Weekly News (September 26, 2018)

1. Hilton Teaneck Glenpoint will be opened at Glenpointe complex in Teaneck

• Two hotels are connected in one building: The Hampton Inn & Suites Teaneck Glenpointe and the Homewood Suites by Hilton Teaneck Glenpointe
• 15 story buildings with lobby, fitness center, pool on the first floor, parking on 2nd, 3rd, 4th suites/ standard hotel rooms on the 5th through 15th floor
• Hampton inn has 190 rooms, 40 suites
• Hoomwood Suites has 160 rooms
• Adjacent bus stop takes hotel guests directly to and from the Port Authority terminal
• Town will get $1.2M tax annually

2. Mayor Rotundo in Palisades Park troubled again with son’s promotion

• His son is the town policeman
• Town meeting on 9/25 will promote 3 policemen (mayor’s son will become lieutenant, One of his relatives will become captain) → suspicious nepotism
• According to Jesse Wolosky, Rotundo’s family and relative → 16 in town government and total salary is about $800K annually→ possible reason of his loosing mayor pre-election in democrat
• According to multiple sources in town government, Rotundo’s son is under investigation for 2 charges

3. New Condo → Pre-sale in Manhattan this month

• East 85th street and park Ave) → part of Park avenue Christian Church building
• “1010 Park Ave” condo: 11 unit /16 story
• Developer extell planned 20 story, 17 units → NYC Landmark preserve Committee altered the plan
• Price: $4000/sf → 40% higher then other condo around area
• Extell forecasted easy selling due to the fact that other buildings are co-ops →11 units will be sold for 6 months
• Renowned architects : Beyer Blinder Belle team

4. Korean restaurant “The Woo”(Former WooRaeOk) opens at SOHO, Manhattan 

• Opens on 9/21 at 206 Spring st (WooRaeOk closed 7 years ago) after 1 year interior work
• 7500 sf/ 250 seats /open kitchen style/15 year lease
• New owner : Mrs. Choi’s (WooRaeOk owner) daughter (Juile Choi) and son-in-law
• Julie Choi graduated Le Cordon Bleu London Culinary school and Swiss Rosen Hotel School
• WooRaeOk opened in Mid-town in 1974→ moved to SOHO in 1999

5. Korean Investors started buying properties in London

• Korean stock companies’ purchasing London office buildings hit the record
• It will exceed Chinese investment soon
• Total Korean investment will reach to $3.9B in London→ biggest foreign investor
• The 3rd largest public fund in the world: Korean National Pension funds (국민연금) did biggest transaction in London in 2018à purchased Goldman Sacks HQ building at $1.52B
• MiRae Asset DaeWoo ($446M, $324M), Korean Investment & Security ($262M)

6. Avgerage Credit Score (FICO) is improving to 704 in US

• April 2017: 700 → improved by 4 points (October, 2009: 686)
• Default rate for credit card and loan is dropped
• In 1 QT 2018, $40B credit card debt was paid because of improving employment
• FICO system: 300 ~ 850 (Excellent: over 800 /good:740-799 /fair:660-739)
• 5 Criteria: 1.payemnt record:35%  2. credit utilization:30%  3.credit period: 15%  4. new credit account: 10%  5.creidt structure: 10%

7. Home prices rise, but at slow pace

• Higher mortgage rates cool off potential buyers
• S&P Core-Logic Case-Shiller index of 20 big city → increased by 5.9 in July from last year→ down from last month (6.4)
• Sales of existing homes → 5% down in last 12 months
• 30 year mortgage rate: 4.65% → 83% Up from last year