SHAUN OSHER: DOES SIZE MATTER? MIDTOWN WILL SOON FIND OUT

New developments are always hot topic of conversation, and the past few days have been no different. Both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times ran stories about new residential developments in New York City, and the uniting theme is that smaller, boutique buildings — not the big guys — have a leg up right now. That’s mostly out of necessity. Like I told the New York Times, the hurdles that developers are facing include finding a development-ready site affordable enough to purchase, then financing a project’s acquisition and construction. Lenders are out there, but they are being significantly more picky about the margins they expect, and the developer who’s building the project.

But then again, this is New York City, and there will always be opportunities for projects to come along and change one of the world’s most famous skylines — and challenge pricing records. Even though there are more boutique projects being built, there are some larger projects in the pipeline.

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