This weekend's cover story in the real estate section of the Times is about Brooklyn developers who have started renting units in their condos, with a focus on the hybrid-ization of One Brooklyn Bridge Park, where developer RAL recently began renting some of the unsold inventory. First, the stats: There have been 77 closings at the building and 26 other units are in contract, leaving 300-some-odd vacancies; for now, RAL is only renting 20 units, and five one-year leases have been inked. Then, there's the commentary from RAL president Robert Levine, who says stuff like, "This building is not a rental building, it is a condominium," and "We would like things to be different," and "We had a vision and it turned out to be exactly what we wanted. And then the world fell apart." (On this last quote, it's worth noting that 1BBP went on sale almost a year and a half before "the world fell apart" last September.) Anyhow, the bigger questions the article addresses are, how much of a stigma is it for a condo to rent some units out, and to what extent—if at all—does it push down values? On the first question, an Elliman broker says, "if you start to rent 25 percent of the building or more, it takes on the flavor of a rental," and on the second question, appraiser-guru Jonathan Miller says that "In the long run, there’s no impairment to value."
Renters to the Rescue [NY Times]
Rentals, Price Cuts and Loan Extension at 1BBP [Brownstoner]
