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By Daniel Geiger 1/27 5:09pm

lease beat

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More Green Shoots at 1 World Trade Center: Law Firm Chadbourne Eying Upper Floors

The law firm Chadbourne & Parke is rumored to be checking out space at 1 World Trade Center. A report in The New York Times today hinted that a deal is close, but brokers familiar with the firm pointed out that a lease was far from done.

The Times wasn't the first to reveal that Chadbourne has been looking at the 2.6 million-square-foot skyscraper being developed by the Port Authority. Last year, the New York Post's ace real estate columnist Steve Cuozzo pointed out that the firm was one among a handful of law firms considering the building. Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 1/12 5:27pm

Make No Small Plans

5 Photos

How LoLo Can You Go?

More on LoLo, the Great Landbridge to Governors Island

Last year, a not-entirely outrageous proposal by urban theorist and Columbia professor Vishaan Chakrabarti was put forward to use landfill to connect Governors Island to Lower Manhattan, creating an entirely new Battery Park City South of sorts. Compared to landfill efforts in Tokyo and other parts of China, the idea is actually incredibly modest. And here is how it could be done. Read More

By Stephen Duffy 1/11 1:32pm

Checking in

Woulda been some lobby. (Scouting NY)

Temple of Ruins, Balazs Checks Out of 5 Beekman St. Development

Hotelier Andre Balazs has given up on his effort to restore one of the cities grandest dormant dorms.

It was only last October when the magnificent Temple Court, a block from City Hall, was revealed as in contract to the hot hotelier, but the deal fell through and Mr. Balazs may even be out $5 million on it, the Post reports. It is believed intertia in financing the restoration got the better of Mr. Balazs. However a source for the tab claimed that he pulled out for other unspecified reasons. Read More

4 By Matt Chaban 11/23/11 9:43am

Make No Small Plans

If you build it... can you build it? (NYT)

Why Build a Land Bridge to Governors Island? Competition, Of Course

Mayor Bloomberg likes to talk about the need to stay competitive with the other global cities, like London and Hong Kong and Tokyo. Among the challenges are the cost of development, in which we actually have a competitive edge over many of our rivals. Which is why some of them have taken to filling in the waterways surrounding them. One of The Observer's favorite urban theorists, Vishaan Chakrabarti is proposing the same thing, according to The Times, using landfill to connect Governors Island to the Financial District. It might seem insane, but there are even logistical reasons the proposal makes sense. Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 11/07/11 8:32pm

Everybody Go Downtown

A new day dawns downtown. (Getty)

Downtown Looking Up: The Offices of Wall Street Are Occupied Like It’s 2007!

All that clangor coming from Zuccotti Park, the chanting and beating of drums—what if it is not a protest of economic inequality and corporate malfeasance but instead a celebration? For there is good reason to revel downtown, as the office leasing market is having a bit of a boom. Wall Street may be occupied, but so are the commercial spaces surrounding it, according to a new report to be released tomorrow by the Downtown Alliance.

Lower Manhattan has seen a rise in office occupancies across a wide swath of industries, from the typical FIRE firms to media and healthcare concerns. The neighborhood is on track to have its best year since 2006, with 4.8 million square feet leased up through the third quarter of 2011. Read More

11 By Matt Chaban 9/29/11 9:45am

Occupy Wall Street

Cozy. (Getty)

Brookfield Bummer! Occupy Wall Street’s Occupation of Zucotti Park Will Continue, NYPD Says

Besides free pizza, pepper spray and those Guy Fawkes/V for Vendetta/Anonymous masks, one of the enduring symbols of the Occupy Wall Street protests has been the base camp at Zucotti Park. The park reopened in 2006, rebuilt by landlord Brookfield Properties after years of neglect followed by damage on 9/11.

It turned out to be a convenient location for protestors, as it is one of the largest open spaces near Wall Street, but the powerful Brookfield has been trying to evict the protestors all week. Now, the NYPD is taking the side of the protestors for once, saying thanks, but no thanks. Read More

8 By Matt Chaban 9/22/11 11:29am

The Neverending Story

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How Do We Know the 9/11 Memorial Is Really Real? Because It’s on Google Maps, Of Course

For too long, it seemed like the 9/11 Memorial might never get built, certainly not in time for 10th anniversary of the attacks. (There is a reason The Observer categorizes all our ground zero stories as "The Neverending Story."  The 9/11 Memorial opened to the public last week, but with access tightly regulated—it's still a very active construction site—it can be a little hard to believe it. But in case there was any doubt, we now have that most official of proof something exists: the memorial has been added to Google Maps. Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 9/19/11 2:27pm

The Neverending Story

450px-Wtc7_july2006

Zero Ground: 7 World Trade Center Now Fully Leased

In perhaps the final capstone to the 9/11 commemorations, Larry Silverstein has found his final tenant for 7 World Trade Center. Considered a boondoggle by many when Mr. Silverstein decided to rebuild the glass tower shortly after the attacks, it opened in May 2006 and was slow to find tenants, the first of which was the New York Academy of Sciences.

Slowly but surely more firms arrived, and now MSCI has joined them on the 47th through 49th floors of the 52-story building—it was the tallest structure downtown until recently being surpassed by its big brother. Read More

7 By Matt Chaban 9/11/11 8:52pm

The Neverending Story

President Obama addresses the crowds before the opening of the memorial. (Getty Images)

Ground Zero, 2001-2011: How the 9/11 Memorial Changes Everything—and Nothing

It was a day of quiet grace, open grief and occasional grumbles, a time for solemnity, reflection and togetherness. The 9/11 Memorial was commemorated today not with the cutting of a ribbon but the ringing of a bell, the same bell that had clanged for the past nine years, calling out the impacts of those four planes, the collapse of those twin towers. Amidst the silence, there was only the echo of the bell and the distant rush of waterfalls, the signature voids of the 9/11 memorial. Read More

9 By Matt Chaban 9/07/11 2:48pm

Tales of Retail

Racks upon racks upon racks.

Century 21, Tourist Horde’s Favorite Department Store, Expanding Just in Time for Ground Zero Crowds

It may be the worst shopping experience after the Trader Joe’s in Union Square. Still, when Century 21 is good, it’s really good. Dress shoes, bow ties, and some of the best clearance deals in town—if you can stand slapdash shelves and crammed clothes racks, the flood of tourists fighting for clothes and the woefully indifferent staff, the store can be a goldmine.

These problems could be disappearing as Century 21 plans to expand its downtown flagship in the coming months, according to Crain’s. Well, everything except for the rudeniks behind those red aprons. Read More