Weekly News (April 4, 2018)

1. Ridgefield Park, NJ will make large scale of Downtown district

Total budget: $1Billion / They planned to start this Spring, but will start in August
‘Skymark Development Project’ – 53 Acre
271,900 SF complex (Retail complex and 1500 units of residential), 10 Acre of wild animal habitat
If the project will be completed successfully, it will be biggest mix-use complex in Bergen County

2. 83 Years Old Korean male fell from Winston Tower, Cliffside Park, NJ and died

Fall from 19th floor on 4/1/2018 (Security Guard: Danny Frodo)
Might be suicide, but not verified yet. He lived alone and was kind, calm. He used to go to Senior center during day time and return home around 5:00 PM routinely
Total 697 units, 2700 residents in Winston Tower. Among them, 35% are Korean

3. Palisades Park, NJ Mayor candidates becomes 3 for Democrat party

ChaSoo Park (Former president of Chamber of Commerce in Palisades Park) added to two candidates (Current Mayor, James Rotundo & Christopher Chung)
ChaSoo Park has lived in the town since 1989, and claims he knows the town better than anyone (He changed his membership to Democrat from Republican a few years ago)
Pre-election in the party will held in June → Votes might be separated among Korean

4. 3 Luxury high-priced Apartment sold in Manhattan in 1st Quarter

Over $30 Million, 3 residential units are sold
Highest price $39 Million at 15 East 69th St in Upper Eastside in March (J & J’s heir used to own before she died): In 2016, listed at $55 Million → Dropped to $39 Million → Sold at $33 Million
Buyer: Chinese Investor
81th St Co-op sold at $35 Million (Entire 18th Floor / 8,400 SF): Owner was Joseph Plumeri, Vice Chair of First Data / purchased at $21 Million in 2010)
Penthouse between 57th St and 5th Ave at 432 Park Ave sold at $32.4 Million (94th floor) (Harvey Weinstien sold his townhouse in West Village / Former CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt sold his apt in Upper Eastside)

5. Queens, ‘Sunnyside Yard’ redevelopment megaproject becomes visible

Vishaan Chakrabarti’s PAU has been selected
180 Acre, adjacent lot in Sunnyside, Astoria, Long Island City
Plan includes 24,000 residential
Hindrances: MTA owns the lot / Some of its air right owned by NYC
Total cost: $19 Billion / Massive existing rail roads

6. Two Korean owned Dry Cleaners in Somerville got sued for soil contamination

Soup Opera cleaners, etc.
5 Contractor companies are developing large scale of downtown mixed use complex
Contractors sued 2 cleaners due to soil contamination by CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act: 1980) and NJ Spill Act
PCE and TCE detected (After removal of contaminated soil, still level was not enough to develop underground water system)
Owner purchased the lot in September, 1985 and began Cleaners business from early 1900 till now

7. McDonald Building on Northern Blvd & 203^rd St in Queens, NY owned by Korean

Korean Owner, Jun & Yun Realty Corp purchase Building at 203-15 Northern Blvd
Closed at about $12 Million / Lot: 19,200 SF / Building: 5,900 SF (McDonald is under operation)
10 year lease left with McDonald / After that period, 2 story commercial building might be constructed
Broker: Brian Seo at Summit Camp Realty mentioned that Korean presence in Bayside commercial district will be expanded more

8. Chinese Corporations move into US Stock Market

Recently 8 IPOs for 3 months → 20% of total IPO amount ($3.3 Billion)
iQIYI (Chinese version Neplex): $2.3 Billion IPO Amount
Many companies in China want to US stock market because it has good side benefits – All good education related companies did IPO in US stock market
Under potential G2 Trade War, still Chinese companies deem more benefit than harm, according to CNBC

9. House hunting is still hot even though mortgage interest rate increase

According to MBA, Mortgage application increased by 4.8%, compared to last week
Overall it is same level as a year ago, but buying is much more, considering low level of Re-Finance (Re-Finance increased by 7.3% last week, but 10% down, compared to last year)
Mortgage application increased by 3.1% last week (3 week continuous increase) → 2% increased, compared to last year
Last week, Average mortgage rate (Sold) for 30 year fix is 4.69% (Last week: 4.68%)
For last 30 years, average mortgage rate was 8% (During 1980’s the peak was 18%)
According to Redfin, in February Inventory reduced by 11.4%, compared to last year → Continuous reduced for 29 months →Biggest impact to Big cities’ RE market

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