Digestible Real Estate News
^ the Central Park x The Snowy Day collab we all love and live for
We’re keeping this recurring piece to do a bit more for those genuinely interested in New York real estate and give my LinkedIn designation a little luster, so please enjoy some light real estate snacks so I can make this newsletter tax deductible.
1. The Boston Celtics were purchased for $360 million in 2002, 22 years ago. It recently sold for $6.1 billion…why do wealthy people love owning sports teams, besides sports? Tax savings. Amortization allows owners of sports teams to deduct the cost of buying a team over 15 years from their taxable income, thereby slashing their income taxes, even if the team is profitable, or like nearly every major U.S. sports team, skyrocketing in value. Amortization + 13.75% value growth per year = tax savings. The sale capital gains will be taxed at the lower capital gains tax rates too. Real estate investments also afford tax advantages via depreciation. Mrs. Dow Jones breaks it down.
2. People seem to love a real estate failure story and we have a rare New York exposé covering such: the story of 1 Seaport, what was once the hottest luxury building in Manhattan proved to be an utter disaster and now is an abandoned empty shell of a half-made building, that permanently leans to its side by 3-8″. What started with a bang with 20% of sales going into contract on the first day and sales offices across the globe, withered into sad, deflated balloon, with only a trail of negligence, stinginess, and bad business practices to show for its $250m of sunk costs.
3. US Property values increased 27% between January 2020 and July 2024 resulting in higher property taxes for many, especially new buyers who are often forced to pick up the tab for local spending via higher taxes. Now several states are looking at ways to reduce – or eliminate – real estate taxes altogether: how will these areas pay for schools, roads, police, fire, etc? In Florida, real estate taxes account for 18% of county revenue, 17% of municipal revenue and 50-60% of school-district revenue. Would boosting sales tax rates and tourism taxes compensate for this? If those without kids are not contributing to school costs will those with kids have to pay more?
4. Living in a city reliant on a public transit system that requires its citizens to ascend and descend no less than 10 stair cases a day, the average New Yorker takes some STEPS everyday. How many you ask? 6,000-10,000 a day. The average American walks between 3,000 and 4,000 steps, which pales in comparison to locals in the Big Apple. Seeing that less than 50% of New Yorkers own cars and commuting by foot or by means of public transit often saves time and money, many of us have no choice but to rack up the mileage. What we lose in the lifespan of our shoes, we gain in heath benefits as in a 10-year analysis, those who managed 8,000 steps/day or more saw at least a 50% lower risk of death than those who only did 4,000 steps/day.
And for the two homes I’m ogling this month…
…this absolutely absurd penthouse apartment at 20 Greene Street in Soho for $45,000,000…
…this jaw-dropping Brooklyn Heights townhouse at 295 Hicks Street for $26,000,000…
