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