In Case You Missed It: Week of April 25 – 29
Here are our weekly picks for must-reads relating to the apartment industry, and a few items we think you’ll just find interesting.
As expected, Fed holds off interest-rate hike
Housing Wire – April 27, 2016
“Just as many predicted, the Federal Open Market Committee, the group that sets the benchmark interest rate for bank lending, elected this week to hold steady and not increase federal funds rate.”
Manhattan Tops Our 2016 List Of Worst Cities For Renters
Forbes – April 27, 2016
“In New York City the luxury building boom has screeched to a slowdown, with developers slashing the size of units in order to make them more affordable. Unfortunately, landlords have not been following suit by slashing rents. In the last quarter of 2015, Manhattan residents paid a median $4,374—the highest average rent in the nation, according to Marcus & Millichap. That means locals had to shell out 67% of the area’s median household income ($78,312) to live on their beloved skyscraper island. Ouch.”
The Storefront Index
City Observatory – April 26, 2016
“We’ve computed the Storefront Index by mapping the locations of hundreds of thousands of everyday businesses: grocery and hardware stores, beauty salons, bookstores, bars and restaurants, movie theatres and entertainment venues, and then identifying significant clusters of these businesses—places where each storefront business is no more than 100 meters from the next storefront.”
NYC Comptroller Stringer Report Finds Millennials Have Faced Toughest Economy Since Great Depression
Scott M. Stringer, New York City Comptroller – April 26, 2016
“Millennials were applying for jobs in the most difficult economic climate since the Great Depression and as a result, a growing number are now working in low-wage industries and earning less than their predecessors,” Comptroller Stringer said. “This group of young people is confronting unique economic challenges that their parents did not have to face. Every generation is expected to do better than the last, but too many Millennials are not getting a fair chance to make it in New York City.”
Chetrit to sell Sony Building to Olayan Group, abandoning condo plans
The Real Deal – April 25, 2016
“Olayan America, a division of Saudi conglomerate Olayan Group, is in contract to acquire the former Sony Building at 550 Madison Avenue for more than $1.3 billion, after the Chetrit Group and David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity scrapped its plans to convert the upper floors of the property to residential condominiums…”
And now, for something completely different…
SpaceX Plans To Land On Mars As Soon As 2018
Popular Science – April 27, 2016
“Just one year after it plans to become the first company to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, SpaceX is hoping to launch its first non-crewed mission to Mars in 2018.”