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☆ NYC rolls out plan to convert empty office buildings into 20,000 homes as remote working persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NYC Mayor Eric Adams outlined a proposal to convert office buildings into affordable homes. Adams said the goal is to create as many as 20,000 homes to help solve the city's housing crisis. "It makes no sense to allow office buildings to sit empty while New Yorkers struggle to find housing. Empty office buildings are an issue across US cities including San Francisco and Chicago. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that over 2,000 US office buildings could be transformed into as many as 400,000 apartment units.

Persons: Eric Adams, Adams, Dan Garodnick, Maria Torres, Meta Organizations: Service, New York's Department of City, Housing Opportunity, New York City Department of Buildings, of Standard, Appeals, Springer, Colliers, New York Times, National Bureau of Economic Research Locations: Wall, Silicon, York City, Manhattan, New York, San Francisco, Hudson Yards, Chicago

☆ One of the US's largest racial-justice organizations is slashing its budget and laying off staff after overspending on lavish perks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Sean Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Color of Change recently announced significant cuts to its budget and staff. Color of Change dramatically increased its spending in 2020, and it continued burning through its cash even as revenue declined. Their post, published June 22, served as the first official communication to most staff members that budget and staff cuts were imminent. A week later, 49 staffers were laid off, according to staff and a list of eliminated positions reviewed by Insider. Medium/Color of Change board chairsIn a written statement, Color of Change also claimed Insider's reporting contained inaccuracies.

Persons: —, Jordan Neely, George Floyd, Airbnb, Rashad Robinson, Oprah, hasn't, we've, Andre Banks, Banks, Ben O'Keefe, O'Keefe, It's, Salaah Muhammad, Muhammad, Robinson, Heather McGhee's, Bryan Bedder, I've, Berlin Rosen, Ryan Senser, Rashad, Senser Organizations: Service, New York City, The Recording Academy, Forbes, Staff, Education, New York's Office, Labor, YouTube, Miami's Art, Fund, Fashion, NAACP, Fenton Communications, Berlin, Insider Locations: Hollywood, New York, Oakland , California, New York City, Washington, Miami's Art Basel, Minneapolis, Manhattan

☆ Office landlords struggling for tenants are facing an even scarier predicament — zombie properties
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A zombie building is one that's too costly for a landlord to rent at prevailing rates. Office buildings purchased in the past five years could become zombies, a real-estate vet said. Like many New York office buildings, it's a dead man walking, similar to the hopelessly distressed shopping malls that have multiplied across the country over the past decade. One in four office buildings in Manhattan is valued at less than they last sold for, according to JLL. Bringing zombies back to lifeUnlike in the movies, zombie buildings don't remain undead forever.

Persons: Knotel, Michael Cohen, Cohen, —, haven't, RXR, Chetrit, HPS Organizations: New York, Macmillan Publishers, Manhattan, BNP, Real Estate, Green —, Blackstone, Chetrit, HPS Investment Partners Locations: New, New York City, New York, Manhattan, That's, HPS

☆ The judge overseeing Trump's case donated $15 to Biden. Legal experts say it likely won't get him thrown off the case, but it'll 'feed the Trump PR beast.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The NY judge handling Donald Trump's criminal case made a $15 donation to President Joe Biden's campaign in 2020. Legal experts told Insider that it likely won't get the judge thrown off the case. But it will "feed the Trump PR beast" and doesn't bode well for public perception, the experts said. Legal experts told Insider on Friday that the political donations likely won't get New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan thrown off of Trump's case, but that it will "feed the Trump PR beast" and doesn't bode well for public perception. "The Trump people will pounce on that"Former President Donald Trump appears in court for his arraignment, on April 4, 2023 in New York.

☆ The judge in Trump's criminal hush-money case who the ex-president has slammed as 'highly partisan' has been deluged with death threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The NY judge handling Donald Trump's criminal case has gotten death threats, a source said. New York Supreme Justice Juan Merchan has received multiple threats over the last week, said the source. Trump targeted Merchan and his family in verbal and online attacks on the day of his Tuesday arraignment. A spokesman for New York's Office of Court Administration told Insider in a statement on Thursday that there continues to be a beefed up security presence "in and around" state courthouses. A spokesperson for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Thursday.

☆ Converting empty office buildings into apartments sounds like a no-brainer, but big landlords are resisting for one big reason
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Three experts tell Insider office prices need to fall before conversions are commonplace. But for these plans to be successful, the world of real estate must address the elephant in the room: Office buildings are simply too expensive. Moody's laid out some basic math: In 2021, the average New York apartment building traded at $434 a square foot. Now in the US, he's up to the same business but not yet with the vacant office buildings that dot the downtowns of large metropolises. Among them is an older, 130,000-square-foot St. Louis office building, which represents some of the city's most outdated stock, Rubin told Insider.

☆ Exclusive: FTX's former top lawyer aided U.S. authorities in Bankman-Fried case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Angus Berwick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Friedberg gave details about FTX in a Nov. 22 meeting with two dozen investigators, the person said. "THROUGH THICK AND THIN"Prior to his work advising FTX, Friedberg advised a mix of banking, fintech, and online gaming companies. At the time, the source said Friedberg advised Bankman-Fried on running Alameda, which he founded that year. In 2020, when Bankman-Fried launched a separate exchange for U.S. customers called FTX.US, Friedberg moved in-house as FTX's chief regulatory officer. In a now-deleted blog post published that year on FTX's website, Bankman-Fried wrote that Friedberg was FTX's legal advisor "from the very beginning," noting he had been "with us through thick and thin."

☆ One of New York's largest commercial landlords is spending $1.5 billion to convert office buildings into apartments as office vacancy rates remain elevated
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Prior to the pandemic, office buildings were the lifeblood of central business districts across the country. For example, data from commercial real estate giant CBRE shows that about 25% of all New York's offices remain available for lease while other markets, like San Francisco and Boston, face similarly high vacancy rates. Silverstein's move also comes at a time when commercial real estate property values are declining. According to a November study from RentCafe, developers created more than 28,000 apartments through conversion projects in 2021, an increase of 25% when compared to 2020. Sage acquired Econo Lodge and a Travel Lodge in Tacoma, Washington for $14.2 million and plans to convert both buildings into apartments.

☆ See the first 36 groups that won coveted licenses to sell recreational cannabis in New York, including Housing Works and The Doe Fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Jeremy Berke | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New York regulators announced the first 36 groups who'll be able to sell cannabis in the state. The 36 licensees include 28 groups of "justice-involved" individuals, who have been convicted of prior cannabis-related offenses in New York state and also have experience running profitable businesses. Wright has repeatedly said that cannabis sales would begin in New York before the end of the year. That means companies are unable to own both a cultivation facility and a retail store, unlike in some other states with legal cannabis markets. The regulations also outline different license types to be awarded in the future, including supply-side licenses, microbusinesses, and retail stores.

☆ The ultimate guide to cannabis legalization in New York: The key dates to know, and which stocks could benefit the most.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-19 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | Jeremy Berke | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In the Empire State, recreational marijuana sales could balloon to $7 billion once the market is fully established. The state's limited medical cannabis program has also seen expansion under the new adult-use bill. The list of qualifying medical conditions for medical cannabis was expanded, along with product options. The exceptions to this may be existing medical operators wishing to transition to adult-use and microbusinesses. Analysts say this makes sense as the industry matures and cannabis companies begin to think of themselves as consumer product companies.

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