct repudiation of Donald Trump’s politics of tax cuts and authoritarianism,” he said.
— On the eve of his expected re-election campaign launch, Mayor Eric Adams appeared on “Fox and Friends” to criticize Mamdani, Gothamist reports.
Closing Time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Wednesday was $4.6 million for a 1,991-square-foot, sponsor-sale condominium at 310 East 86th Street in Yorkville. Doron Zwickel and Caleb Nickels of CORE had the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $4.5 million for a 3,755-square-foot mixed-use property at 1390 ½ 2nd Avenue in Lenox Hill.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $90 million for a 10,000-square-foot condo unit at 157 West 57th Street in Midtown. Adam Modlin of The Modlin Group has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a proposed 98,425-square-foot, 124-unit residential building at 30-11 12th Street in Astoria. Nikolai Katz filed the permit on behalf of Samuel Teitelbaum.
— Matthew Elo
