New York City Air Rights: Why Owners and Developers Value Them So Differently
In NYC, land is finite but height is currency. Air rights allow property owners to unlock "stuck" capital without the risk of redevelopment, while giving luxury developers the strategic leverage to reach new elevations. For an institutional owner, air rights are a dormant balance sheet asset; for a developer, they are a precision instrument used to secure premium views and maximize project efficiency. As "City of Yes" reforms increase predictability, these complex transfers have evolved from zoning footnotes into a vital asset class. Explore how transforming dormant FAR into market-defining height is reshaping the city’s skyline and the economics of modern luxury development.
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Summit Properties Wins Auction For 5,200-Unit Rent-Stabilized Portfolio
Summit’s $451M stalking-horse bid for Pinnacle’s distressed, rent-stabilized portfolio highlights the reset in NYC multifamily valuations under tighter rent laws and higher rates. The deal crystallizes political, regulatory, and operational risk surrounding large stabilized portfolios, now worth far less than pre-2019 levels. It also signals a new phase of consolidation, where well-capitalized buyers target discounted assets through bankruptcy, while city officials scrutinize ownership quality and long-term capital capacity more aggressively than in past cycles.
Source: Bisnow
Vornado Buys Midtown Manhattan Office Building for $141M, Plans Demolition
Vornado Realty Trust’s $141M acquisition and planned demolition of 3 E. 54th St. underscores a broader Midtown Manhattan trend: strategic site aggregation and value reset amid soft office fundamentals. By retiring aging, underutilized buildings near core assets, major owners are banking land for future, higher-density or mixed-use redevelopment. The deal reflects balance-sheet-driven distress selling, opportunistic capital deployment by well-capitalized REITs, and a long-term bet on the Plaza District’s enduring appeal despite near-term office market uncertainty.
Source: New York Business Journal
Former State Senator Sues to Block NYCHA's Chelsea Housing Redevelopment
The lawsuit challenging NYCHA’s Chelsea redevelopment highlights growing legal and political risk around public-private housing partnerships. While city and state leaders view large-scale ground-up redevelopment as a necessary model to address NYCHA’s $80B capital backlog, opponents argue long-term ground leases erode public control and violate state law. The case underscores tension between urgent housing rehabilitation needs, escalating construction costs, and statutory limits on privatization—potentially setting a precedent that could slow or reshape future NYCHA redevelopment efforts citywide.
Source: Crain's New York Business
Avdoo Plans Luxury Residential Tower in Hot Hudson Square
Avdoo’s $63M Hudson Square acquisition reflects continued confidence in high-end Downtown residential demand amid limited new supply. Developers are aggressively pursuing air rights and zoning bonuses to maximize density in prime, transit-rich neighborhoods near major employers like Google and Disney. The project underscores a bifurcated market: ultra-luxury condo development alongside expanding affordable housing initiatives, signaling Hudson Square’s evolution into a mixed-income, design-forward residential and cultural hub with strong long-term value fundamentals.
Source: 6sqft
Lexin Offloads 421a-Eligible FiDi Development Site
Lexin Capital’s $53M sale of a rare 421a-eligible Manhattan development site highlights the premium investors still place on favorable tax structures, even post-expiration. While the deal priced below initial expectations, it underscores how regulatory advantages can sustain liquidity and feasibility in a challenging development environment. Paired with ongoing office-to-residential conversions and conservative, equity-heavy financing by major landlords, the transaction signals a cautious but strategic recalibration of New York City development capital toward projects with clearer underwriting and downside protection.
Source: The Real Deal
Media Mentions
New York City Apartment Construction Plummets in 2025
Decline follows changes in key tax incentives for new development Apartment construction in New York City has plummeted since last year, all while the city faces “what is likely the worst housing affordability crisis in its history,” according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Housing construction starts for market-rate apartments dropped from an average of 7,500 units per quarter from 2021 to 2024 to just 2,500 units per quarter this year, representing a 67 percent decrease, recent data from CoStar shows. In addition, the total number of apartment units under construction fell from 71,000 to 47,000 in that period, according to CoStar.
Ashkenazy Family Member, Partner Sell Bronx Development Site for $11.5M
A member of real estate's prominent Ashkenazy family has sold off a development site in the Bronx, where the buyer plans to build a mixed-use project using the state's 485-x affordable housing property tax incentive.
Why 485x Works: A Real-World Look at NYC’s New Development Incentive
New York City has never been an easy place to build. Between high land costs, volatile property taxes, complex zoning, and political scrutiny, getting a multifamily project off the ground is a battle even in the best markets. When the long-running 421a program expired in 2022, it left a vacuum in the city’s housing pipeline. Developers hit the pause button. Projects stalled. And the city’s housing shortage worsened.
Anthony Hu Acquires Development Site At 8 West 45th Street From Zohar Ben-Dov For $38.5M
The asset involved in this transaction is a development site located at 8 West 45th Street in New York. The transaction was finalized for a total price of $38,500,000.00. Anthony Hu acted as the buyer in this transaction, while Zohar Ben-Dov represented the seller, facilitating the deal's successful closure.
Hiwin Group Buys Vacant Lot at 8 West 45th Street for Residential Building
NEW YORK- Hiwin Group USA, a developer based in Flushing, Queens, has acquired a vacant lot in Midtown for $38.5 million, with plans to build a residential tower on the site
Three years later, Soho rezoning slow to spur development
NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams is pushing to dramatically increase housing construction in Manhattan. If the borough's last rezoning is any indication, it will be a heavy lift.
