1) Turns out the rental apocalypse isn't just coming to DoBro. More than 3,500 new rental apartments will open in Manhattan in the coming months, most in the Hudson Yards area (where studios will start around $2,000, not incentives). That should keep rents around 2000 levels and renters firmly in possession of the upper hand. For now! But after 2010, there will be a lull in inventory, since financing troubles have put the kibosh on other planned new developments. ['2010: The Year of the Renter']
2) This week's hunters are a pair of reverse snowbirds who went looking for a pied-a-terre in a walkable part of Manhattan. They found one, at 1065 Park Avenue, but the real highlight of their quest is this: since they were vacationing in Paris, they did their co-op board interview via Skype! We have no further objections to co-op purchases. [The Hunt/'Why These Hunters Pack Comfortable Shoes']
3) Oh, except for one thing: co-op renovations are about to get harder. The New York City Bar Association will be posting a new set of renovation guidelines, a veritable "bill of rights for renters," next month. The guidelines call for stricter review of plans and monitoring of construction to eliminate bait-and-switch renovations, as well as daily fees for residents whose renovations go too long. Condo owners, your new guidelines will come next year, so best get going on those plans. ['New Guidelines Could Make Co-op Renovations Tougher']
4) The stars never quite aligned for the Trump Plaza Jersey City (right), which came on the market two years just in time for construction troubles, slow sales, and a loan default. You do hate to see that, but the building isn't down for the count. Soon it will relaunch, and the keyword for that effort? Elegance. As in elegant new drapes, lighting, rugs, purple and blue decor, and rechristening certain rooms with a suitable amount of snootiness: the library, for example, is now the "arrival room." [In the Region: New Jersey/'In Jersey City, a Second Act for Trump Condo']