If Woody Heller Were Your Econ Teacher

Everybody wants to be a buyer, says Studley capital transactions group head Woody Heller. Which means rents are having a minimal impact on sales pricing. There's just so much capital streaming into NYC that he's agnostic about any other price factors.

Savills Studley Vice Chairman Woody Heller, photographed in 2013
Savills Studley Vice Chairman Woody Heller In 2013

We snapped Woody in his office reflecting... while reflecting. NYC's investment sales market is so hot it's "running out of things that can go right," says Woody. Cap rates are low, prices are high, interest rates are low, and debt is plentiful. And buyers' expectations of market value have changed dramatically. So while retail rents are rising fast and office more modestly, the biggest price determinant by far is capital flow, which is so strong that pricing is acting independently of rents.

Woody also says the high tally of dual purchasers (whether JVs or condominium-interest acquisitions) reflects the soaring value of retail space (take Joe Chetrit and David Bistricer's $1.1B acquisition of the Sony Building). In fact, Woody's team has sold the 14k SF retail condo at 465 Broadway (in the 40 Mercer residential condo building), which we snapped this morning, three times in three years. (Regifting has reached new levels.) And it's doubled from $41M three years ago to $80M this year. He also tells us leasehold deals will become rarer and condoization more common. It's just cleaner and simpler, he says.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's New York Newsletters
Related Stories

Federal Government To Sell Nearly 31K SF In Five Points: The Denver Deal Sheet

Avison Young Had Assets Frozen By Bank Over Unpaid Taxes

Artificial Intelligence Companies Reshaping Dublin Office Demand As OpenAI Confirms HQ

Mars Factory Overhaul Stalls As Candymaker's Chicago Expansion Accelerates

Camden Property Trust Sells West Coast Portfolio, Clears $1.5B Target

How Long Island Projects Can Cut Through Red Tape And Community Opposition To Cross The Finish Line

Empire State Building Observation Deck Hemorrhaging Visitors, Value

Cortland, Pulte, INVH, Walker & Dunlop Execs Talk Changing Demographics, AI

America's War Machine Is Growing, Sparking A Defense Real Estate Boom

Boca Raton's New Leaders Throwing 'All Kinds Of Curveballs' At Developers

Slate, Hudson Cos. Picked To Develop Massive Queens Housing Project

BXP's 343 Madison Lands $1.2B Loan, Nears Deal With Equity Partner