The Bridge, Radson pay $15.8M for 189-unit dev site in Inwood
The Bridge and Radson Development through the entity 3816 Ninth Avenue Housing Development Fund Co Inc paid $15.8 million to Manhattan Bible Church for the development site at 3816 9th Avenue in Inwood, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.
Prominent Queens developer plans pair of resi buildings at former Flushing pool site
The developer behind the tallest building in Queens has revealed his plans for the site of a former outdoor pool in Flushing.
North Flushing Pool Club Sells for $16M
Developer Chris Xu’s Corona-based real estate firm, United Construction & Development Group, recently acquired the North Flushing Pool Club site for $16 million. A limited liability company affiliated with Xu’s firm closed on the 0.8-acre property less than six months after brokerage firm Development Site Advisors began marketing it in March.
Iconic TITAN Closes Its Doors at 31st Street in Astoria Next Sunday
NEW YORK – It’s officially the end of an era for the historic Titan Foods supermarket as far as its current location is concerned, which is set to close its doors this coming Sunday, June 18. The news was officially announced by Titan Foods Inc. in a notice that was posted at the store to inform consumers.
Flushing's North Flushing Pool Club Site for Sale with Development Site Advisors
Midtown Manhattan based commercial real estate brokerage, Development Site Advisors® (DSA) have been exclusively hired to market 141-01 32nd Avenue, an impressive 0.83-acre property in the sought-after Flushing neighborhood of Queens, NY. The property is the site of the long-established North Flushing Pool Club, which has been in existence here for over six decades.
Maddd Equities buys Inwood waterfront dev site, leading midsize i-sales
An entity linked to Stylianos Aniftos and Astrit Skara picked up a development site at 26-37 30th Street in Astoria for $10.5 million from three separate LLC’s. Development Site Advisors’ Rubin Isak and Lev Kimyagarov brokered the deal. The 16,300-square-foot lot had been family owned for more than 50 years and consists of four adjacent lots on 30th and 31st streets between Astoria Boulevard and Newtown Avenue.
Building of Titan Supermarket in Astoria is Sold
With $10.5 million as the final price of the transaction, the well-known homegrown supermarket Titan Foods has been completed.
Queens’ top 10 neighborhoods for Q3 home sales
The top sale in the Astoria neighborhood was a two-story, 45-foot-wide house built in 1940 at 25-23 Newtown Avenue. It was sold for $4.8 million by Development Site Advisors, which marketed the property as either a residence or a redevelopment opportunity.
South Bronx piano warehouse hits the market
A 140-year-old piano factory in the South Bronx has hit the market for $11.5 million.
Recent Commercial Real Estate Transactions
This 13,116-square-foot vacant building in the Elmhurst neighborhood...
New firm looking to dominate development site sector
Veteran brokers Lev Kimyagarov and Rubin Isak are seizing opportunity during the coronavirus pandemic to direct their skills towards a niche market. The pair have formed a new firm, Develo...
Kimyagarov, Isak Open Development Site Advisors
Lev Kimyagarov and Rubin Isak, former senior directors at Massey Knakal Realty Services/Cushman & Wakefield and Eastern Consolidated, respectively, have formed Development Site Advisors, solely focused on th...
Development plummeted this year, but sector still shows signs of life
Sales of development sites in the city dropped 27% to 103 transactions so far this year, compared to the same period in 2019, according to an analysis by real estate firm Development Site Advisors...
New Brokerage Hopes To Carve Out Niche For NYC Development Site Sales
While major brokerage firms trim staff amid a stagnating market, a new development site brokerage firm, hoping to redefine how transactions get done within the asset class, has doubled in size since the sta...
Knakal, Eastern Consolidated Alum Launch Development Site Advisors
NEW YORK CITY—Lev Kimyagarov and Rubin Isak, former senior directors at Massey Knakal Realty Services/Cushman & Wakefield and Eastern Consolidated respectively, have launched Development Site Advisors.&nbs...
New Development-Focused Brokerage Looks to Grow Team
Two veteran New York City brokers have teamed up to form Development Site Advisors, a brokerage that focuses exclusively on development sites.
Kimyagarov and Isak open Development Site Advisors; focusing solely on development sites
New York, NY Lev Kimyagarov and Rubin Isak, former senior directors at Massey Knakal Realty Services/Cushman & Wakefield and Eastern Consolidated respectively, have formed Development S...
Ex-Massey Knakal, C&W, Eastern Consolidated Execs Form NYC Brokerage Focused on Development Sites
NEW YORK—Lev Kimyagarov and Rubin Isak, former senior directors at Massey Knakal Realty Services/Cushman & Wakefield and Eastern Consolidated respectively, have Development Site Advisors, the only firm in New York City with a sole focus on the development site sector.
New development to replace famous Mott Haven building
Third Avenue in Mott Haven is slated to look quite different in the near future.
Development Site Advisors Hired to Sell the Famed Beethoven Piano Factory Building in Mott Haven, Bronx for $11.5M
The Building, built for and once owned by J.L. Mott, the individual Mott Haven was named after.
Astoria Development Site Hits the Market at $9M
Development Site Advisors has been hired to sell 11-32 and 11-38 31st Ave. in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. The two sites are combined from the rear, giving a developer multiple options. Asking price for the property is $8.8 million.
