Some analysis of how the current market turmoil will impact the New York City real estate market...
1) Layoffs: "Wall Street has already shed about 25,000 jobs this year. With the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, which was announced on Sunday, the number of lost jobs could rise by another 10,000 in a hurry." [NYT]
2) Development: "But the return of the Lehman space would be a jolt to projects under consideration for development, such as the Port Authority bus depot, increasing competition in a weak market ... 'You can write off the Port Authority plans to build an office tower over the bus terminal,' Slatin said. 'And that will be the second time that it was scuttled.' So...Richard Rogers whittled that wood for nothing?! [Real Deal]
3) Commercial real estate: "Some brokers and analysts interviewed for this article predicted that rents for office space would be driven down, possibly by as much 15%, over the next 12 months." And yikes, that vacancy rate. So, if the WTC wasn't already in trouble, what now? [Sun]
4) Donald Trump: "Do you believe it all? It's going to be an interesting period - with these companies going bad, it's going to be a difficult time for New York City." Strong words. Also, The Cuozz lists the buildings that could be affected, including newbies like 11 Times Square and the renovation of 200 Fifth Avenue (the International Toy Center). [NYP]
· Wall Street Meltdown coverage [Curbed]
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