Real Estate Forum - October 2011

This has also helped other areas of the
Financial District—like the Lower
Broadway Corridor, spanning from City
Hall to Liberty Plaza, and South Street
Seaport—which are picking up again,
Slattery says. “It has created more retail
activity Downtown,” he says. “There has
been a movement for some high-end
stores, like Hermes and Tiffany & Co.
There have also been ‘Saturday evening
restaurants’ as opposed to ‘Monday
through Friday’ places to have dinner. The
retail has really come along as more of a
component here.”
Driving the retail boom here is Lower
Manhattan’s affluent and well-educated
population. The neighborhood’s resi-
dential base has more than doubled
since 2001 to 56,000 people, and is
expected to reach 60,000 by 2013,
according to the Downtown Alliance.
The median household income—
$143,000—is almost three times the city-
wide median of $51,000, and more than
double the Manhattan median of
$69,000, the report states.

The population increase also went
hand-in-hand with public incentive pro-
grams. The availability of $1.6 billion in
Liberty Bond financing from 2001 to
“The program that the state and city
administered for both residential and com-
mercial tenants was really invaluable. I
know there was a real concern about bring-
ing the residential to Lower Manhattan,
and the announcement of bringing a resi-
dential program brought a flood of brokers
just for the economic opportunity,” Slattery
said. “That was a real jump-start for the
neighborhood and activity picked up.”
A popular neighborhood for the new
live-work class is Battery Park City, where 7. 2

million square feet of residential space has been added over the past 10 years. Gayle M. Horwitz, president and CEO of the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority, a public benefit corporation of New York State, says multifamily development has gone hand-in-hand with the surge in new office and retail construction. “The spaces are complementary and it explains why Lower Manhattan has become such a 24/7 live/ work community,” Horwitz says. “The great thing about Battery Park City in particular

LOWENSTEIN SANDLER REAL ESTATE

THE RIGHT ANSWER

Lowenstein Sandler’s real estate attorneys know how to get deals done. Applying our knowledge of the law and our clients’ business objectives, we help our clients minimize risk and employ practical, business-minded solutions to get results.

“The impact
and trans-
formation
will be
similar to
what
Rockefeller Center did
in 1930 for Manhattan’s
West Side.”

LARRY SILVERSTEIN

Silverstein Properties

1/2 page
Island

Nationally and regionally recognized as a go-to law firm for clients that range from developers and financial institutions to private equity firms, Fortune 100 companies and closely held businesses, our attorneys draw on their deep and diverse experience to skillfully advise on matters including:

• Acquisitions and Dispositions • Joint Ventures

• Real Estate Finance and Securitizations • Real Estate Litigation

• Commercial Leasing • Public-Private Partnerships and Privatizations

• Workouts, Restructurings and Foreclosure • Environmental

• Land Use and Development • Construction

• Real Estate Bankruptcy Counseling To learn more, please contact:

www.lowenstein.com

2005 resulted in an increase of rental housing development. Meanwhile, the 421g program spurred more than 15 million square feet of office to residential conversions from 1995 to 2006, according to the Downtown Alliance.