Despite an uncertain political climate and a challenging real estate market — in which office leasing has slowed and condominium sales turned sluggish — scores of New York developers are plowing ahead with tens of millions of square feet of new developments, including tens of thousands of residential units.
The Real Deal analyzed thousands of projects to determine how many were active but not yet completed, as defined by receiving their temporary certificate of occupancy or declared effective by the New York State Attorney General’s office.
In Manhattan alone, the top 10 most active builders are constructing 26 million square feet of commercial and residential space. But that’s not to say that those developers are oblivious to an ongoing slowdown. While some of those developers have expressed confidence in their projects as they were originally planned, others are shifting gears to be more in tune with today’s buyers. Buyers who, experts say, are demanding better value and snubbing the trophy units they snapped up just a few years ago.
