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The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

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Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#51

Post by dlgeek »

kevinwang wrote: post #33
hdgvhicv wrote: post #8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Corner In September 2021, Macy's accused the billboard's owner Kaufman Realty of negotiating to lease the space to an online retailer before Macy's most recent lease expired that August. Macy's claimed that the lessee was almost certainly Amazon and filed for an injunction preventing Kaufman from leasing the space to a competitor. Macy's claimed that a 1963 agreement prohi…

So was the injunction successful?

You nerd-snipped me into digging through court records.

The case was 655669/2021 in the New York County Supreme Court (the Supreme Court is the name for the first-tier courts in NY state).

Docket: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketI...

The parties were in settlement talks and postponed the hearing on an injunction and then settled and dismissed.

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#52

Post by smelendez »

wahnfrieden wrote: post #25
ianm218 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Source? My understanding is this is no longer true

One Times Square is no longer fully empty (besides ground floor retail) you’re right that it is now just almost entirely empty as they’ve added an observation deck and a small visitors center/museum about the building as of January this year. Some other buildings in Times Square keep several floors empty to use for signage instead, a minimum of which is actually mandated by the city.

A lot of the buildings along Canal Street in New Orleans, with souvenir and liquor stores on the ground floor, are empty upstairs as well.

I can think of buildings in other cities in seemingly premium real estate, including the Chicago Loop, that are notably underutilized.

Old, cramped upstairs spaces in crowded, touristy commercial districts just aren’t that useful. A small business would rather just get an office in WeWork.

Converting to housing is going to be expensive and probably also not worth it. Tourist lodging might work, but the licensing can also be an issue and tourists can be weird — no matter how much you tell people a place like that is noisy and on one of the busiest corners in the world, you’ll get reviews complaining about the noise and chaos.

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#53

Post by hinkley »

skinfaxi wrote: post #19
egorfine wrote: post #17

Is it more profitable to lease the space for banners as opposed to lease the apartments to tenants?

Probably since you don't have to deal with tenant issues for one.

People underestimate the value of predictability.

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#54

Post by hinkley »

nkrisc wrote: post #12
ungreased0675 wrote: post #2

That building looks horrible, do people live there?

Based on the pictures I can’t imagine anyone legally living there. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine usable windows are required for living spaces.

The ground floor is a Sunglass Hut from the looks of things. Then the first floor looks like it might be offices, or a fancy apartment. The other floors could be storage space for the tenants and the landlord.

My first instinct was perhaps they raised the ceiling in the first floor to occupy some of the second. But thinking on it more, high ceilings without windows to go with them usually don't make the space feel that much bigger. You can spend up to a couple feet on crown molding but beyond that you're well into diminishing returns.

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#55

Post by hinkley »

nephihaha wrote: post #10
ungreased0675 wrote: post #2

That building looks horrible, do people live there?

I know. I was expecting something easier on the eye. Maybe a century of being behind billboards has wrecked it. The 1906/1907 photographs look much better.

Neglect and dust. With the billboards up nobody not even the rain has been washing the facade.

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#57

Post by phil21 »

Aurornis wrote: post #46
arjie wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the desirable property of a land value tax is that it is used entirely in lieu of the current “land plus improvements” tax. Naturally people dislike this because using land for less than economically optimal uses is usually desired by the landowner and taxing improvements means that someone with a more economically optimal use makes them less of a competitor for the land than the present owner.

Most of the pro-LVT people I encounter have a belief that pure LVT will benefit them and harm corporations. The idea has become entangled in the pro-individual, anti-corporate mentality as a tool for us to wield against corporations. The most common LVT argument I hear is something about forcing developers to convert parking lots into housing units. The example above shows that pure LVT would have the inverse effect:…

I’m for LVT precisely for the express purpose of not carving out exceptions for any landowner. 80 year old ladies included.

Basically I see it as a way to get closer to the ideal of making land speculation no longer a thing. Regular homeowners included.

If you buy a home for $100k, in theory after you adjust for inflation it should sell for less due to depreciation of the structures on the property. The fact we assume a home is an investment is the root of the evil.

Of course this does not mean LVT is the only way to make this happen. It just seems the fairest to me. I still want people and corporations to be incentivized to develop and improve land - just not rewarded for sitting on it forever. The standard objection of 80 year olds in forever homes sitting on prime real estate better used for young professionals with families who still need to commute to work is exactly the sort of folks who should not be rewarded for such behavior.

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#58

Post by Barbing »

Terretta wrote: post #3

“Hidden by billboards for over 100 years, the tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view‎” Initial word of headline necessary for comprehension

Fixed (from “by billboards for over 100 years …” or something, previously)

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#59

Post by talkin »

angulardragon03 wrote: post #40
rapnie wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amsterdam's Victoria Hotel near Central Station also has a holdout embedded in its edifice. https://old.reddit.com/r/SpiteHouse/comments/of5cqh/in_the_c...

Wow, I walk there all the time and I’ve never noticed

I didn’t see it for decades, only realized waaay too long into a Dutch movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3765078/ (Publieke Werken). I cannot imagine how I was ever able to not see it immediately..

Re: The tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view

#60

Post by abanana »

dlgeek wrote: post #51
kevinwang wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So was the injunction successful?

You nerd-snipped me into digging through court records. The case was 655669/2021 in the New York County Supreme Court (the Supreme Court is the name for the first-tier courts in NY state). Docket: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketI... The parties were in settlement talks and postponed the hearing on an injunction and then settled and dismissed.

Thanks, it's a bit frustrating when a piece of old news is reported without a followup. Happens all the time, and due to news agencies not bothering to report the not-so-interesting stuff, it's often difficult to find out what happened after.
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