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BisnowTV Exclusive: Part 4/4 of our Interview with Larry Silverstein
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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett rejects economic pessimism about the US, especially surrounding the US presidential campaign.
The negativity in the campaign has Americans believing their children can expect lower standards of living than they experience, Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders. “That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history,” Bloomberg reports.
Disputing the claims from fellow billionaire Sam Zell, Buffett cites the sixfold increase in economic output per capita since 1930, saying the US's trend of increased output and productivity will continue.
Jobless claims had a slight jump to 272,000, the good news is we are celebrating the 51st consecutive week of below 300,000 claims. Economists at Cushman & Wakefield expect jobless rates to remain below the 300,000 mark as the economy plows forward with strong job growth and companies retaining workers.
Manufacturing stabilized in February and production accelerated, as the Institute for Supply Management’s national factory activity index climbed 130 bps, to 49.5.
According to JLL, New York tech sector job growth has cooled down in recent months. Typically one of the fastest-growing sectors, New York’s tech growth rate remained flat at the end of 2015, growing by a marginal 0.3% year-over-year. According to Moody’s, the NY tech sector growth rate will remain under double-digit growth throughout 2016. Slower employment growth rate might curb potential demand, particularly in areas like Midtown South.
Hilton Worldwide has announced plans to spin off the bulk of its real estate assets into a publicly traded REIT, and also announced plans to spin its timeshare business into its own publicly traded company.
The new REIT will include roughly 70 properties and 70,000 rooms, quickly positioning itself as one of the largest publicly traded lodging REITs. The portfolio will include luxury and upscale assets spanning urban and convention markets, resort destinations, airport locations and select international regions.
Hilton Grand Vacations, the timeshare arm of the lodging giant, will be transformed into a new timeshare company. The company will manage almost 50 club resorts across the US and Europe, and enter into an exclusive, long-term arrangement with the parent company to market, sell and operate the resorts under the Hilton brand.
The massive transit hub at World Trade Center complex opened on March 3, after $4B spent on its construction. The gorgeous transit building was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava to mimic a bird, wings poised for takeoff, about to be released into the air—although some critics have called it a dinosaur or armadillo.
The $4B cost raised some eyebrows, after the project was originally budgeted at $2B and expected to deliver in 2009, the Associated Press reports. Regardless, the hub will replace the PATH center destroyed on 9/11, and will connect 11 NYC subway lines and ferries, in a project Steve Plate, the chief of major capital projects for the Port Authority, calls "the eighth wonder of the world.”
Madison Equities and Pizzarotti Group’s 1,000-foot condo tower at 45 Broad St is still in the planning stages, but early renderings are out, as well as some word on how the team plans to finance the project. Renderings reveal a soaring gold structure that's slim in the middle with a broad top and base.
45 Broad will rise 65 to 75 floors and include about 50k SF of commercial space. The tower's slated to include 200 to 250 residential units, ranging from studios up to three-bedrooms, as well as 20k SF of amenity space. Madison and Pizzarotti are shooting to keep average prices for the development below $2k per SF, with the average condo expected to cost less than $2M. The 12k SF site was purchased by the developers last October for $86M.
