Year in review: Crain’s most engaging real estate stories in 2020

December 28, 2020

A look at the real estate stories that were most popular among readers in 2020:

Investors are looking for chances to repurpose now-empty hotels

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: Oct. 26, 2020

Craig Deitelzweig has done that at properties around the city, but now that tourism is in tatters and hotels sit empty and in danger of default, the chief executive of Marx Realty is looking at a new strategy: buy cheap hotels and turn them into offices. READ MORE

Retailers, landlords battle over who foots the pandemic bill

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: Oct. 26, 2020

An explainer on the relationship between landlords and shops as many retailers are now either unable or unwilling to pay New York’s high rents. READ MORE

Let’s make a deal: Landlords are slashing prices on empty units

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: June 16, 2020

With people leaving the city, working from home and searching for more space, the appetite for city apartments just isn’t the same. Landlords across the five boroughs are slashing rents on once-coveted units that they’re trying to take off the market. READ MORE

Amazon lands another massive deal on Staten Island

By: EDDIE SMALL | Published: Oct. 15, 2020

The e-commerce giant is leasing an additional 975,000 square feet of space at Matrix Global Logistics Park, Matrix Development Group told Crain’s on Thursday. The firm will occupy the entire fourth building at the complex. READ MORE

Manhattan vacancies reach record high with more than 15K empty apts

By: EDDIE SMALL | Published: Sept. 10, 2020

Manhattan’s vacancy rate also hit a record high of 5.1%, the first time its vacancy rate cracked 5% and the fourth consecutive month when it set a record, according to the report. The vacancy rate in August 2019 was just 1.95%, although that was well before the coronavirus pandemic upended the city’s real estate market. READ MORE

Bronx mall owner taking tenants to court over $2.6M in unpaid rent

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: Nov. 20, 2020

Six years and one pandemic later, the developer is battling his tenants over more than $2.6 million in unpaid rents at the Bronx shopping center. READ MORE

Ashkenazy takes on Gindi family in a battle for cash and reputation

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: Nov. 16, 2020

The family behind bankrupt department store Century 21 is starving developer Ben Ashkenazy of cash for his pandemic-racked real estate empire and smearing his name in the industry. READ MORE

New Yorkers scramble to find summer alternatives to the Hamptons

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: June 4, 2020

Hamptons, shmamptons. Suburbs from New Jersey to Long Island’s Gold Coast and even the Hudson Valley are about to see a summer like no other. READ MORE

Foreign buyers taking a step back from New York real estate

By: NATALIE SACHMECHI | Published: July 30, 2020

Be they international students, workers from out of town or foreigners in search of a cosmopolitan pied-à-terre, travel bans and other pandemic-related restrictions are keeping buyers away from some of the world’s most sought-after properties. READ MORE

950-unit Gowanus project to go 100% affordable

By: EDDIE SMALL | Published: Nov. 19, 2020

One of the largest projects on its way to Gowanus will now consist entirely of affordable housing. READ MORE