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Respect My Authority: What to Do With the Billions Allocated For a New Bus...
Last week, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey took a huge step forward in its plans for a new bus terminal to replace its 65-year-old terminal on Eighth Avenue. Commissioners of the...
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What Makes Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht Tick?
In the late 1990s, shortly after Barry Sternlicht, the head of Starwood Lodging Trust (and Starwood Capital Group), went through a dramatic and highly public purchase of ITT Corporation (the...
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Inheriting a Great Real Estate Empire Is More Complicated Than It Looks
Just being born into one of New York City’s family-owned real estate firms does not guarantee you a spot in the C-suite. At least, not at Rudin Management. “You have to show passion and commitment and...
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Owners Magazine 2016
In 2016, a lot of Americans—including your mild-mannered Commercial Observer editor—have gone poll crazy. We’ve got a national election weeks away, so it’s only natural to check FiveThirtyEight, The...
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Do Developers Have a Life (or a Fantasy Life) Outside of Real Estate?
Not to get too Inside the Actors Studio on our owners, but one of the questions we felt compelled to ask was, “If you weren’t in real estate, what would you do?” Unlike the Manichean either/or of our...
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If President Trump Wants to Flash Some Cash for Infrastructure, NYC’s Got a...
If you build it, they will come. Sure, that’s the line ambitious developers will often use when trying to get a project off the ground. When it comes to New York City’s infrastructure, however, experts...
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Andrew Cuomo Announces Panel to Revamp Penn Station, Prize to Fix the Subway
A week after claiming he doesn’t have much control over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave a speech in which he reiterated the need to upgrade Pennsylvania Station...
View ArticleREBNY 2018: Thrills and Frills
A changing of the guard is a good moment for reflection. Last June, it was announced that Rob Speyer would be stepping down as chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York and be replaced by Bill...
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Optimism Abounds at REBNY’s 2018 Prom
Despite a tumultuous year for real estate—with investment sales falling off a cliff, retail suffering due to e-commerce and banks tightening their lending—it was a night full of splendor, high spirits...
View ArticleThe Power 100
When interviewing Jeff Blau, the CEO of Related Companies, for this year’s Power 100 we asked a question Commercial Observer had never raised in the past: Who do you think should be No. 1 on our list?...
View ArticleFrustrated With Trump, Starwood’s Sternlicht Cheers Investments Abroad
Donald Trump may enjoy the support of a handful of his former peers among the New York City real estate club. (Here’s looking at you, Steven Roth and Richard LeFrak). But count Barry Sternlicht out,...
View ArticleThe Power 100: Commercial Real Estate’s Most Powerful Players
As Marc Holliday began explaining all SL Green Realty Corp. had done in the last year, he paused. “I don’t know where to begin.” SL Green had a banner year. It announced plans for One Madison Avenue,...
View ArticleNYC Real Estate Heads Join Call for Trump to Aid Biden Transition
A group of 164 New York City business owners — including the heads of powerful landlords and brokerages — called on President Donald Trump to concede the election to President-elect Joseph Biden and...
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Richard LeFrak On South Florida, New York Affordability and Succession
Richard LeFrak could well be considered the elder statesman of New York’s real estate scene — the scion of a rental empire, the LeFrak Organization, which built and owns tens of millions of square feet...
View ArticleSunday Summary: Housing Good. Office Meh.
Scott Fitzgerald once said that the test of a first-rate mind was being able to hold two contradictory ideas in one’s head at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Was Scott talking...
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